Mission Trip Day 2

What a great day the team had here in Everett!  We hit the streets at 9am with everybody departing from our house. Many walked and I dropped a few off at locations around downtown so that they could pray and do some street evangelism.

Each person wore their "Who is Jesus to You?" shirt and it really got a reaction here. Some saw it and smiled. Others saw it and pointed to the sky. Others saw it and scowled, walking away from us. Still others verbally told us that they didn't want anything to do with Jesus. It simply amazes me that that name seems to be the great dividing line in this world. You can throw around God, "spiritualism", or any other name. But the name of Jesus always evokes a reaction. 

Matthew 10
³² “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
³⁴ “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵ ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
³⁶     Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

 

After prayer walking we spent some time at our house hosting lunch for the team. We shared our experiences and it was so clear that the team had their eyes opened on this experience. This experience did to many of them what it did to Amanda and I last year:  once you see the world this way, you never look at it the same way again.  Once you become aware of the spiritual brokenness and void that is right there around us, suddenly the material things of this world don't matter as much.  Instead it becomes of paramount importance to share your knowledge of The Most Important Thing anyone could know, which is the Gospel message of Jesus.

In the early afternoon we hosted lunch for the great residents of Family Tree Apartments. The mission team served burgers and hot dogs to everyone who showed up, and the EFC team was able to connect with so many of the residents and invite them to Kid's Club.  Collectively we were able to get many verbal commitments by parents and kids to go. 

This evening we had Kid's Club Day 2, and had 19 show up in spite of the fact that we had a handful from yesterday that were unable to come.  We picked up a lot more kids from Family Tree this time which was really encouraging to all of us.  It goes to show again that relationships really matter.  If we will just stop our busy lives for a little bit and engage people in care and love, a good response results from it!

 

Probably the biggest moment during Kid's Club tonight came not from the kids themselves, but from one of the parents.  The mom of a little boy from Family Tree came with us tonight and sat and talked with a member of the mission team about Jesus.  After hearing the Gospel message and being talked through everything that it means for us, the woman accepted Christ right on the spot!  And that is what it is all about.  Bringing the most important thing, Jesus, to a person to transform their life forever.  

However, this isn't the end of the road for her. 

If we simply treat this as though she's crossed the finish line, we won't have done our job.  What we have to do now is disciple her so that she becomes a follower of Jesus.  That process will take a long time, but it is why we are here!  Nothing, and I mean nothing, even compares in importance to this work.  We are truly humbled that the King of Kings would choose to use us to spread His message.

So that begs the question:  who is Jesus to you?