My
friend Rose. Wow. God tugged and she responded. He spoke and she
listened. He pointed and she went. And oh the way He is working...
She
lives in a lovely country home, up a lane with a beautiful view of
the flat, Il. landscape, with her husband and 3 sons. Not far from
their home is a small, very small town (is it a town?). I looked up it's population on line and found out that it is actually
a defunct town that has “voted itself out of existence”.
Interesting. Well, there are probably 35 homes, no post office, or
church, or much of anything.
Anyway,
she worked there at the elevator. That they do have. And as she would
occasionally drive through the “town”, she noticed and she
sensed. She sensed sadness and need. She noticed children playing,
forlorn homes, run-down yards. And she heard God speak to her heart.
She was not sure exactly of what He was saying, but she knew He was
speaking.
She
shared her heart with a dear friend. A young foster parenting,
mission minded mom with a heart for the hurting. Rose shared that
maybe she could somehow set up an after school program or something
of sorts. Her friend Hope, immediately caught the vision. Yes! But
first, she said,...”you need a building”.
So,
with continued prayer (her and her husband had been doing a lot of
that), she drove through the town. The tiny, “nothing in it”
town, to see if there was “a building”. And then, there it was. A
new building. Being constructed. A pole building of sorts. She pulled
up her car, got out and went inside where she found a neighbor
overseeing the construction. "Hi Clayton, whats going on here?" "Well, I
got a grant and so decided to put up this building. Not really sure
what it will be used for. A polling place. Maybe a..... Why,
what do you want to use it for?" He asked.
She
told him. “An after school program for the kids here.” “Well,
yeah sure” he said.
God
provided a building.
She
then called Hope back. Now you need some helpers, she said. Try Brian
and Kara. Rose reached out to them and was so blessed by Kara's
response. Kara shared that her kids had just been praying about
finding an opportunity to do ministry close to home and this place is
literally right down the road from them.
And
so they scheduled a wiener roast for the town. That evening they
handed out brochures about the after school program. They started
with five kids, one afternoon a week. They played games, helped with
homework and provided snacks (from another amazing ministry; the
Midwest Food Bank).
Rose shared with me how hard it was for her not to share Jesus from the get-go.
She so wanted to go there....to let those kids know of the Gospel
truth. But she knew that first they needed to establish rapport and
trust...to become their friends. And so they continued.
The
ministry has now grown to 15 kids. There are now around 6-7 young
couples from a nearby town with a heart to share God's love in
this way that have gotten involved. The program continues but
recently they have added prayer time. Oh what an opportunity this
provides. What is prayer? The kids want to know. So now, she is able
to share Jesus, who He is and why we can pray to Him! The Gospel is
now going out. Rose was absolutely glowing as she bubbled out this
joyful news! They recently had her cousin's husband, a past
missionary from Haiti, come and share God's Word. He has such a way
with kids...and they seemed to be taking it in! Praise God!
A
while back, one of the couples helping with the program mentioned that they were okay with
donating supplies etc, but maybe they should have a fund raiser or
something. Soon after that Rose received a call. There is a new church plant
in another town nearby that had heard of their ministry and was looking to give
to a local need. Could they use some funding? Oh, thank you Jesus!
She was told that a thousand dollars would be coming and when that
runs out to let them know.
As
the kids share their prayer needs, those working there are coming to
know more and more of the realities of these kid's lives. Heartache,
lack, challenges, fighting, broken floors, broken lives. Like all of
us, broken and in need of a Savior. And now they are being told! And
those broken floors and needed repairs....they are going to be
addressed as well as another ministry has decided to so some work
projects this summer in that precious little "town".
A place that is home to some beautiful, precious souls. And God saw fit to visit
them in a special way, because He loves them like He loves us all!
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