Today was intense! It began with 3 service projects across the community. One was a yard that needed completely cleaned and cleared and the other two were homes that needed significant paint work done.
One house had cedar siding that had been painted over so many times that it took several hours scraping before it looked like we had made any progress. We taped off the windows & doors, took a paint sprayer to it, gave it a few coats and just like that it was finished. We felt every scrape and every spray; but it really paid off. It didn’t even look like the same home! Without doubt it will stand out and our prayer is that when people see it, they will remember how God provided transformation to their community! It was a beautiful picture of how Jesus works on our hearts (some longer than others) then comes in and changes them completely. He is relentless in His pursuit, scraping away at anything that doesn’t look like Jesus once we belong to Him. After projects were completed, everyone hurried to set up for our community family outreach we call Carnival night. From the very old to young, our team had opportunities to share the gospel and experienced its power as several made decisions of salvation. The local pastor said that he saw children and parents from all sorts of backgrounds come to this event that had never/would never have stepped foot on church grounds otherwise. Will you join us in celebrating and praying for those that made decisions tonight and pray for the many more seeds that were planted! Tomorrow will be a “free day” for our team to rest and recoup from the last couple weeks of intense ministry. Pray with us as we transition more team members in tomorrow from Inola and prepare to go into two communities that have been the most difficult for us to establish connections with. We know though, that just means that they still need Jesus! Please pray as we prepare to do some serious Spiritual battling in these dark places; fighting for freedom for those who can’t fight for themselves. The team has been working so hard pouring themselves out to make sure that everyone they interact with feels seen. Please pray for a physical and spiritual recharge tomorrow, and for divine encounters all along the way!
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One of the amazing things that we are getting to experience on this trip is the family of God working together as He designed it. This morning we were blessed to participate in a church service outside and invited everyone in town! It was incredible to see different denominations and ministries coming together for one common purpose: to glorify God and make Him known! It was like seeing a little glimpse of heaven.
As soon as church was over we grabbed our sack lunches and headed out for Loyal and Okeene (this time we are combining the two towns together). We rode most of the way and the team was blessed by the extra time to gather strength worshipping together and practiced sharing testimonies. After Inviting everyone in Loyal to the carnival tomorrow night we continued on to Okeene. We could tell that God has gone before us because we were able to have many Christ centered conversations. One of the team members talked to a lady named Kay whose husband (who is not a believer) had been on life support a while back. When the doctors said there was nothing more they could do, a man she didn’t know came to her and said “Don’t give up hope. Trust in the Lord.” Then the next night he woke up from his coma! The students were able to encourage her that God has a plan for her husband still and that he allowed him to wake up for a reason. We encouraged her to continue to share the Truth of the Gospel with him. Will you join us in praying for them? Pray that God will change Kay’s husbands life! As we prepare to help restore some homes and put on a carnival again tomorrow, please pray for the people in these towns. Pray that God would prepare them even this evening to have an encounter with Him tomorrow; and that the presence of God would undeniably fall upon this place! God has shown himself mighty!
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