September 2nd

Another awesome Sunday.....it was a SON day indeed!
We had a great turn-out again, and the weather was just beautiful!

I am always amazed at the spiritual hunger we see, and yet I have no idea why it surprises me. God said that the harvest was plenty, and I'm tellin' ya what, the harvest certainly is! And we need to be gathering that harvest, and not let it sit on the ground and rot. I'm so blessed to be a part of what God is doing on our streets, and so humbled that He is allowing us to see His heart for the people. I can't express it enough how much I love Him! He is so awesome!

This week was just amazing. As usual, God was busy preparing hearts long before they got there. Frank preached on "Greater." Jesus said we would do "greater" things than these....wow, that's awesome to think about! That self-same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us and has EMPOWERED us for great exploits! Whooo-hooo!

Anyway, when Frank had the alter call, he could barely get the words out when people just started coming up so fast for prayer. It was amazing! People were saying, "I want the greater things of God!" So we ministered and ministered and ministered! And Samantha ended up leading a man to the Lord, a man that's been coming for weeks....it was so awesome. She said she was standing there while a man was waiting in line to be prayed for, and I think she actually was part of praying with someone else and she just turned around and asked him if he knew Jesus...did he know if he died he would go to heaven, and he said he wasn't sure, so she showed him the Way and it was so totally cool! YAY God!!!!! It was so awesome for Samantha to be involved in someone's born again experience. WAY COOL!

Then one lady came up named "Y" who grabbed my hand and had this look of desperation in her eyes. She wanted something and she just was so choked up she couldn't speak it out. Finally she began to weep and told me she was all alone. He mother passed away last year, and within a few months her father passed away. And then only a few months later her husband had a sudden heart attack and passed away. And there she was, all alone. She said she was an addict, but was so ashamed that she had let herself get that way and that she had been clean for several weeks and wanted desperately to hold on to that, and she wanted "greater" for her life.

She told us that she had a degree and used to have a job in another state teaching high-school, but now she couldn't get a job here in Augusta. She said, "I'm very employable, I just can't get anyone to give me a chance." All she needed was a chance, ya know? So we prayed with her about a bunch of things, but specifically for that job. Paige and Sam and I sat with her for quite some time, listening to her and encouraging her.

As she was crying her nose began to bleed. She told us that she needed blood pressure medicine and couldn't get it, that she was applying for medicaid but because she was homeless, they wouldn't help her. So she found a family from another church that took her in so she was using their address to get the medicaid, meanwhile that church was trying to help her get an apartment and had agreed to pay her first months rent. But because she did not have a pay stub, none of the housing areas would give her a place to stay because she was considered a risk. So I guess she finally found a place that would rent to her, but she had to have a job lined up first, but they'd let her in with out the stubs. Of course this house is in the middle of a seriously drug infested area, so she confessed that she was fearful she would be tempted to go back into that life-style. My gosh, if you had seen her, met her, spoke to her, you would know that this one, this girl here, was one that really WANTED to do better, and if she had a chance, she would do better, and she'd be awesome!

She also told us she didn't have that family from that church to stay with last night because they had a house fire on Friday. So she stayed with one of the people from the apartment building across the street. Paige said she came over early Sunday morning to clean her kitchen for her. Then "Y" said that she just wanted to be around something clean. And she said she had taken the bottle of cleaner (Fabuloso) and dabbed it behind her ears just because she wanted so bad to smell clean. Like it was perfume.

As she was telling us about the house fire, she said that the EMT told her that her blood pressure was so high that she was at serious risk for a stroke. They wanted to take her to the hospital but she declined since she had no insurance. They made her promise that she would get her prescription filled. I asked her how much the medicine was and she said $34, so we told her we would take her to the pharmacy right now and get her the medicine. And you know what? She just began to cry.

So as we are talking with her, she tells us she applied at a restaurant as a server, and she had made it through the third interview in the process, but she said she thinks they won't hire her because she is homeless. So we prayed for God to open that door for her for employment and then decreed in the Name of Jesus that she would get that job, and told her it was a done deal. She is employed and that's that. After some more conversation, she told us she needed to get to a church on Gordon Highway, that the family that had the house fire goes to that church and she needed a ride there. So we greed to take her to that church and drop her off, then Frank and I would go to CVS and get her medicine for her. The church is called Faith Kingdom Outreach and they had already told her last week that they would help her with her first month's rent if she found a place.

So we are packing up and getting ready to go, and she is climbing into the van. Then this other fella, "T" - that had come a few weeks ago...Frank prayed for his feet and they were healed....remember? Well, he asked Frank as we were getting ready to leave if he could talk to him. Frank comes over and says that "T" has some stuff at a hotel that the hotel won't give him because he owes for the bill but doesn't have the money to pay...and all of his belongings are there and he needs $20 to get it out. So I'm like, "Frank...we don't have cash, there's nothing we can do about it." Then Frank says, "Well, actually someone gave me a twenty this morning....so do you mind if we just go and talk to the hotel manager? " So we tell "Y" that we need to do this, sorry that she will be late to her other church, and she is totally ok with it. We drive "T" down to this horribly nasty hotel where he has been living. Frank goes in to talk to the hotel manager. Meanwhile while I'm in the party bus with "Y", I'm moving stuff around and come across a brand new pair of shoes my mom had given me to give away. They were size 10s. So I move them then look at Y's feet and ask her what size she wears and she says 10. Isn't God so good?? WoW! So I said, "Do you need some shoes?" She got so excited and said these were the EXACT kind of shoes she would have to buy if she gets that job. I said, "YOU ARE SO GETTING THAT JOB!!" So she got excited and I got excited and then we looked out the window and Frank was coming by. He said, "T's story is true. He got his paycheck cashed and his girlfriend (I remember her) was supposed to pay the bill, but she took off with his money! And the hotel guy says he owes $40 but he would take $20 and give him his stuff back."

So I said, "Go in and ask him if he'll take $10 cause I need to have enough money to get Y's medicine." And do you know what "Y" said? She said, "No, get him his stuff, don't get my medicine." I was floored. So I said, "Absolutely not, we will work this out." So Frank goes back in, and Y and I take hands and start praying. Then Frank comes back and gets in the van and says, "He took ten." Whoo-hooo! So T gets his stuff and heads towards the bridge. He is now officially homeless. Frank prays for him before he leaves.

Then we go to the Faith Kingdom Outreach Church. Y asks us if we would please come in and meet the pastor. I didn't really want to because on the streets, we dress VERY casual, and this was a fancy dressin' kinda church....but we decided to go in anyway. It was 5 after 12 so we thought we would be in and out. Nope. We went in and there's all these black people dressed up, hats, colorful suits, the whole nine yards. And here comes these two white people wearing blue-jeans and t-shirts. I was so uncomfortable! And Y wanted to go sit with the family she was staying with...on the SECOND ROW....I felt like we had a huge neon sign over our heads! LOL! And to make it worse....the preaching was JUST getting started!

So I'm looking at the time and thinking I need to get down to CVS and get her medicine and get on home cause the kids are home waiting for me to bring them lunch. I'm thinking we should just get up and leave so we can get on with things, but of course we are sticking out like a sore thumb on the second row in a fancy black church....if we got up to leave as the preacher starts preaching....well that would just be extra rude! LOL! So we sit for the whole service. And it was really cool because while we are there with Y, this preacher starts to preach on EXACTLY the same thing Frank preached on. And Y was getting so excited as everything was just being confirmed for her. It was amazing. She just cried and cried.

Well, Y had told us that "You know how black churches are, you go in on Sunday and get out on Tuesday." She was not exaggerating! FINALLY we get out, shake every person in the building's hand, meet the people she was staying with, hear all about the house fire, and finally get on the road. So Frank told Y that we were going to go get gas, go drop off the prescription at CVS and then go to McDs to get her some lunch. She said she didn't want us to get her lunch, that we were doing enough for her. So we told her that of course we would get lunch...for heaven sake it was nearly dinner time. hahahah

So we get to CVS and while we are waiting, Y checks her blood pressure. It was 198 over 152. Now I'm not a doctor, but that's high. And then unfortunately, her prescription had expired, so CVS didn't fill it. And the following day was a holiday, so it would be Tuesday before she could get a new prescription. She was just crying. We just sat there in CVS praying for her. Bless her heart. Then we left to get lunch.

We ended up at a Checker's drive through since it was closest. And would you believe that this girl only wanted to choose something off the 99 cents menu? She was so humble and truly did not want to take advantage of us. So we encouraged her to get something substantial, but we told her she couldn't have any salty fries if her blood pressure was that high! LOL!

So we finally took her and dropped her off at the place she had stayed the previous night...since the people with the house-fire had obvious reasons for not being able to have her stay the last two nights. And she was so thankful, and so ready for change in her life. So ready for GREATER! And I believe she will have GREATER!