May 19, 2016 - "Take It To The Streets"

Chaplain’s Corner

May 19, 2016

Take It To The Streets

Good Morning, Patriots!

It is a beautiful day to be alive. Once again, I have had the privilege and thrill of seeing God answer prayer. A pastor friend of mine, and his congregation have been planning a local ministry called "Take It To The Streets" and it is basically a revival in the heart of the "hood," where many people fear to walk. It started last night, and will continue on tonight, and tomorrow night. The location is at the corner of 29th Street and Clifton Street, on the West side of Indianapolis. I would love to see any of you who read this blog come out if you can.

This ministry was the fruition of a burden on the heart of my spiritual brother, Tim Trammer, who carries the mail by day. He has seen firsthand all of the things that go on in the "bad" neighborhoods, and he had a burden in his heart to reach out to these people, primarily the young ones, who are living in the heart of misery. Think about it: in these urban neighborhoods, what is "normal" is households where there is not a father in the picture, and the mother works 2 or 3 jobs, just to try to pay the bills. Many, if not most, of the children in these neighborhoods have no real positive influences in their lives. They have the streets and the gangs. Their whole reference point in life to what is "normal" is dictated by the influences they find in the hard streets.

Many times, it is pretty much impossible to get these people to come to a church. So, instead, we have decided to take the Church to them. We set up a large tent on the empty, vacant lot on the corner. We brought in the Porta-Potties. We brought in the grille and the hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and water. We brought in the generators and the sound equipment. We brought in the chairs. We positioned prayer warriors at the edge of the property by the streets to offer to pray with people if they wanted to stop by for prayer. We fed the neighborhood, with food blessed by our Holy God. We also fed the neighborhood with spiritual food prayed down upon us by the Holy Spirit. We had revival. We had singing. We had cheering. We had clapping of hands. We had prayer. We had lots and lots of prayer. And we had tears. We had lots and lots of tears. We had some real, emotional, poignant moments. We had answer to prayer. And it felt good. Sweet. Wonderful. Moving. Thank you, Jesus...

It remains to be seen how God will move tonight and tomorrow night. We have an agenda prepared, but honestly, it's all about glorifying our Holy and Righteous God, and inviting His Holy Spirit into our lives to heal broken hearts and cleanse us of our own sinful ways. Come out and share, if you can. If you can't do that, will you at least pray for us? Pray for God to move in a mighty way in this neighborhood where he is needed so badly? Pray that he gives us the words to say to the right persons, at the right time. Pray that His will be done. Pray that He is glorified, sanctified, and praised. Pray for us, and pray for the neighborhood. And by the way, I will be praying for you, too...

God Bless you, every one, and:
God Bless America!
Stephen King
Chaplain@upi.com