July First Friday! SEVEN Souls Saved!!!

WOW! What a night! We had a total blast tonight at our July First Friday! It was packed down-town, mostly due to the Independence Day celebrations that had been taking place all week. I have SO MUCH to tell you that I fear this will be the absolute longest blog post in the history of blogging! But it was just an incredible night and too much GOD to leave out any details....just an absolute wonderful night of ministering to people. YAY GOD!!

I'll post some here and then another cool story about a man we deal with every First Friday in another post....cause as usual....it's a long one!

This week we were blessed with several extras. First, we had a fire-cracker go getter named Sharon come and join us. She was a blessing! She operated in A Church Without Walls as our "greeter". She shook hands with everyone who passed her by. She has amazing energy and boldness. And we had SEVEN SOULS SAVED!!!! Whooooo--hooooo!

We did something a little bit different at this First Friday, and it went over well enough to repeat it next month. We had helium filled balloons and we tied a message on a business card to each one and handed them out to children. It was so much fun. We had scripture written out as decrees for the kids, such as "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me," "I am strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." That sort of thing. The best part I think, was a man who came down with Sharon who lives down-town in poverty, who helped Frank pass out the balloons. I could tell he had such a sense of belonging and doing an important work for the Lord. That picture blessed me beyond measure.

Later I had a conversation with him and found out he was just a regular guy with a job and a home, then his wife suddenly passed away from cancer three years ago. I could tell he was hurting so much inside from her loss. He said that last year he had a heart attack and became very ill, spending a lot of time in a rehabilitation center to recover from the damage done to his body from the lack of blood flow. And when he was released, there he was, in extreme poverty with no one to look after him. This could happen to any of us. I was so blessed to watch him be involved and feel important and needed for the work of God. I could just sit here and cry when I think about it.

We also had another real treat for First Friday. For the first time we had a band! A wonderfully talented and anointed man named Hosea came and sang and played the guitar. He really ushered in the presence of God! Another lady named Karen, also an anointed and talented worship artist, played the bongos. This made the world of difference for our night. There is something so special and so profound when you bring together people for worship...the atmosphere totally changes!! It was such a GOD NIGHT!