1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Our family has been working toward one particular week of outreach for the past several months. It is an outreach to Grand Rapids and Itasca County, MN. I have been joining our Minnesota team for the past few months as we plan and prepare for a week of outreach June 16-23, 2019.
Joining a state team is not something I normally do as part of my role but this region is special - it is where I grew up.
When I joined Time to Revive I would have never thought that we would ever do an outreach that was in my “hometown” so to speak. But, when the opportunity came up I knew I needed to join the team to help out.
Many of you have some sort of idea of what our ministry does but I wanted to give you a little more insight in the context of what we’re doing in Grand Rapids.
Our end-goal is that the Church walks in the power and authority that they have been given them through the Holy Spirit. Through this, we desire that the community would be transformed by the Gospel.
All of that takes shape through the activities we do during the preparation and the week (or more) of outreach. Our team spends months preparing by meeting with local pastors and leaders while get to know the community, its strengths, and weaknesses.
Once the week of outreach arrives, we gather each morning at host location, usually a church, and have a time of prayer followed by breakfast. Everyone from the community is welcome and the majority of the people who show up are the locals who were involved or informed during our time of preparation.
After we eat we gather and train everyone how to go out into the street to “love, listen, discern, and respond” to people in ever-day conversations that we start with a simple question; “How can I pray for you?”
The conversations take all forms and we simply love people in the conversation until it comes to a natural point where we can pray for them and then eventually lead into the Gospel.
This happens for a few hours in the morning until we all reconnect at a pre-determined location for a time of testimony and lunch. After we eat, we regroup, retrain and resend teams of three or four back into the street to do the same.
At the end of the day we return to our host location where we eat some dinner and then have an evening service where we spend time praising God and then have a training to keep the momentum and encouragement going. This is our framework for each day.
Through the course of the week we may get invited into local businesses or schools to share the Gospel.
The activities are what help us get through the days but the end goal of seeing community transformation help us get through the week.
Grand Rapids and Itasca County have changed since I lived up here nearly 25 years ago but we are believing that something can change in this community for the good. That’s why we have been training, preparing and pouring into them for so long. Its why I why I am joining our team this week and its why our family has been getting ready for the past few months. We know that transformation is possible.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
No comments:
Post a Comment