she was the impossibility...

God can answer a prayer in an instant. Last night we asked God to put two specific women in our path and immediately after those prayers we saw both women. God can answer a prayer in an instant but the word tells us to pray without ceasing – that means when the answer doesn’t happen immediately you keep knocking, seeking, and asking. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. – Habakkuk 2:3.

We see a lot of girls on the streets every week, most we see repeatedly, some once or twice and never again. Some girls we can see every week for a year and still not form a deep relationship with them and some we see continuously for a year and build a connection that is deeper than the one I share with my own neighbor. Some girls grip your heart the second you meet them, their face follows you home, and you find yourself praying for them all the time. There is one girl I met a year ago that I instantly loved the second I first met her. T’was love at first sight if you will. Something about her captivated me and I’ve seen God use her to speak into my life countless times. She is one of the faces we see every week that I take with me off the streets. The whole team loves her. She is the girl that you think will never leave the streets – she is the impossibility.

Last night while driving during outreach I said “Jesusssssss….. it would be SO COOL if you could just put ______ in our path!!!!” one block later… boom. “okay… now you are just showing off”. I jumped out of the car and gave her a big hug and told her how much I missed her and she kept telling us how much she loved us and wouldn’t let go. I think we must’ve hugged for a solid five minutes. As she gripped my arm with her hand and reached her other arm around my neck resting on my shoulder, she began sharing with our team how she tracked down her birth mom and left the streets for the first time on her own terms; she wasn’t arrested, wasn’t in jail, not sick…but wanted to leave. She was clean for four days and the happiest any of us have ever seen her.

She told us she had dreams and couldn’t live like this anymore. She told us she had a story, she had a testimony, that she was a human being and not just a prostitute….. she told us she was worthy of love.

We stood on that street corner for twenty minutes listening to her tell us about God’s restoration in her life. If ever I heard the gospel preached it was in that moment. We listened to her tell us that one day she would be riding around with us praying for the girls. We listened to her tell us that God had a plan for her life. She said she was saying good bye to the streets and hello to a new life. It was hands down one of the best moments of my entire life. Before she left Jaime grabbed her hand and looked her right in the eye and told her that God did have a purpose for her life, that she does have a plan and how much he loves her. She is the impossibility God made possible.

She walked away and I started to laugh and then I started to cry… an hour later our team was still in shock. It always blows my mind to see the Sovereignty of our God. How majestic and wondrous His ways are and how beautiful His plans unfold. God doesn’t see a prostitute or a drug addict, He sees His beloved. A whole year I’ve been praying for her….. for this moment, for last night…. To walk in the freedom God has for her. Glory.

I knew I saw her..

I was sitting in Church a few weeks ago and saw the most beautiful red head walk in with her husband. I looked at her three times and was certain that she was who I thought she was… she was one of our girls off the streets. She looked so healthy. Her face was beaming with joy and her husband looked at her adoringly. It took everything in me to not run up to her and wrap my arms around her but I stared from a distance. It was almost as if I was looking at her from a Mothers perspective and seeing the fruit of our labor, I was proud.

It wasn’t who I thought it was. But I do believe it was an indication of who she will be. I texted Jaime and said “you will never believe who is in Church today…. it is ______ in the future and she is fully restored, free from drugs, healthy, and married”. We resolved that this happened because we needed to pray for her. We know that she is very ill and is in need of a critical surgery. The next day on outreach I thought for certain we would run into her and when we didn’t I was really bummed. Again, the next week, we didn’t see her.

Last night we were driving around with Donna, leader of 70x7, in new neighborhoods that Jaime and I have not been to… we were scooping out new possible neighborhoods that All Worthy of Love would begin to do outreach in. While we were driving around my heart ached to be in our regular neighborhood so much that I asked Donna if we could leave and go to our normal route to see our girls.

The second girl we pulled up to was her…. The girl I had been waiting for… it had been weeks and there she was. I got out of the car and hugged her and told her how much we missed her and she shared she had been in the hospital. The time had come where her surgery was life or death and it needed to be done quickly. I had a sweet opportunity to release God’s healing over her and ask him to grow new valves to her heart. There were tears and smiles exchanged but the most constant image I had while looking her in the eyes was the woman I saw in Church a few weeks ago…. Her in the future.

Please join our team in prayer that she would be completely healed either by way of instantaneous healing or through surgery. If surgery, would you please pray for everything relating to health insurance and that the details with the hospital would be divinely worked out?

“When a lion roars, who can keep from being afraid? When the Sovereign Lord Speaks, who can keep from proclaiming his message” – Amos 3:8

january.

We heard that January was a slow month. We heard that the streets were usually dismal. We heard the girls would be far and few between. We heard that January would be quiet. We heard the weatherman continually forecast temperatures colder than the previous week. Jaime, Jeana, and I entered the month of January with the expectation that everything we heard about January would be different this January…….

Our leader has spent the month of January off the streets but in prayer and fasting over the ministry and seeking the Lord for what is to come. For the first time in eleven years she commissioned three of us to the streets without her physically present…. She has lead this outreach for over 10 years so you understand her surprise when she hears this January is not slow, the streets are not dismal, the girls are not far and few between, and the month is not quiet.

Twenty girls this week, nineteen the last, two dozen the week before… and the numbers increase. But it is not about numbers. The streets are not slow this month because the Spirit is active. The streets are not dismal this month because the encounters have been mind blowing. The girls are not far and few between because no matter how dark of a place you find yourself in the light attracts you and draws you near. We have seen our regular girls and we have prayed with a lot of new girls. Even girls who are still in the womb… one of our girls is 5 days away from her due date and when I laid my hand on her stomach the baby suddenly became an acrobat – she knew the Spirit. The first night out Jeana said God told her to buy cheerios, so she did…. While we were out Jamie felt like she was supposed to give them to a specific girl who then responded “I have an 18 month old and a 6 year old and they both love cheerios, thank you!” We have been able to pass out coats, scarves, gloves, and most importantly hope to more girls than we have seen since the summer.

I also could say it has not been a slow month because the spiritual warfare has been off the hook. The streets have not been dismal because every corner also has a man present guarding territory. This past week it seemed as though every girl we prayed with got a date immediately after. Satan thinks this neighborhood is his playground, but when you bring the Holy Spirit the devil doesn’t stand a chance!

During outreach Jeana had a vision that our car was leaving behind a trail of fire and then I had a vision of heating lamps… Jeana added that the heating lamps were the girls after we drove away from them, the fire of God was upon them and heat beamed off every one of them. The light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds darkness has always got there first – but once light arrives all darkness shudders…..and that is the beauty, my beloved.

the cost is your life

When I traveled to Bangkok and walked the streets of one of the most notorious red light districts in the world the verse that continually resounded in my mind was John 1:5. “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it”. Outreach this week started with three gunshots… about a street away. It was an interesting tone to start the night off. The next place we went to was a crack house, which is not unusual for us but the gentleman that walked out was an unfamiliar face… I had a moment where I thought “okay this is it… I’m probably going to die” which then followed by praying for this man and looking him into the eyes and telling him that Jesus loves him…..and not dying. The next stop we heard from a sister that her son was gunned down two weeks prior on the street we were standing on. It was a heavy start to the night. It is interesting how we can get lost in focusing on the good that comes with Christ, the easy, the peace, the joy… but there is also a cost to following Jesus and carrying the Cross daily. The cost is your life. Doing outreach can be dark. You truly never know what each outing will bring or what will happen. What I do know is that no matter what comes our way God is on our side, God is our protector, and if I die of anything I pray that it is while I am bringing others closer to Him. As believers we are not called into this cushiony life that is easy and safe… we are called to make disciples, no matter the cost. We are called to give until it hurts like Jesus did. We get the cushiony life and the easy safe life once we are in Heaven for all of eternity. But I can say this; the darkness never overcomes the light. As heavy as this night was we did end up at a house filled with beautiful children who All Worthy of Love was able to bless with an abundance of Christmas presents and the joy that beamed from this home overcame all the darkness we had just encountered. This one home shined so brightly. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. If you are in Christ Jesus and believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead and is now alive in Heaven seated at the right hand of the Father and is coming back again….. then YOU are this light we found in this home. You are the light that is not overcome by the darkness. You are. We are. But only because He is.

revitilization

Last night I was hanging with my sweet roommate and we were discussing how wild this last year has been. As December creeps in on us (tomorrow) as does the close of the year. 2012 has been such a huge blessing! I have continually seen the goodness of the Lord prevail in all circumstances and I have witnessed His love and His beauty in so many different areas, situations, and events. Over the last year or so my feet have touched ground in Orlando, Vegas, Haiti, Miami, Japan, Thailand, New Jersey, New York, Washington DC, Amsterdam, Florence, Rome, and most importantly, Detroit City. I have been so blessed to travel and see so many things and meet so many different people. Everywhere I go I see the Lord’s beauty. I see the Lord’s goodness. I see the Lord’s faithfulness…in the good, the trials, the lows, and the unknown…He has been so faithful. I have learned that God truly does bring all things to completion. I have watched a City sprout into a re-birth and I’ve been a part of a Community that is hungry and eager to be a part of that revitalization and restoration. I have laughed, cried, loved, hurt, and experienced life. What a joy it is to feel. I cannot express the gratitude I have for my Church community and just how loving and supportive of a family they have been. I have watched a ministry (All Worthy of Love) grow and I’ve witnessed miracles and growth on the streets. The last 12-18 months have been so abundant but truly they have all lead me back to right where I am… in the City of Detroit. Loving out my faith. Dreaming to reality. Not just seeking to witness revitalization, to desire revitalization, but to deeply be saturated in being a part of revitalization…. In Detroit and in my community of friends. I eagerly anticipate the goodness of December and the next year. May it be His will and His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven in my life, your life, and in this City.