Journeying with Compass People
Last week Clarence and I were away at Volunteer Lay Pastor (VLP) training at Camp Kulaqua. The environment was so beautiful there. We stayed in one of the new lodges, the worship was wonderful no one interrupting you to bring in a donation of food or clothes for the soup kitchen/ shelter, just an awesome time of worship, totally focused on Jesus. The messages on Peace Making, and Experiencing God’s Presence in trials were so timely. It was just a time to come apart into nature, go for a walk on the boardwalk, see two deer, a doe and her young one and just kickback and enjoy the environment. My next favorite was all the squirrels that were having such an awesome time frolicking together.
God knows what I need to make me laugh, to revitalize me like He did Elijah and a time away from my busyness just to reconnect with God.
All that being said, we came back revitalized to the ministry God has called us to do, just loving on shelter kids, other kids that have been journeying with us for more than three years now, and still other new ones that have come to us from Wyldlife, and as always ministering to the homeless that God puts in our path. Today we celebrated the baby steps, as one homeless person, that generally doesn’t offer to help, offers to mop a floor, we were able to see a whole lot of kids cleaning tables, doing dishes as they learn what it means “to serve” each other.
It was exciting to experience one of our earli-teens making a decision for Christ and baptism and other ones thinking about doing so this summer. What a journey we are on!
As I sat there trying to juggle two shelter kids in my lap, and take in a donation at the same time, while all the time trying to worship, God showed up in the midst of all that, as He spoke to me through the awesome music, through messages from other members and through one special early teen girl that I have been crying out to God for on a regular basis that she might get the love of God through me as I become His hands and His feet. She came up to me today, and when I asked her how she was doing said, ” good now that you are here.”
It makes all the interruptions to worship worth it, as she is finally getting the love of God, that unconditional love, which there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme nor reason for it, just a Holy God loving on each one of us through His Holy Spirit, so one by one we get the message and become His hands and feet to do the same. Have a blessed and God honoring week as we continue to experience God’s Holy Presence.
