Beltway College Park's Blog

Divine Appointments and Open Doors!!!

July 31, 2010 at 7:26 am (14:12 Mission Trip)

So after a Sabbath day of rest on Thursday (see Day 3 post), we ran into the harvest field hard Friday and God was so so so so faithful!!! After a refreshing time of worship with the team this morning and a wonderful lunch of leftovers (if you knew the home cooking we had for dinner you’d be jealous!), we broke up into four ministry teams to go out on treasure hunts (See day 2 post for treasure hunt description).

Here are a few of the many testimonies from the treasure hunts this afternoon:

-       During our prayer time, Kristen P. got a mental picture of a Tobacco Store and a rough looking man with a bunch of tattoos. The sense she had from the Lord was that the man just needed some encouragement. When their team arrived at the Tobacco Store, Kristen and Logan got out to go find this man. As they were walking up to the store an intimidating looking man with tattoos all over walks out talking on his cell phone. Concluding he was the one they were to talk to, they run up to him and share what God had put on their hearts. The man was totally receptive and was also totally in awe of God’s pursuit of him. He had just gotten off the phone with his wife who had said that she wanted to start going to church again, though he was not feeling as ready. Kristen’s word cut him right to the heart and he said that he was now ready and excited about going to church with his wife cause he knew God saw him and that God’s concern for him was real!

-       Jamie Z. and Chelsea G. felt impressed by God to go to Church’s Chicken and minister to someone there. When they arrived they immediately found a girl who seemed to need some encouragement. They invited her to come join them at their table and talk and she came and joined them. They talked with her for a long while about life, shared the gospel with her, and prayed for her to be healed of brokenness and receive God’s peace. Later in the afternoon when all of our teams met up again, they were sharing this story with the others on our team. As they shared they began to put the pieces together. This girl was the next door neighbor of one of the families in the church who some of our students are staying with this week. Just the day before, Linda (who was staying at this particular house) had been talking with the host who shared the story about these particular neighbors. Linda was burdened by the situation and went next door to talk to them. They weren’t home, so Linda prayed that God would open wide a door for the gospel in this situation and would set up divine appointments for her. The next day in a Church’s Chicken far across town Jamie and Chelsea meet this girl and minister to her freely for over an hour!

-       Briana and some other students got a word of knowledge about a red brick house and the name Phillips. On the way to one of their other outreach locations they got stuck in traffic and had to take a detour. They turn on a random road and start driving down the street when one of the students says, “Guys look at the name of this street we are on!”…”Phillips!”…so they all eagerly start looking for a red brick house. The last house on the street is a red brick house! They go knock on the door and a lady answers the door. They asked her if their was any way they could pray for her and she immediately said let me go get my sister in law who is inside. The sister in law’s husband had just died from cancer and was a total emotional wreck. Briana shares the story of how they ended up there and the woman begins to sob overwhelmed by the kindness of God to send perfectly random strangers to her front door to pray with her in the deepest moment of need in her life. Both of the women were believers and told our students “thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit and following His leading here!”

In the evening we went to a local park to do an outreach (dramas, music, share the gospel, etc.) and here are some of the awesome stories of what God did:

-       Joey and Lindsey felt like God gave them a word of knowledge about there being a couple that would come to the outreach whose marriage God wanted to specifically bless. After the drama and gospel presentation, they approached this particular couple that God had placed on their hearts. Joey first asked the couple if they were married (not wanting to assume anything), and they replied with “well…uh…kinda…uh sorta…yes”. So Joey went ahead and shared the word about God wanting to bless their marriage….and their jaws hit the floor. The couple was married but had been separated for 2 months, and tonight was their first time to see each other since they separated. They were meeting at the park to walk and talk about getting back together and restoring their marriage. Needless to say, God was at work and they were super encouraged. Not only was their marriage getting restored, but also their individual relationships with Jesus! Joey led them both in prayers of rededication to Christ and prayed for them to be filled with the Spirit. They did not have a church home, so Joey invited them to Moss Bluff Church and they said they would be there on Sunday to worship with us!!!!

-       Byron and some other students ministered to a 18 year old guy who was at the park playing soccer. He came to the outreach and was touched by every part of it, especially Matt Davis’ testimony. The young man had a ruptured disc in his back that was causing him severe and constant pain. After Byron and the team laid hands on him and prayed for him, God’s presence came on him and the pain left his back!!! He has not yet surrendered his life to Jesus, but we believe he will soon. He texted Byron later in the evening and said, “Man thanks for everything, I was really touched tonight.”

God was so faithful to lead us today, giving us divine appointments all over the place, and open doors for the gospel! More to come in the days ahead!