Day 3

Hey everybody!

This is a post to summarize the Wednesday we had here in Columbus. The day started out with the best breakfast of the week to date, and it improved from there. D.A. Horton, a unique speaker from Kansas City, spoke to us concerning the beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). It was a very good reality check for us. D.A. told us that nothing foreign should reside in our thoughts. He challenged us to value purity so much that it invades every part of our life. God spoke to me through this beatitude because I was spoken to by God to expose everything before Him. Horton compared our minds and hearts to houses with many rooms; are we hiding those rooms like they haven't been cleaned and we have guests over? God should be a permanent resident in each of our hearts, and we need to allow Him to inspect and clean out each aspect of sin that we hold onto.

That afternoon we headed into Columbus to minister to people in the city. I wish we had more time, but as our leader told us, this was a taste of what we can experience in our own town and surrounding area (Salt Lake City). Our assigned area with the Urban Entry ministry was Agora Ministries. It couldn't have been more than 15 blocks from downtown Columbus, but just from the outward appearance of things the area was hurting. Agora serves the children of the community by leading church services and offering many different other services to address various community needs. Our task was to venture into the neighborhoods and minister through service work in God's name, representing Agora. This amounted to an hour of picking up trash for many of us. My favorite part was talking with the 15 year-old boy who led us around the area. His name was Charles, and he was living with his grandmother, who has full custody of him. He has lived in several places in that neighborhood with various relatives, and all he would tell me was that he didn't like his mother. He works at Agora in order to afford school clothes. Please pray for children like Charles, because Columbus seems to be full of kids like him. Also please pray for Agora as they continue to work with these kids.

The evening rally was incredible. Geoff Stafford shared with us about meekness (Matthew 5:5). Meekness does not equal weakness. Meekness has spirit and stamina, but it is completely under the control of God. Meekness is strength and power under control that requires knowing who we belong to. He gave us several examples of meekness, and challenged us to be meek. Ask us when we return to share with you the traits of someone who is meek. I was inspired to become someone not concerned with personal gain or accomplishment through my own means, but to channel the spirit of God through me for His gain. It's not my life to have anyway.

Final thing: while we were in our breakout sessions after the evening rally, we had a great time of sharing within the group. The previous night, many of us had rededicated our lives to Christ, so the majority of the group shared with everyone else why they had done that and how we could keep them in our prayers and encourage them for accountability. After we had finished, a drunk man came into our huddle and, with tears in his eyes, asked us to pray for his mother who suffers from cystic fibrosis. It was humbling to be used in that way and hold his hand while we asked God for a miracle in Debra's (his mother's) life. Darren Yager sat with him after we prayed for him, and I'm grateful that we could all be used in that way.

Please continue to pray for safety and spiritual inspiration during this week. Pray for Charles, Agora Ministries, and Debra and her son. And please keep us accountable and ask us how God worked in us this week when we return! God bless you all, and we'll see you Sunday!

Matt Pershe