“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)

The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.

This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.

Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!

The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!

Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.

First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension.

I believe with all of my heart that God put His angels around that field as a hedge of protection. As we walked around and prayed for that field in the weeks leading up to the BBQ, and on the day of the event as we prayed, I believe God anointed that piece of land for His purpose while we were there. We prayed for protection and we got it. We prayed for peace, we prayed that the ground would be saturated with the blood of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would overshadow that field and we received all of these things.

I remember a half dozen of us were behind the stage when the first pastor was preaching and we were crying out to God for repentance and open ears and open hearts and open minds. We cried out to God on behalf of the people, that the Holy Spirit would use the pastor’s mouth to speak life to these people. And we were rewarded with about a dozen people coming forward to the altar to be prayed for and receive Bibles.

Later in the afternoon a few us were getting ready to go off-site to clean up garbage. We had put it off to wait for someone who was supposed to come with us, and so we waited about an extra 20-30 minutes. Right when we were about to go (despite the person we were waiting for not coming back), preaching began and there was such an anointing that fell that we knew cleaning up the garbage of the streets around us was secondary to cleaning up the people before us, so we went into the crowd of people instead and just talked to people, showing them they were of value, speaking life into their lives, and just providing an ear to listen to them. Many people were prayed for, many seeds were planted.

After that, we had another pastor preaching and at the end of his message, he asked people who wanted to receive prayer to just put up their hands. I was at the front watching the sound board, having sat down for the first time in probably six hours, and I looked out and one man caught my eye. His hand was up and I felt led to go over to him and as the pastor was praying, I just stood behind him, put my hand on his shoulders and prayed. After the prayer was done I was able to sit with him and talk to him about how much Jesus loved him, how much value He had before God, and just really inspire him and lift him up. I told him about the inner city church, and he said he had a friend that went there and had asked him to go. I encouraged him to go, and I pray that he did go this morning, or will go this evening.

It was a long day of praying and interceding for people, and then there was the cleanup. Tearing everything down and hauling it back to the church was a job and a half, and we had less people to help with the tear-down than we did for the setup. Thank you so much to those who stuck around to help bring all this stuff back to the church! We were all tired and exhausted but we did it with a cheerfulness I don’t know if you would find anywhere else. And when that was said and done, we had another divine appointment waiting when we got back to the field. At this point, the field was empty, and all that was left were dirty BBQs waiting to be loaded up and taken away.

But with the five of us there, we had a man come over trying to sell us some shoes. He was obviously a street person, and not one of us really had a need for shoes (despite them being really nice shoes!). But my friend, God bless him, offered to buy the shoes if he could talk to the man for a few minutes about Jesus. You could see his back get rigid and he got defensive, but he was willing, so the two of them went off for at least 20 minutes. Then they came back, we chatted a bit, and then someone asked if we could pray for him. At this point, he had his $30 for the shoes and could have declined, but I know he was there by divine appointment and he was willing. I don’t know if he expected something short and sweet, but there were five of us and we all prayed over him… we covered him for at least 15 minutes and the Holy Spirit was definitely there. We poured God’s love over him, our love over him, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance and discernment. We covered him the blood of Jesus and prayed that his heart would be changed and that he too, would find his way the next day to church, and that the enemies lies would be exposed for what they were. He was told in no uncertain terms that the shoes meant absolutely nothing to us, but that we had a deep and sincere desire to minister to his spirit, that the money meant nothing to us. He left with his money, and thanked us for the prayers. I sincerely hope he made his way to the church this morning as well; I pray that the Holy Spirit ordered his steps because I know that he was there by divine appointment. God had His hand in the whole day, and this meeting was no exception, no coincidence.

I got home at 8:30 last night, over 12.5hrs after leaving that morning. It was an exhausting day: physically and spiritually. But it was also one of the most beautiful days I’ve experienced, and despite what God did for the people that we served, I know that He was pouring His love into me — not necessarily love for _me_, but sharing His love for His children, for the people that live on the streets, the people that most would discount as non-people, people of no value. He was giving me His love for them so that it would become _my_ love for them! I know that a gratefulness for God Himself and a love for people was birthed in me yesterday, and it spilled over this morning.

Despite a good 9hrs of sleep and still being exhausted this morning, and feeling that I couldn’t give God what He deserved at church this morning, I was completely and utterly abandoned in worship to my almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus. The Holy Spirit visited me so powerfully that if I could have I would have knelt in the aisle and wept with joy before my God. As it was, I stood with arms raised and wept before Him, declaring my love for Him and the awesome privilege that He gave me to be able to do His work yesterday. Jesus, I love you so much, and thank You for the most awesome privilege of being able to serve a people so dear to Your heart! Thank You!

And the message this morning really struck me, as it was about the fruit of repentance, or the true signs of a Christian believer. And the first of the three fruit was being generous and compassionate. How amazing that this message came a day after the service we had done! (Have you ever noticed that God affirms His work in your life through the ministry of the Word? I sure have!) A true Christian will display the fruits of generosity and compassion to people, as John the Baptist said:

“So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.”” (Luke 3:10-11, NKJV)

I count myself privileged that God saw fit to use me yesterday, and I may myself available for continued. He blessed my heart yesterday, truly, and my reward this morning was to feel Him so powerfully to the point where I felt like I couldn’t contain it anymore. Thank You Jesus so much that You love me and care for me, and that You are continuing to shape me into a vessel of honour that can be poured out to bless Your people!

The following video clips are from the news yesterday. We got a little bit of coverage, but sadly they didn’t keep any of the parts talking about God. Truly this was done in His service, for His honour and His glory. And while the media might not acknowledge that, every person who was there yesterday, from those giving their testimonies and those putting ketchup on a bun, to those who received food for their bellies and their spirits, _they_ know that this was done all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you again, to all the volunteers that helped out. I had a lot of family out to help, and I’m so proud of them for being willing to give of themselves to this cause. I’m grateful to my little girl who handed out water and pop with such enthusiasm and generosity; you make me so proud. And to my lovely wife who gave of herself the whole day, serving people and talking and listening, bless you for doing what God has called you to do. I feel such a pride for my family, yet I am humble before my God who counted me trustworthy enough yesterday to minister to people. What a privilege!

Before I became a Christian I had little faith in mankind and the future of this world. So much that I did not even want to bring kids into a world with such bleak prospects. I lived for weekends to relax and weekdays to make a living. I was in a rut, living without hope or real purpose. To put things in perspective, the early 1970′s were the years of “make love, not war”, hippies, drugs, parties. The world was going to hell in a hand-basket.

My conversion took place in 1974 while attending a Cal Hays crusade with a number of other people from our church. I became convinced by the Holy Spirit that Jesus could bring hope into my empty life. I went forward and received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour.

I became involved in teaching adults about the Bible, served as elder and deacon, as teacher and Sunday school superintendent.

While I knew God, my relationship with Him was rather shallow. I was easily offended by wrong actions. I felt righteous when I should be forgiving and understanding.

When I was diagnosed with cancer and later heart problems, some Christian friends stuck with me, supporting me. I knew God was with me, yet I was no closer to Him.

Then, even as my health was improving, my life went into a rut and my marriage was falling apart. Yet God stayed faithful and had a wonderful plan. The last 2 years He has picked me up, showed me how much He loves me and brought me into a new and loving marriage.

Even after my conversion in 1974, God was not 100% part of my life. Now, with His help, He is. Faith, trust, love, guidance and obedience, all have a new meaning now. We decided that our marriage would be “before God.” That was not just for the wedding, that is for the rest of our lives.

I grew up very loved in a family of six. We went to a United church a little bit when I was young, but never really knew God or Jesus. When I got into my teenage years and went off to college I really didn’t believe in anything. I played around with tarot cards; I was in college for Technical Theatre and was surrounded with people who had New Age type ideas. Nothing really took hold of my heart when it came to believing in something.

I worried a lot about stuff (I don’t know how I didn’t get an ulcer). I meet my future husband and fell deeply in love and we married soon afterwards but I still would worry about work, bills, money….. you know the regular stuff that seems to keep people awake at night.

He was from a Christian home and wanted to go to church. Church! No way, I didn’t want to get out of bed for boring old church. He would not give up though. He kept asking his mom for different places he could take me.

Finally we walked through the doors of a non-denominational/evangelical/charismatic/pentecostal church. Instantly I knew there was something different about this place, I cried and the music was giving me the tingles (that is the best way I can describe it).

We went to an ALPHA class, so that I could learn about Jesus and how much He loves me. At the end of those classes we went out to a beautiful log cabin for a day retreat, and it was there that I was filled with the Holy Spirit and couldn’t stop smiling for days afterwards!

Since then my life has been a lovely journey learning about God and growing in my relationship with Him. We have a daughter who is a prayer warrior and is being raised in a home where she will go out and do God’s work, whatever that may be…..

We are so blessed, praise GOD!!

I am a grateful believer who struggles with insecurity and who is recovering from low self-esteem.

My sister and I enjoyed a protected, carefree childhood surrounded by friends and family but my parents could not get along with each other. They eventually split up and dad left us when I was 13. He never came back, or visited and it seemed like he didn’t care how we were doing. I was worried that if friends found out, they would think there was something wrong with me that made me unworthy to be loved, because it felt like my father was leaving me – not mum. Mum taught me never to trust any man – especially if he said he loved you. My sister and I grew up amongst Methodists. I was baptised when I was 17, but stopped going to church, shunning Christians for 30 years because I witnessed a member of the clergy make a mistake. I determined that I didn’t want to be part of the hypocrisy. I could not see that it wasn’t God who had let me down – it was man.

I married a schoolmate whom I looked up to as a self-made man. He was given away to be raised by strangers when he was 4 because his parents split up and there was nobody to look after him and his brothers, whilst his mother went out to work. As a young couple, we worked very hard. My troubles began when my work started being recognized. There were double promotions and I was trained to take on a regional role. My husband kept telling me that somebody as stupid as I could not have achieved that level of success unless I had ‘slept my way to the top’. I was devastated and over time, believed I was stupid! Communication between us deteriorated and the once happy life full of promise turned into one of heartache and sorrow. How sad that everyone could see and appreciate my worth except the one person I had chosen to live my life with! Again, I dared not confide in anyone – not even my mother or sister – lest they think there was something wrong with me.

In 1999, a routine medical test revealed that I had cancer – the same cancer my mother-in-law had just died from within 7 months’ of diagnosis! My husband wrote me off as dead and would not let my 2 daughters communicate with me during treatment overseas. (Have you ever been stepped on when you’re at the end of your rope?) Still I refused to admit that I needed God’s help. I returned home 3 months later and it took me another 2 years to find myself. I made a list of things I always wanted to do but had never gotten around to. I found another job and buried myself in work. My spare time was filled with activities that I thought would bring fun, pleasure and take me away from dwelling on my pain. I kept kidding myself but it was an empty life, without meaning or purpose. Everything was dependent upon my own might. Outwardly I was a control-freak. You would never guess I was so depressed! Meanwhile, the marriage continued to wear us all down – verbal and physical abuse became increasingly frequent and my daughters and I cowered in fear of the man who was head of our family.

In my weakest moments, when the heartache became too much to bear and my head was reeling with the insults and hurtful words my husband kept hurling at me, I chose to accept love and kindness from various men who seemed to care. I knew it was wrong, but rationalized that I was entitled to love after what I’d had to endure. What that did in fact, was reinforce my low self-esteem and make me all the more insecure. Men couldn’t be trusted – wasn’t that what mum kept telling me?

Things came to a head leading up to and through 2008 with one thing after another:

• My mum who was then 76 (and who’d always been in good health) sent me into a panic when she called to say she was bleeding in the toilet;
• My only sister was at that time overseas seeking treatment for a rare cancer. She underwent radical surgery to remove a 5kg (yes larger than a baby!) tumour lodged between major organs in the abdominal cavity.
• My two daughters aged 21 and 18 are like the teenagers of today – concerned only with themselves and their friends. Their father took his own frustration out on them, beating our younger daughter out on the street, demanding that the elder get out of the house; threatening to disown them.
• The one person I trusted betrayed me in the worst possible way. I cried myself to sleep every night for months struggling to deal with it.
• At work my boss was waging a war on several managers, me included
• My own health deteriorated and I suffered frequent migraine attacks

How Jesus transformed my life

I had posted holiday photos on a public photo site; someone left a comment on a photo of a pool deck drenched by 2 solid days of monsoon rain. Through an exchange of comments, we discovered we were both cancer survivors! He understood what my sister would have to live with if most of her colon had to be removed to save her life. I asked if he would reassure my sister that she would be able to live a normal life and confided that I was looking for ’someone to take me back to God’.

I accepted Christ in February 2008 and recited the Sinner’s Prayer over internet chat with “Joe”. Using the world-wide web, we found a church for me to go to and I started reading the Bible. At that time, “Joe” wasn’t going to church because he was disappointed at how politics had damaged a pastor’s career leaving the pastor bitter till today. That pastor was “Joe’s” good friend. In the process of leading me back to God, “Joe” went back to church!

Through my relationship with Jesus, I have been able to forgive those who abused me, ask forgiveness from those whom I have hurt and pray for those who are hurting. Relationships have been restored, old wounds are healing, and old scores have been settled. God revealed his amazing grace and love by answering all my prayers! It was just a polyp that needed to be removed to stop mum’s bleeding. My sister’s tumor was not attached to any of the major organs! The operation was successful in removing all traces of the tumor and she is fully recovered!

“Joe” and I have since married and we continue to grow in our intimacy with each other and with God. Those old insecurities still come up and if I let them, they will drive me back into the rut I used to live in. I have to consciously let go and commit my life daily to Christ’s control. I know now that when I hit a road block, God wants me to stop, listen to Him and bring about a change in myself.

I would like to share this verse, which leapt out at me from a beautiful poster this morning

Jeremiah 29:11
I know the plans I have for you
Plans to prosper you and not to harm you
Plans to give you hope and a future