Our provider, Jehova Jira!

Greetings Friends,

Wow...I have so much to share with you.  The Lord has been moving in such powerful ways and it's so hard to contain all that he is doing.  I'm going to let you read about what happened last night, as we went to the city.  The Lord is amazing and His great mercy has no end.  This week we had 9 people go to Norfolk, in which 6 of them, I didn't even know until last night.  The cool thing is that each week the Lord provides in different ways.  It's a perfect picture of how the Lord desires to use "The Body of Christ" as we break down our denominational walls.  This week I've witnessed real physical healing, I've witnessed a girl weeping and sobbing bitterly as the Lord was healing the wounds and the hurt of her heart.  We've had an opportunity to visit those in prison and bring a precious girl into our home.  We picked up her sister and cousin today and brought them to our church service.  The Lord met each of us at worship today in an unbelievable way. I've observed the Lord use many people in different ways.  He's provided a house and it's in the beginning stages of reconstruction.  I've experienced real biblical fellowship, as men and women from various churches and variouss backgrounds pulled together to provide food, cloths, shelter and encouragement for our friends in the city.  The Lord is uniting his bride, preparing us to stand before Him without spot or blemish, upon His ready return.  Here's what happened this past weekend.  I've asked some of the others who went last night to share their testimonies, as to how the Lord met with them.  I'll post their testimonies as they come.  I'd encourage you to read my first post titled "Just give me one" and reflect on what God has done in just a few months.  It's a testimony of His great faithfulness!  Be blessed in the Name of the Lord!

"A Church Without Walls"

February 18, 2012

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

                                                                                        Matt 9:36-38 (NIV)           

Jimmy and I meet to pray every Saturday morning and this Saturday we were perplexed. We had a bunch of people who wanted to come out to minister to the homeless with us. I wasn’t sure what everyone would do, and we don’t want to ‘scare off’ the people we are trying to serve. We only have one van after all, one container of food, and one container from which to serve hot coffee. Not only that but it wasn’t going to be that cold Saturday evening, so we figured there wouldn’t be very many people coming for our hot food and drink, and the last thing we wanted was for people to be standing around without purpose.

In the end we decided to let everyone come downtown to serve with us. We had 9 people in all and the Lord knew our need. To our amazement there were upwards of 100 people there looking for food, shelter, and an encouraging word… more than we had ever seen on the streets. We needed every worker that the Lord had sent. (note to self: Try to see what the Lord doing before adding things up in the natural).

I don’t think Kris Bering, who made the soup and provided homemade cookies for us tonight could have imagined how the Lord would use her gift. But the Lord knew that He needed a faithful servant and put on Kris’ heart to provide the meal for the homeless tonight and they gratefully received every bowl of soup and every homemade cookie. Within 15 minutes of opening up the van every coat, sweater, glove, and hat had been claimed. By the end of the night the large pot of soup was gone, and we were eking out the last drops of the nearly 3 gallons of coffee we had prepared.

God is amazing. He moves in the hearts of His people to meet the needs of the helpless. Especially when it comes to ministry. We prayed for everyone that desired a touch from the great shepherd’s hand, and in that moment He held each of them in His open arms, strengthened their bones, and spoke to them the hope and encouragement of a loving Father. God is amazing.

A homeless man, Timothy, told me tonight that Joanna, the woman in the wheelchair, should be off the streets and he asked if I could help her get a place. Now think about that for a moment. Here is a homeless man, dirty, cold, hungry asking me to help someone else! Really? God, no wonder you love these people so dearly.

I explained to Timothy that we trust God for everything that is needed and that He has always faithfully provided all of the supplies that we bring out. I told him that we would pray for a home for Joanna, and that I was in faith that God would provide one for her. He also showed me his shoes and asked that we would pray for a size 10 pair of shoes for him. I assured him that I would be praying for those shoes as well. Please pray with me for these things so that the power of God might be shown in a tangible way to Timothy and Joanna.

Tonight God provided workers for the fields, clothes for the naked, food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, help for the helpless, and kindness for His children, whom He loved enough to send His only Son to die for their sins. Thank you Lord Jesus our God and our Savior, you bring purpose to our lives and faith to our hearts. We worship and adore you, we sing your praises, and we delight in being your children.