(These snapshots are the inside of my head type. And hopefully the inside of your head will understand…)
The days of walking into worship at the beginning of every week and meeting new people from around the country has ended. You honestly get really used to not knowing people’s names. In other words, summer has ended in Cairo. We’ve had our break. And now we’re back for another year, our fourth one together to be exact. Before I can begin this new year though, I need to go back and share more from the summer with you. There are always those moments where you stop and you know that something just happened that you KNOW you did not do and that it was purely God moving. It is those moments or what I like to call snapshots that I want to share with you…
- Snapshots of UNITY.
…WITH YOUTHWORKS STAFF. There was such unity in heart and vision with the YW staff and us this summer. It started from day one. God gave them a heart for Cairo and prayer from the very beginning. There were so many times this summer that I had to stand back in amazement because this unity had not taken any work to create and really they didn’t feel like YW staff to me but brother and sisters in Christ on a common mission. This was a taste of unity like I had experienced before, we pray for it all the time and it was refreshing!
…WITH TIGERET METHODIST. It was wonderful to have another church support YW along with us in town. They understand YW and our heart in a way that hasn’t happened locally before!
…WITH HANNAH’S HOUSE. We didn’t have a lot of YW groups there this summer but I saw unity through my staff as we worked like never before to finish it. One time that does stick out in my mind when we did have a group there for only 20 minutes and the amount of work and joy they had during that time was more than we could have ever imagined!
- Snapshots of PRAYER JOURNEYS.
…One local church. We had one pastor in town ask us to pray at her church. Even though the air-conditioning chose to go out that day, it was such a privilege to pray and agree with this pastor. God truly led this time.
…Thebes. An adult leader had a desire to pray over this nearby town and invited us to come with her once she found out that we were a prayer ministry. Kristy actually owns some land here now! It is hard to explain in words how significant this time was but just believe me that it was!
…Pastor Jordan. We actually ended up going to his church 3 times this summer with YW which is very unusual. During one of these times there was a youth that had actually come to Cairo and his church three summers before and this had radically changed him and he got to thank Pastor Jordan.
…Prayer Walks. These were encouraging times for staff as we saw teens pray like they’ve never prayed before, things that the Lord has spoken to us were confirmed through visitors and saw you Lord divinely set up these times such as praying for the superintendant and then he walks up!
- Snapshots of BREAKTHROUGH.
…June 29, 2008. Dishon (The Kid’s Club staff) spoke at Tigeret Methodist Church. The pastor was going to be gone and asked him to speak in his place. This was probably the first time a black man, an African actually, probably spoke from their pulpit.
…Kids Club. It was amazing to see these mostly black kids of Cairo being invited into this mainly white church all summer! One day as we were praying there, we saw peace signs put up as we were praying for peace. The place quieted down as soon as we started praying.
…Thursdays. Most Thursdays were powerful days in where I God moving. Maybe I was just more aware on that day, I’m not sure!
- Snapshots of CHILDREN.
…Three boys joined us for worship at the projects one Friday night. They stayed the whole time, although part of it may have been that a watermelon that was also there may have been calling their names. At any rate at the end of the night they wanted to come up with their “band” to freestyle. We told them that it had to be about Jesus, God etc. What came from these mouths of babes was a call for righteous, holy living…which had to be from the Lord.
…Each week we went to one of the Projects on Tuesday afternoons to do some type of service. Each week there was a different group of kiddos. One week we had kids from one family come and write and draw prayers in chalk at every corner around the projects. God led them beyond their years in their prayers and it was amazing to see color around this usually dismal environment.
…Hali, the girl that I mentor from outside of town, grew to love reading and libraries when at the beginning of the summer she did not like reading!
…Devin and Bryce, two seventh graders helped out with Kid’s Club the whole summer. It was amazing to see them rise to leadership.
…There were girls that were visiting their grandma down the street from me that would ride their bikes back and forth during summer night and often knock on our doors. They came over one night telling me about a guy that they heard had been shot. I asked one of the girls that I knew the best to pray and each of the girls prayed from their hearts.
5. RANDOM snapshots.
…Strays…we had many stray animals meander their way to each of our houses this summer. The white house had an orange cat takeover of cats living on their porch and one that was welcomed inside. At my house we had the cutest stray ever named Honey stay with us for a few weeks. My “fondest” memory was Honey pooping out an Oscar Meyer Weiner wrapper as my team started praying for me!
And I know those were not the only ways that God moved in Cairo this summer. These are only some snapshots. Oh, may we have our eyes open to really see our Father in our everyday lives. I know that I don’t always want to only see in part…
Amen.
the story i find myself in... 