Thy Kingdom Come .... In my Community Part 1
I am writing this series as a diary of what happens in my community.
My community is one of hardship for people, those I have met have had to struggle with difficulties in their lives, and their stories until now have been filled with sadness and lack of hope.
I had been living here for three years, and various thoughts, lost conversations with people about finding away to bring the community together had petered out. At times I wondered what the heck I was doing there, had created mental images of me leaving, moving onto other things. It was it seemed a desert, an in between place before I went where God wanted me to go.
What am I doing here? What is the point? This must have been a mistake.
Or so I realized after reading Fruitfulness on the Frontline, lent to me by a church friend. Alongside feeling that my community had a lot of hurting people behind closed doors, the book helped me understand that your frontline is where God has placed you now and that you must follow Jesus where you are.
At around this time I began praying that God would help me heal my community through food and me and a Christian neighbour decided to invite people from my street around for dinner.
I knocked on doors, nobody had answered, people had not been sure they were going, I had walked away despondently praying "Jesus this isn't working, I am doing my best I don't know what to do."
But I also prayed "Jesus send the right people to my home that need to be there" ..
And so I made a lasagne and a crumble and a tart, my neighbour made coleslaw and marinaded chicken and garlic bread, and a few hours before I knocked on an old lady's door to ask her if she anted to come over for dinner and she asked me how much it would cost and I said nothing.
I honestly didn't know who would turn up and thought I could end up with a lot of lasagne to eat.
But if you give Jesus a little, your very best little, He brings in so much more. And I had 7 people show, people of all creed, muslim, Christian and no faith, people who had either lived or were living with severe disabilities, mental illness, violence, old age and loneliness. And so they showed and we ate together. it was a start, a spark of things to come.
As the old lady I invited left she said to me " Let me know when the next one is!"
A few days later one of Christian ladys who had attended came around we prayed togther and amongst other things talked about having Jesus show us what was next.
During ths time the lady was given a vision by Jesus of a street party - tables laid out and us feeding the children in the community - those that are hungry and need food. It had to be done God's way though and the children would need to know it came from Jesus.
This would take place during better weather probably Easter, so we had time to plan.
And so we have our vision and we will continue to pray and if Jesus wants us to do that then that is what we will do.
Some days later and the same lady went to visit one of the muslim lady's who had come and she asked them to bless her children for her.
Another spark in the darkness and a sign of people needing Jesus who loves them deeply and wants them home.
I do not know how the story will end but what Jesus has shown me so far is that it will be a miracle and beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. We just need to humbly obey His way and He will do the rest.
Maranatha
My community is one of hardship for people, those I have met have had to struggle with difficulties in their lives, and their stories until now have been filled with sadness and lack of hope.
I had been living here for three years, and various thoughts, lost conversations with people about finding away to bring the community together had petered out. At times I wondered what the heck I was doing there, had created mental images of me leaving, moving onto other things. It was it seemed a desert, an in between place before I went where God wanted me to go.
What am I doing here? What is the point? This must have been a mistake.
Or so I realized after reading Fruitfulness on the Frontline, lent to me by a church friend. Alongside feeling that my community had a lot of hurting people behind closed doors, the book helped me understand that your frontline is where God has placed you now and that you must follow Jesus where you are.
At around this time I began praying that God would help me heal my community through food and me and a Christian neighbour decided to invite people from my street around for dinner.
I knocked on doors, nobody had answered, people had not been sure they were going, I had walked away despondently praying "Jesus this isn't working, I am doing my best I don't know what to do."
But I also prayed "Jesus send the right people to my home that need to be there" ..
And so I made a lasagne and a crumble and a tart, my neighbour made coleslaw and marinaded chicken and garlic bread, and a few hours before I knocked on an old lady's door to ask her if she anted to come over for dinner and she asked me how much it would cost and I said nothing.
I honestly didn't know who would turn up and thought I could end up with a lot of lasagne to eat.
But if you give Jesus a little, your very best little, He brings in so much more. And I had 7 people show, people of all creed, muslim, Christian and no faith, people who had either lived or were living with severe disabilities, mental illness, violence, old age and loneliness. And so they showed and we ate together. it was a start, a spark of things to come.
As the old lady I invited left she said to me " Let me know when the next one is!"
A few days later one of Christian ladys who had attended came around we prayed togther and amongst other things talked about having Jesus show us what was next.
During ths time the lady was given a vision by Jesus of a street party - tables laid out and us feeding the children in the community - those that are hungry and need food. It had to be done God's way though and the children would need to know it came from Jesus.
This would take place during better weather probably Easter, so we had time to plan.
And so we have our vision and we will continue to pray and if Jesus wants us to do that then that is what we will do.
Some days later and the same lady went to visit one of the muslim lady's who had come and she asked them to bless her children for her.
Another spark in the darkness and a sign of people needing Jesus who loves them deeply and wants them home.
I do not know how the story will end but what Jesus has shown me so far is that it will be a miracle and beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. We just need to humbly obey His way and He will do the rest.
Maranatha
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