I think the hardest day for me in the process was the first time out. I didn't really have a clue what would happen and my 13 yr old and her friend were in the group. Taylor told me if anyone asked "I was her distant relative from Turkey." I was feeling self-conscious and a bit afraid that God would not tangibly show up. My kids hear me talk about how God whispers to us all the time but I felt sort of put on the spot and performance pressure. I held onto the mustard seed of faith I possessed for that afternoon and I am so glad that I did.
First time we ran through the hearing exercise, the girls were distracted and did the whole "What did you hear? Nothing" routine through the group. We also had a few girls who had many details about where they thought we were to go. I dragged them off to a quiet spot in the nursery and helped them get still before God. They asked for places to go and sensed a huge white building, like a hospital with a cross. One girl saw the colors pink and blue and a newborn nursery. A girl said there was a grassy area with a fence and orange flowers. The people they felt they were to find were stressed out new parents, newborn baby girl, woman in jeans and purple shirt with financial problems and fear. They were to encourage the people and tell them God loves them.
We discerned Mercy Hospital maternity ward and jumped in the van with 16 girls. I felt like we were to buy baby supplies at Meijer, but we decided to skip it until we found actual needs to meet with the 130 bucks they had to give away. We went up to the ward and God gave us favor with the charge nurse who connected us with the free clinic in the basement of the hospital. She started to tear up when she told them that a poor woman named Ronda, 9 months pregnant had just prayed out loud for God to send angels to help her. Her car broke down in the hospital lot, she was from Ghana and had no way home to Forest Park.
We ran into a lady in purple and prayed for her troubles and then the girls went in to pray with Ronda. They decided that we should drive her home and stop at Meijer to buy diapers and baby supplies with their money. The girls were so excited that the God of the universe heard Ronda's prayer and sent them to be her angels and provide practical demonstrations of His BIG love. It reaffirmed to me that His whispers are continual if I choose to tune in to the HS frequency and it was great for my daughter to be a part of this spiritual scagenger hunt and see Him operate to bless Ronda. It was an extraordinary time !
My Legacy
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Experience Experiment-Day 4 SOS
Justin, one of the leader from Syracuse Vineyard, and his kids and I connected on the City Prayer tour on Tuesday and arranged to do the E2 experience together because we believed the Holy Spirit was connecting us and we wanted the kids to lead the way. Before the E2 outreach, I forgot my volunteer badge and felt prompted by the Holy Spirit that I would need my staff credentials to gain access to where we would be going. As we spent time praying and listening to God we felt he gave us the following clues to look for:
· Girls in pink shirts,
· bright red lips with vampire teeth, (I did hesitate and I wrote down "bright red lips with white teeth." and I left off the vampire word because I mistakenly assumed they were reading too many Twilight books.)
· women’s shelter,
· fountains & statues,
· library with an empty bookshelf,
· pornography, homosexuality, bondage, lust, prostitution
· barbed wire, fence
· royal blue and purple
We prayed together and I discerned we needed to head to Monroe- they have a prison (barbed wire & fence), Hustler store (pornography, homosexuality, bondage, lust), Solid Rock’s women’s shelter (bright red lips, prostitution).
We went to the Warren County prison first and prayed over the facility and gained favor with guards. I realized later, this is why I needed my staff badge as pastoral credentials needed to gain access to the prison. We learned everything you ever needed to know about prison life and function. One of the kids in our group had several run-ins with the law and we found out later that this had been a very eye-opening experience for him.
We had 40 minutes left and the group prayed whether to go to Hustler versus the Shelter. We drove past statues and fountains to the Solid Rock Home for Life and were greeted by 2 girls in pink shirts on the porch. The kids asked if they could pray for them and they were welcomed into the home where we were stopped by the front desk lady. She attempted to dissuade us, saying we could have prayed with them if we had called ahead. Wendy (VCC Healing Center Volunteer and attendee), miraculously materialized and was the director of educational services there. Pastoral credentials and her experience serving at HC childcare convinced her we were legit. She gathered more residents and us all in the chapel and the residents shared very descriptive testimonies about their lives with drugs, prostitution, losing kids to BCCS and how Jesus had changed them. I prayed over the group, asked the Holy Spirit to come and then the kids split up and paired with residents to pray and encourage them. Kylie Everett, (her family leads Destiny Rescue, a ministry that rescues women from the sex-trade) was a teen in our group and she prayed with a girl named Angelic who’d been on drugs since age 6 and a prostitute since age 13. She had bright red lips and was missing her 4 front teeth, so her canines appeared vampire-like.
The kids decided to give our money from the E2 experience to Wendy to bless the women in some way and as we were headed downstairs to leave, my eyes were drawn to the library where an empty shelf was prominently obvious. We passed the fountain and statue of Jesus on the way out and gave God the glory as we headed back to VCC.
Recently we received this letter from Wendy at the Solid Rock Shelter:
Hi Cindy!
I found your email off the vineyard site and wanted to say a big thank you on behalf of the staff and women here at the Home For Life regarding SOS and the amazing visit you lead. I thought it was awesome to hear how God lead you specifically to us. Those young people you brought left such an impression on these women-prayer, sharing, testimonies, financial gift...WOW! The women were blessed and it has truly impacted their faith and belief in God.
I also wanted to thank you personally for your faithfulness in leading in SOS and your ministry at the Vineyard. I would love to get together with you or connect somehow to see if you would like to do some future partnering with us-I know we had talked about it briefly-I think it would be great to connect. Thanks again for everything. Could you please send me your address and also the contact information for Justin (I think was the gentlemen you brought with you) and group from Indiana-we would like to get out a thank you card.
I look forward to hearing back from you!
· Girls in pink shirts,
· bright red lips with vampire teeth, (I did hesitate and I wrote down "bright red lips with white teeth." and I left off the vampire word because I mistakenly assumed they were reading too many Twilight books.)
· women’s shelter,
· fountains & statues,
· library with an empty bookshelf,
· pornography, homosexuality, bondage, lust, prostitution
· barbed wire, fence
· royal blue and purple
We prayed together and I discerned we needed to head to Monroe- they have a prison (barbed wire & fence), Hustler store (pornography, homosexuality, bondage, lust), Solid Rock’s women’s shelter (bright red lips, prostitution).
We went to the Warren County prison first and prayed over the facility and gained favor with guards. I realized later, this is why I needed my staff badge as pastoral credentials needed to gain access to the prison. We learned everything you ever needed to know about prison life and function. One of the kids in our group had several run-ins with the law and we found out later that this had been a very eye-opening experience for him.
We had 40 minutes left and the group prayed whether to go to Hustler versus the Shelter. We drove past statues and fountains to the Solid Rock Home for Life and were greeted by 2 girls in pink shirts on the porch. The kids asked if they could pray for them and they were welcomed into the home where we were stopped by the front desk lady. She attempted to dissuade us, saying we could have prayed with them if we had called ahead. Wendy (VCC Healing Center Volunteer and attendee), miraculously materialized and was the director of educational services there. Pastoral credentials and her experience serving at HC childcare convinced her we were legit. She gathered more residents and us all in the chapel and the residents shared very descriptive testimonies about their lives with drugs, prostitution, losing kids to BCCS and how Jesus had changed them. I prayed over the group, asked the Holy Spirit to come and then the kids split up and paired with residents to pray and encourage them. Kylie Everett, (her family leads Destiny Rescue, a ministry that rescues women from the sex-trade) was a teen in our group and she prayed with a girl named Angelic who’d been on drugs since age 6 and a prostitute since age 13. She had bright red lips and was missing her 4 front teeth, so her canines appeared vampire-like.
The kids decided to give our money from the E2 experience to Wendy to bless the women in some way and as we were headed downstairs to leave, my eyes were drawn to the library where an empty shelf was prominently obvious. We passed the fountain and statue of Jesus on the way out and gave God the glory as we headed back to VCC.
Recently we received this letter from Wendy at the Solid Rock Shelter:
Hi Cindy!
I found your email off the vineyard site and wanted to say a big thank you on behalf of the staff and women here at the Home For Life regarding SOS and the amazing visit you lead. I thought it was awesome to hear how God lead you specifically to us. Those young people you brought left such an impression on these women-prayer, sharing, testimonies, financial gift...WOW! The women were blessed and it has truly impacted their faith and belief in God.
I also wanted to thank you personally for your faithfulness in leading in SOS and your ministry at the Vineyard. I would love to get together with you or connect somehow to see if you would like to do some future partnering with us-I know we had talked about it briefly-I think it would be great to connect. Thanks again for everything. Could you please send me your address and also the contact information for Justin (I think was the gentlemen you brought with you) and group from Indiana-we would like to get out a thank you card.
I look forward to hearing back from you!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
God is on my Side
I plan to use the themes from the curriculum we craft and create for the youngest ones each week. We spent a bunch of time talking about the one rock and one shot that obliterated the hairy, scary giant from a little shepherd boy's sling shot. For 40 days, that massive Goliath taunted and bullied the Israelites and they were all so afraid of his bluster that they hid like sissies. The strongest, most together warriors, ran at the sight of his towering bulk and trembled at the thought of fighting him. They could only see, in the natural, that they were severely out matched.
David listened to God and believed that HE is the biggest and strongest of all. He fixed His eyes on His unseen greatness and obeyed when God gave him clear directions.To the world, I am sure they all laughed and those who loved him tried to talk sense into him. It wasn't until the Israelites witnessed the victorious defeat of an "unbeatable" enemy that they stopped jeering. God's voice is clear and direct. He does direct our paths today. When I tune in to Him, I am always dazzled at His grace and provision of all that I need.
There are no coincidences and the nudges or intuition we experience are manifestations of his directions. I can't tell you how many times I've felt led to call someone, send a card or pray out loud with someone who seems ok, only to find that they are really hurting and have asked God for a sign of His presence. Take risks, reach out and let Him empower you to love others in unusual ways.
David listened to God and believed that HE is the biggest and strongest of all. He fixed His eyes on His unseen greatness and obeyed when God gave him clear directions.To the world, I am sure they all laughed and those who loved him tried to talk sense into him. It wasn't until the Israelites witnessed the victorious defeat of an "unbeatable" enemy that they stopped jeering. God's voice is clear and direct. He does direct our paths today. When I tune in to Him, I am always dazzled at His grace and provision of all that I need.
There are no coincidences and the nudges or intuition we experience are manifestations of his directions. I can't tell you how many times I've felt led to call someone, send a card or pray out loud with someone who seems ok, only to find that they are really hurting and have asked God for a sign of His presence. Take risks, reach out and let Him empower you to love others in unusual ways.
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