I had a raging headache today. And throughout the day every person on the team except my husband, Luis, called to cancel out on street ministry tonight. Honestly, it was hugely tempting to just say, well, I should just stay home then and sleep away the headache. But then, there's always the "what-if's" that haunt me and keep me pushing on and perservering. Stuff like, "What if the breakthrough is tonight and you will minister to that one person who will make it all so worth it?" "What if someone was going to die tomorrow and needed to make a Jesus decision tonight?" "What if you meet one of the guys from before like LE whom you have been praying for for months and he tells you he is on the right track now and is working a normal job and he is back on track with Jesus?" The "what-ifs".
Last week, the Lord had said to me, "You have not seen your greatest triumph yet" regarding the street ministry. I took that to heart and that encourages me to keep going. There will be triumphs (Thank you God, cos I need to see victory) because to have the "greatest triumph", there has to be several smaller triumphs. So, headache or not, with other people or not, I will keep going and I know that my husband stands with me on this. Neither one of us are quitters and his ministry attests to that too.
At the last minute Jorge and Elizabeth called to let me know they would come out after all. Good, that was good. The first guy we saw was JP whom we had met months back and whom Jorge had donated clothing to. He was the one we took out for chicken dinner for his birthday in November. We hadn't seen him for a while and we weren't going to let him out of our sight this night. He said he was sinking and that he needed to change. This time, I was a little harsher in my words with him. He had already heard us talk about how God loves him, what God wants for him, how He sent Jesus to die for him and that he has a definite purpose and future and that only Jesus in him can truly change him around from the inside out. He had made a decision to receive the Lord into his life, but the call of the streets is too strong for him and without constant sowing and teaching of the Word, he allowed his vice to overcome him. Tonight, I was direct with him and just told him that satan wants him dead and God wants him to live and he has to decide if he wants to live or die. I am normally softer with people I have just met or in whom I am helping build up self esteem but with Luis JP, we have known him a while and he knows we want to help him for real. We gave him the lowdown on what the centre is like and that it is compromise and he needs to do his part to get himself free of the drugs. But he just has to decide. No one can decide for him and no one can help him until he decides if he wants to live or die. He told us to get him tomorrow to take him to the centre. We need prayers on that; that nothing will thwart him from being there for us to take him to the centre.
When we went up to where the women are, EM was there after 2 weeks absence. I talked to her and we got to the Word of God and I asked if she was reading the NT bible we had given her. She said yes and I asked in what book she was in and she said, Luke. We talked a bit more and I said that the Word brings life and I told her my testimony. I guess maybe that made her realize that God had to save me from myself and that I wasn't a sheltered person like she thought. She decided to want to study the Word more and we will start our bible study this Thursday. Please pray for this as well.
One thing I noticed is that when we talk with the women, how I know that they are really listening and are captured by the Word is when the johns come by and try to solicit them, the women actually tell them to get lost because they want to talk and listen. Tonight, there was a swarm of johns around the women we were talking to. And they were all told to get lost by the women themselves.
Thank you for perservering in your prayers for each of the ones you read about here. They really need you more than you think.
God is working in the unseen parts of the hearts of each one of them on the streets. With God, NOTHING is impossible. And, we have not seen our greatest triumph yet.
Last week, the Lord had said to me, "You have not seen your greatest triumph yet" regarding the street ministry. I took that to heart and that encourages me to keep going. There will be triumphs (Thank you God, cos I need to see victory) because to have the "greatest triumph", there has to be several smaller triumphs. So, headache or not, with other people or not, I will keep going and I know that my husband stands with me on this. Neither one of us are quitters and his ministry attests to that too.
At the last minute Jorge and Elizabeth called to let me know they would come out after all. Good, that was good. The first guy we saw was JP whom we had met months back and whom Jorge had donated clothing to. He was the one we took out for chicken dinner for his birthday in November. We hadn't seen him for a while and we weren't going to let him out of our sight this night. He said he was sinking and that he needed to change. This time, I was a little harsher in my words with him. He had already heard us talk about how God loves him, what God wants for him, how He sent Jesus to die for him and that he has a definite purpose and future and that only Jesus in him can truly change him around from the inside out. He had made a decision to receive the Lord into his life, but the call of the streets is too strong for him and without constant sowing and teaching of the Word, he allowed his vice to overcome him. Tonight, I was direct with him and just told him that satan wants him dead and God wants him to live and he has to decide if he wants to live or die. I am normally softer with people I have just met or in whom I am helping build up self esteem but with Luis JP, we have known him a while and he knows we want to help him for real. We gave him the lowdown on what the centre is like and that it is compromise and he needs to do his part to get himself free of the drugs. But he just has to decide. No one can decide for him and no one can help him until he decides if he wants to live or die. He told us to get him tomorrow to take him to the centre. We need prayers on that; that nothing will thwart him from being there for us to take him to the centre.
When we went up to where the women are, EM was there after 2 weeks absence. I talked to her and we got to the Word of God and I asked if she was reading the NT bible we had given her. She said yes and I asked in what book she was in and she said, Luke. We talked a bit more and I said that the Word brings life and I told her my testimony. I guess maybe that made her realize that God had to save me from myself and that I wasn't a sheltered person like she thought. She decided to want to study the Word more and we will start our bible study this Thursday. Please pray for this as well.
One thing I noticed is that when we talk with the women, how I know that they are really listening and are captured by the Word is when the johns come by and try to solicit them, the women actually tell them to get lost because they want to talk and listen. Tonight, there was a swarm of johns around the women we were talking to. And they were all told to get lost by the women themselves.
Thank you for perservering in your prayers for each of the ones you read about here. They really need you more than you think.
God is working in the unseen parts of the hearts of each one of them on the streets. With God, NOTHING is impossible. And, we have not seen our greatest triumph yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment