3rd
And he died for all!
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Cor. 5:15
And he died for all!!!
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Acts 17:26
In my mind these verses belong together, they are verses I need to remember every time the team hits the street. We weren’t all blessed with a comfortable home, loving family, a good education, good health, or opportunities to hear and see the Gospel lived out. But He died for all! Thank you Father, you gave up your son to reconcile us to you. Jesus paid it all and we need to tell ALL people about our savior.
These last 2 weeks have been very, very busy. We’ve been hitting the streets almost every evening handing out the beautiful Easter Baskets so lovingly donated by many of you. Because of you we were able to hand out 484 baskets, pray with everyone we met, and share with many the true spirit of Easter. Some people took the basket, prayed with us and then ran off before we could talk to them. We grieve over the missed opportunity to share the gospel and then our heavenly Father sends us comfort in a totally unexpected way. This week Cindy has been spending all her evenings at her church where they are housing the homeless for the week. One of the men staying at her church recognized her and told her how he knew who she was. A few weeks earlier the van had stopped him while he was walking down the street. Here is, as best as I can remember, what he said:
“I was walking down the street when a van pulled up beside me and you (Cindy) were sitting at the passenger window. You asked if I wanted a lunch bag and prayer. I knew that the Lord was watching over me because I was so scared about reaching my destination without being attacked that I was too scared to pray. And there you were, offering to pray for me. I walked away feeling protected and thanked God for sending you at just the right time.”
Thank you Father for protecting this man and for allowing us to reach out to him with your love. You never forget any of your lost sheep and you bless us with opportunities to see and hear about the comfort you bring so many.
We meet others that bring joy to us in the van as soon as we meet them. We had just finished handing out about 50 baskets and I was getting ready to pull away from the curb when I spotted a lady coming down the middle of the street on her motorized wheelchair frantically waving her arms. When she got to the van she introduced herself and said that word on the street was that we were handing out baskets and could she have one. We prayed with her, talked to her about Easter, and gave her 4 baskets as she had 3 grandkids at home. She had the biggest smile on her face and kept saying Thank you Jesus. When she rode off on her wheelchair we could hear her shouting “Woo-Hoo!” over and over again while rolling down the street. I don’t think any of us will forget this encounter and we look forward to seeing her again as she shared her address with us so we can visit her.
I could write pages and pages about the blessings of handing out Easter baskets, prayer, and the love of Christ with over 400 people these last 2 weeks but there is one in particular that touches my heart. We have known this cross-dresser about 4 years now and all of us have fallen in love with her. It has been a relationship that has been a real test of our faith and our sin of judging others. For the sake of clarity I will call her CD. When we first met her she didn’t want to pray with us but would come to the van every week to get her lunch bag. Then CD started sharing with us why she didn’t want to pray. Because of her life choice she felt rejected by God. She had been to church a few times and it seemed to her that every time she attended the pastor spoke about sexual sin and particularly focused on her form of sin. Then we started showing up on her corner and talked about God’s love for her. The relationship started blooming and she started introducing us to others sharing her lifestyle or living in her neighborhood. This week I wanted to shout or maybe even more enthusiastically scream my thanks to God. When we stopped to see CD she asked if I could give Easter baskets to a new neighbor that moved in this week with 3 young children. So I grabbed 4 baskets and walked down the street with her. We knocked on the door and the young mother answered, CD introduced us and the mother invited us in. This mother and her young children were so very grateful for the baskets and the prayer. Then CD took over and started telling this mother about how we share Christ with the people we meet and how it is transforming her life and if she is open the “Church ladies” will stop by and visit and pray with her and the kids every week. Before I could respond CD then asked this mother if she would like to join her for church this Easter Sunday!!! What happened with CD IS the message of Easter, Jesus interceding, transforming and reconciling the life of his lost child.
But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Heb. 7:23-27
May you have a very blessed Easter,
Donna and the 70x7 team
