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Mission Log: 2012/01/07
January 7, 2012 – Memory of Larry David
One year ago today we said our goodbyes to a gentle man and a friend. He was homeless and was battling health and all kinds of spiritual evils. The first homeless man we had ever met and the last one to end our mission work in Athens, GA. Larry David left 2 children and a wife the day he died. I think about him often and wonder about God’s amazing appointments to place us into his life for the last 8 months of it.
That last morning we arrived and Larry was as optimistic as I ever remembered him. He looked in good health and had many smiles. It was Larry and he was happy. We always asked him about his family and he was always excited to talk about them. His daughter would sometimes wonder into the area and call to meet up with him…you could hear the pride in his voice.
Larry’s story unfolded for us after his death and the friends of PB & J ministry UGA had befriended him about the same time we had. We knew of them but never met them. Larry’s death brought us together to share our memories of Larry and hear the hope of Larry’s pursuit for Godliness. He struggled with difficult issues, but God gives grace to “all men” and His grace covers a mountain of sin. The almighty gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud.
I did not write another Mission log after Larry’s death, because of the circumstances and it was clear that God had called that mission to an end. Looking back, it was the force that I looking for to launch MissionBus beyond the local city. I met Radar several times at the prison after Larry’s death and gained some understanding into the mind that led to that end. Radar did show regret and repentance from what had happened but as with most stories there was more to it.
The Spirit of God opened the door for those couple of meetings with Radar but then closed it very clearly and without doubt. The mission work to Athens taught us so much about God and how He can use us as a part of what He is doing the hearts of other men. Though we befriended so many in Athens over those eight months, the time there was worth even just one soul. Our time there will never be forgotten and neither will the memories of our dear friend Larry David.
Posted by: Marc
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Mission Log: 2011/11/15
Final Leg of Eastern Mission (Detroit, MI / Chicago, IL / Nashville, TN - October / November 2011
MissionBus arrived home to Rutledge, GA on November 13 to complete our first missionary journey through the eastern parts of the US. The last month has been absolutely an amazing finale to our 6 month journey. During the month of December we have been visiting with family and friends. We are also preparing for our western journey that will launch in the early weeks of January.
As you probably know from our previous mission logs, our desire in these raw text is to testify of the the things we have seen and experienced….we do this by the leading of the Spirit as He brings thoughts to mind. I apologize for the dis-joined and often fragmented writing approach, but this mission is not about any kind of conventional thought or process. We love God and want others to see how much He loves all of us.
Here are the details from Detroit, Chicago and Nashville. You can scan down to skip to the various city headings.
Detroit, MI
We spent a week in Detroit parked at a Dearborn, MI Walmart just 5 miles from downtown. The second day the weather cleared up so we able to prepare our plans for street ministry. I acquired the makings for ham sandwiches and a snack lunch with crackers and oreo cookies. The kids colored pictures and messages of hope on the brown sacks. We also had bottled Pepsi Cola to give out. I know, Coke is it...but we were in Detroit. :)
Our mission is one of Love and it hurts to share that it seems so often we arrive at our point to start ministry and some how I become a tool of the enemy along with others in our own team to be so uncompassionate and even harsh spoken. Our enemy is so good at this, but our own pride is what he uses to devices his plans against us. My pride almost resulted in an abort of the days mission. God's grace abounds and the humility of man devastated the enemy's plan to stop the greatest love story known to mankind.
We distributed 8 lunches that day and prayed hope, life and the love of Jesus upon each of them. Detroit is a city that showed decades of economic shrinkage and withdrawal...amazed we were to see the numerous homeless wandering the streets compared to Boston where it was much more difficult to seem them. We spent the morning between two mission shelters and met many men and women going on with life in search for hope. Billy, Terry, Ricco, Marvin, Tessera, Tony, Mike, Leigh..they all have names & maybe slept outside in Detroit 38 degree weather that night.
Our return to the bus we met a man named Joe that saw our bus and came to investigate. Joe was very excited to hear about what we were doing on our mission and shared his own. Joe volunteers two days a week at a food pantry and has been wanting to convert a trailer into a mobile soup kitchen. We encouraged each other and what happened next was most amazing. I shared about our WVO conversion and he tells me that his good friend Mike runs Mercedes 300 on waste veggie and that he might give me some. I was absolutely amazed. Mike called me to come see the bus, since he too lives in an RV. He sold his condo about a year ago and has been renovating the interior and making repairs to it. He came to see the bus and we had a great time talking bus conversion stuff. At the end of our visit, Mike says "I'm going to give you 55 gallons of waste oil" I could not believe it. All the striving in Niagara to find veggie and here God has it drive up to us. Here is the really cool part...the night before we met Joe I have this really strange dream. It was like this...a fuel tanker pulls up along side MissionBus and it is filled with veggie. The driver gets out and says if you need veggie, pump all you need. So here we were, veggie just drive right up along side of us. Amazing.
The Detroit YMCA gave us access to showers and the team was refreshed as this is a great blessing for us. Days between showers can be difficult but our team has grown to greatly appreciate this opportunity.
Day 2 in Detroit. We brewed two pots of coffee for our insulated coffee carriers, which holds about 12 cups each. Packed our disposable cups and headed to town. Quick stop into Starbucks for sugar to give out with the coffee. The Spirit moved for us to return to the same street we'd been to on the first day. We saw mostly new faces and few from the first day. Steve, Candy, Peewee, Marnel, Stephen, Cathy, George, Earl, Raymond & Tomekia...names of real people that need your prayers for hope.
Our plans to pickup WVO brought us to Mike's warehouse in Detroit, MI. Night fall was upon us as we pumped the 55 gallons into the bus. Mike offered to let us camp there for the night and gave us power and water. The next morning I did some small projects on the bus as we waited for God's provision to move again. Both the bus and the car were touching the E on the fuel gauges so moving would be a test of faith for sure. That afternoon, Mike came over to the bus and said the property owner that Mike leased from wanted us to go because he was concerned about liability with the kids. I explained it was no problem and I fully understood. We packed and prepared to make an 18 mile trek to the first Walmart on our journey to Chicago. The WVO was not yet tested and I was unsure of testing it in this fashion...if you follow our tweaks, you know this was about 5 revision ago and still not fully WVO confirmed. Anyway, we set out onto the highways to make our destination. So much was racing through my mind and heart, too much to even try to communicate at this point, but I will tell you this. I knew God would deliver us...I just knew it.
About 7 miles into our move, I received a text message that $800 had been donated to the missionbus website. I wept. My God had provided once again. No plea or request was made this support, He moved in the hearts of His people and they obeyed to help a family in need. It is beyond glorious to have your faith strengthened in such ways. I love Him more every day and continue to climb this mountain of love He in revealing to me. We made it to the Walmart and on arrival, I tested the WVO system and it failed to operate properly. The system would not maintain pressure to the injection pump.
Chicago, IL
Over the next two days we make our way to Chicago. Wow, this is a happening place. Busy, busy, busy with people everywhere living the crazy life. The Walmart I found on Google Maps ended up being a Walmart Express….no parking lot so we had to reroute to another one nearby, however…the bridges on this road were too low and my trucker GPS was screaming at me to turn around. Lots of traffic and narrow roads made for an interesting end to the days travels. Finally, we made it to our Walmart destination and prepared for the new city.
Over the course of the time spent in Chicago, I continue to work at getting maintaining the pressure on the new fuel system. This system will give us a additional possibilities to fuel missionbus on the next journey that launches just after new years. It would be nice to say that this system is a part of our global vision to save the environment, but it really is just about saving dollars on transportation cost.
We shopped to prepare sandwiches and decorate sandwich bags to hand out. So we set out to see who God had for us to met in Chicago. The day was getting later than I had planned leave for the city, but I knew it was all part of the plan. I figured parking would be a challenge and could be pretty expensive so I headed to Moody Bible Institute so the kids could see where the science lessons they so enjoyed were created. I had hoped we could park there but the lots were obviously protected for students. We headed back toward downtown and then we saw this Super McDonalds. It was getting close to dinner so I thought we’d park there and then hit the street after we ate.
The first hour was free then a reasonable rate after that. I figured a few hours would be enough time to complete our mission. As we sat down to eat a woman came over to us and asked for money to feed her daughter that was with her. I gave her two dollars and prayed with her in Jesus name for His provision and peace in her life.
Our food was served and as we finished up a man named Dre came over to sell magazines. We spent a good bit of time sharing the true Gospel of Jesus and listened to his struggles and sadness of the loss of his wife. He was surprised that Jesus did not require him to DO something to be saved. He was not ready to make a commitment but the ground was prepared for the work of the Holy Spirit. I asked Dre were we might find a concentration of people on the street. He gave us some direction and we moved out to the street.
It was Halloween and the streets were filled with adults dressed in everything you can image. As you walk on the streets of a big city, you see the faces of countless people and I often wonder if there is any influence of the Spirit in their lives. Am I walking past a dead person that has never lived and will never have a chance to live? What difference could I make, they don’t know me and they have no needs, at least no physical needs.
Then there was Regina. She was just standing on the corner of a busy city block. We approached her and asked if she wanted a sandwich. A smile on her face we began to talk with her. She was so grateful we stopped to talk with her. We prayed with her and ask the Father to reveal Himself to her in a way He never had before that her faith would be made stronger.
Anthony, Sonny, Emmet, Brandon, Michelle, Erin, Danielle, Clifton & Ann are the names of people we met on the streets of Chicago. They needed a little hope and we shared Jesus through our words and actions. Certainly people need to fully accept the Gospel of Christ’s resurrection that brought is out of the darkness and into His glorious light. Each of us is on a different path to this realization and how great it is to be even just a seed for some and a fully developed fruit for others. Love and kindness in the name of Jesus are certainly seeds the Holy Spirit can use to work and grow the desire of man.
It was a beautiful night and very busy in the windy city. We returned to the McDonalds for hot chocolate and close the night. We walked many blocks that night but the Spirit gave each of us the strength we needed to make it.
On return to the Bus we prayed for the people we had met and lifted them to our Father for His protection and provision for shelter, food and work.
It has been many months on the road and each one of us is getting homesick. The living circumstances in the bus have not changed, but we are deeply missing our friends and family. We are missing the familiar places and familiar faces. MissionBus is homebound but one more city before we complete our first missionary journey. So we set our navigation for Nashville, TN.
Only 20 miles from Chicago we exhausted our fuel funds so once again I turned my attention to the WVO system. We have 55 gallons of vegetable oil that would get us home should I discover the answer to the pressure drop issue.
Greg, Pete and I work through the system diagram and make a couple more adjustments. New pump that can handle higher rpms and removal an elbow on the top of the tank creating bubbles on high flow conditions. After a week between Chicago and Nashville, we are all really ready to move. So we wait on God’s timing to provide. The adjustments to the wvo system are just not working and I’m growing more weary by the day. Finally, God provides through one of my SONSTONE customers and we are back on the road.
Nashville, TN
The Nashville Walmart has a beautiful view of the mountains and the city. We are blessed with beautiful weather and warmer temperatures compared to the last couple of days in Illinois and Indiana. One of close friends back home went to diesel school here in Nashville, TN and he had just recently recounted memories of homeless on the streets here his school. So this would be a starting place for us to start in Nashville. The street by the diesel school runs all the way to downtown. As we drove the segment of road near the school, by the eye of the Spirit, we saw a man walking the sidewalk then he collapsed. He was a homeless man with some obvious mental issues.
I stopped the car and when to talk with him. He was a retired marine veteran, but I had a hard time making out what he was saying. But I drew near to his mouth with my ear so I could make out what he was saying. He would say a word I understood and I would repeat it, then he would get really excited. We did this for a few minutes and then he started to smile, I asked if I could pray for him and knelt his head quietly. When I said Jesus, he would say Jesus and look me in the eyes. I prayed that he would be understood and not forgotten, I thanked him for his sacrifices to ensure my freedom. Then I said goodbye.
We drove all the way into town and really did not see many people on the streets. Parks are usually a good place to start in town so we found the Bicentennial park in the Mall of the Capital building. Two men were there that lived outside most of the year, either of them natives, but had been in Nashville for a sometime now. One of the men had lost his wife and daughters in a car accident. He had a really good outlook on life and did acknowledge God as the source of his faith and provision. We prayed with both men after a time of conversion. They were very friendly and we all shared some stories from our lives.
We climbed the hill to the Capital building from the mall to explore the area for more opportunities, but we did not see many others until we started to return back to the mall. Then we met a man that was waiting for the city bus. We prayed with him in Jesus name and he affirmed he knew Jesus. I prayed the spirit of God would reveal Himself in new ways. Then the bus came and he bolted to catch it. He caught the bus but sadly it looked like the bus driver just passed him by. By this time it was getting dark so we started back to the van. Every day is a new opportunity to be Jesus to someone, it may be only one or may be many. Either way, you have to put yourself in a place to be used by the spirit of God. We have been so blessed to be co-labors in this mission. Time after time, God shows us that we can’t manufacture or manipulate His glory. Surrendered lives that are living for Him can be used in wondrous ways. Planting seeds of the spirit of God into people and loving them regardless of their appearance or circumstances is one of the primary tools He uses His people to touch anyone that has an open spirit to hear His voice. I loving being a seed caster as only the Spirit of God draws men to Himself. We are only to point others in the direction of Christ through our love, prayer and testimony of Jesus. This is our ministry of reconciliation Paul speaks of.
Later that night we returned to MissionBus and prepared for what tomorrow would bring. Our first missionary journey was now complete. So much emotion and home sick desire to get home, it was all too much weighing on each one of us. I did not sleep very well that night because I knew that as of this moment, I did not have the resources to get home. The wvo onboard could get us home with 55 gallons, but it was still not functional.
For the last few months, the spirit has been at work trying to teach me some new attributes about His character and some new areas of intimacy in our relationship. The simplest was to describe it is this…waiting on Him. You see, I have plenty of skills and abilities to take care of myself, but can I let Him take care of me. I know your thinking, well, He gave you those abilities. Sure, and I have believed and lived this way for most of my Christian adult life. The thing a lot of us miss here is this…seeing God work in our life. I think there should be a balance here and I don’t yet know what that is or even if there should be. I know my God so longs for me to put my full trust in His love and ability to take care of all my concerns. So….for now I am pursuing Him to see and believe something new about His nature and love for me.
As I woke the next morning, I wondered how He would do it this time. Not long after these prayers went up, I received a call on my cell phone. I answered and it was a good friend back home. He spoke to me of the prompting of the Holy Spirit that morning to call and give money. His exact words were “we are going to get you home” and at the sound of that my heart melted and I wept. If you must know, I’m not much of a teary eye’d guy, but I want to be. My God used this moment to strengthen my faith and soften my heart. I’m so grateful for how He uses my circumstances to fulfill His purpose and teaching in my own life. The amount that God had given a surplus to my friend was the exact amount we needed to get home. All glory and praise be to Jesus, the king of sinners and savior of the world.
Re-energized to launch the return journey, we prepared to deploy. We’d rolled into the Walmart with the missionbus fuel guage on empty once again, so first task was to get another 5 gallons into the tank so we could ensure that we’d make it to the Pilot fuel station just 5 miles away. Our friends back home in Rutledge were preparing for an evening gathering and we could make if we had no unexpected delays and our short stop in Chattanooga was efficient.
The kids were diligent to stow their belongings and I completed my systems checks and quick 5 gallon fill, it was time to go. As we started out to the road through the parking lot, the bus engine gave a slight hesitation to stall but then ran fine. I had to prime the lines earlier to purge the air the last wvo test, and once the diesel is running I’ve never had any issues…the remaining air gets purged by the cylinders. I drove about a mile to a 6 lane bridge and rolling to a stop in the double turn lane to enter the highway, the bus stalls and I can’t get it started again. I spent an hour on the bridge that day trying to get it to start. Purging the lines and turning the engine over…it would not start. Officer Edwards from the Murfreesboro, TN Police Dept came to help direct traffic and be an encourager to me. As I worked on the bus I shared what we were doing on our mission. Kimberly and Timothy went to get another 5 gallons of diesel, the way the bus was siting on the bridge, I tought maybe the pickup was not able to draw up fuel being so low. So we put 5 more gallons into the tank. After another 30 minutes of fruitless labor on the air purging, he says “we’ve got to start thinking about towing.” It was not possible to roll the bus because the air brakes might lockup posing additional issues for us. Officer Edwards called to dispatch and they said it would cost $350 to tow the bus a ¼ mile. I just shook my head and said, the only money I have will just get me home. Next he said, “hang on,” and made a call on his cell phone. Returning a few minutes later he asked if I had $75, I’ll pay $50. I remarked, “I can’t let you do that” and he returned “we’ve got to get this bus moved.” So I agreed. Another wrecker service that he knew was close by and agreed to move us for $125.
Vic’s wrecking service arrived and his big rig just lifted the front the bus and pulled us a couple blocks into the Sam’s Club parking lot. The thing that happened next I was completely unprepared for. The three of us were standing in a circle and Officer Edwards says “Vic has agreed to do it for just $100.” Looking at Vic, he nodded his head in agreement. Then Officer Edwards reaches out and hands me $100 bill. Baffled, I look at Vic and hand him the $100, then I look at Edwards and I hand him the $80 I had. He held the money for a moment then looked at me. Handing the money back to me he said, “your going to need this to get home.” I received the money back and looked into both their eyes with gratefulness. I spent the next hour getting the bus to run. I reflected about the time on the bridge and how I noticed that two hoses connected to the greasecar valve were reversed. This is way the engine ran until it stalled. I starved the engine as the hoses were just sending veggie back to the diesel tank. I chuckled and cranked the engine over. It started right up after I replaced the fuel filter and purged the lines again.
So many emotions and thoughts in my mind and the since of longing for home was growing in each of us. The thought of embracing family and friends was so deep and the since of reality that the Spirit has sustained us so long with these things we so long for. These experiences are teaching us so much about ourselves and the importance of connection with others. So now we are headed home.
For months now the kids have been patiently waiting for a promise made by their father to have a shopping spree at the Thunder Creek Harley-Davidson in Chattanooga TN. Thunder Creek is one of my SONSTONE web development and hosting customers which I had a credit from our barter agreement. We spent a few hours going in two kids at a time so they could do Christmas shopping from mom and dad. What a fun time we had together picking out jackets, stickers, wallets and sun glasses.
Return
The last 100 miles were so encouraging as we passed all the familiar landmarks and city names. Being away for so long, you forget the comfort of familiarity. The reality is you are forced to seek comfort in the Spirit of God when none of the things of comfort and familiarity are present. The thought of going home in and of itself is a comfort that denies compete trust in God….though not evil at all…it begs the question in my own heart. We are such creatures of habit and we find such comfort in the many areas of repetition in our lives. How do we find the balance between comfort and living lives that take risk that require more faith and more reliance on Jesus. This is a difficult question for which I have no answer, but I’m seeking to understand more clearly.
WVO successful run
After we had returned home for a few days, I ventured to test the bus on WVO once again. This time i corrected the lines that I discovered were incorrect in TN. I started the bus and let the lines heat up. I was able to move the bus up and down the drive way and then drove up and down our street when contains a decent hill for the test. It worked, but I really needed to a highway speed test and load. So we loaded the family up in the bus and headed to the highway. The bus reached 60+ miles per hour on WVO however once I hit a good hill, I started loosing power. I dropped to a speed of about 25 mile per hour before I could switch back to diesel. I was able to get off the highway and then switched back to WVO. We made it about 4 more miles until the bus stalled. I was not able to get it running again that day. This was a successful test however, we run the bus 13 miles on WVO. The problem I have is low pressure at higher loads. I need to install additional gauges at the driver seat so I can see what that fuel pressure is doing at the higher rpm’s and pulling load up the hills. More to come as this process continues to evolve.
Preparing for our next Mission
We are in the process of making some changes to MissionBus and the trailer. Our home visit / break has been a good one. We’ve been able to see many people and visit with family and friends. Our mission will continue in the coming weeks once we wrap up our maintenance tasks and finalize our moving out plans. We are busy packing up and eliminating prior to leaving our home here in Rutledge. Rutledge is our home, but when we return after this trip we will be looking for a new home base for MissionBus. The future is uncertain, but our mission is clear. God has called us to follow Him and give Him all that we have to give. He wants our hearts and anything short of that is not acceptable. So pray for us as we again begin to transition to MissionBus life. More to come in the next couple weeks as He is leading us to destinations headed West. Our first potential destination is Miami, FL.
Here is a list of maintenance items we are working on:
-all new leaf springs and U bolts on the trailer
-additional welding and steel to re-enforce the front of the trailer
-new front tires on missionbus
-new brakepads on missionbus
-new brakepads on the minivan
-some minor adjustments and additional storage construction in missionbus
preparation for the next departure:
-refill 2 / 40# propane tanks
-refill 1 / 100# propane tank
-replace 3 / deepcycle RV batteries on missionbus
Watch for another update soon as we prepare for departure in the coming weeks.
Posted by: Marc
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Mission Log: 2011/08/10
Boston, MA – MissionBus City #3 - August & September 2011
Aug 10, 2011
I pray this message finds you well and surrounded by the Spirit of God's grace. My desire is to inform you of our work and current events on MissionBus so you know how to pray in agreement along side us.
From our last update, you know we finished our work in Lakewood NJ and moved by the Spirit were guided to Boston, MA. On route to MA the frame of the trailer completely separated on both sides again as the repair done in NJ was not apparently adequate. God led us to a man named Paul that donated the metal to make the repairs and Lonnie to do the repair. The estimated cost was going to be over $800, but because of the donation and Lonnie's help it was done for $200. This repair depleted our travel funds, so we waited on God's provision to move from New Haven, CT only 150 or so miles our destination. In 2 days, He provided.
We arrived at our Destination. Driving up here completely drains me by the time we arrive, the roads and drivers make it very un-nerving. I usually crash for a couple of hours to regain my strength.
The trailer repair is holding even through some of the roughest roads I've ever seen...amazing you can drive on them. Continuing to watch it closely. Even the 1/2 inch plate steel is beginning to bend a little, but appears to be settling. I may need to do a road side conversion of the front cabinetry...ie. remove the bulk of the forward weight and use lighter materials.
We arrived in Boston and made contact with a man of God that has done homeless ministry in Boston for 20 years. God's ministry of love has been poured out through Pastor Larry and his dear wife Jane to the homeless in Boston.
Our first week here in Boston has been very difficult. Finding a host location for MissionBus and depleted water made for some interesting trials add to that 4 sick kids at the beginning of the week and 2 others including Kimberly (each with 24 hours vomiting) brought us to absolute breaking points. Lowes Home improvement graciously allowed us to park in their lot for a few days which turned into a week. The YMCA gave us permission to park in their lot for the weekend until we found a host provided it was not sunny [because they would need to parking spaces for pool parking]. The YMCA Saugus has also donated access to their showers for the duration of our mission here...this has been an amazing blessing as water is precious.
In the midst of waiting on God, easy to say...waiting, He gave me a cherished gift...this song on Matt Redman's new album 10,000 Reasons. [Never Once] watch here with this link ---> http://bit.ly/nx3uf5
Here are the words to the song...
Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we’ve come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us
Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
Every step we are breathing in Your grace
Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
The next morning after He spoke these words to me through Redman's song, He so faithfully opened doors to a host location and it is absolutely amazing. Flat, private, shaded and paved lot behind Vineyard NorthMetro Church in Saugus, MA. Praise Him.
The church is letting us park here for the duration of our mission here and given us access to fill our fresh water when needed.
Funds also arrived to support our needs while working here. I so love my Savior as He is bring us into the beautiful places and revealing Himself in His amazing wonders.
Mission Work
MissionBus team engaged the community in Swan Park @ Everett, MA the 2nd day arrived. We met and prayed with people, the girls sang beautiful songs and the boys played basketball with boys from the neighborhood. This was our first meeting with Larry, his wife Jane and a hispanic church they partnered with to cookout for the community. Prayed for a man named LEO in great need of healing and scared...needs Hope.
Stopped to talk to a man named Ishmael that was in need of food, prayed with him on his journey to Canada where he believes he can get work.
Last Friday night after midnight I joined Larry and Jane in street ministry near Boston Common in downtown. The streets on and around the Pine Street shelter where filled homeless searching....for shelter, drugs, prostitution....and hope. We prayed with a couple of men and spoke to many that Larry and Jane have known through there work here over many years.
Larry and Jane came over and spent a couple hours talking and praying with Kimberly and I in the Kitchen. The experiences and life lessons they have been able to speak into our lives are so cherished and Kimberly and I were in great needs to hear them after a such a difficult week.
Prayed with a man named Shawn in the Everett Laundromat in need of food, the Spirit is at work there.
The Spirit is at work all around and I look forward to sending you another update soon.
Aug 22, 2011
Faithful to pray,
after our first very difficult week in Boston, God revealed Himself again so faithful to teach us how involved He is with His called and reminding us that Never Once did we walk alone. I continue to see His provision for us daily.
Our last update ended with a note about the Friday night Boston street ministry, later I found out from Larry that a man was shot and killed on the very side walk we prayed with men and women near Pine Street Shelter. We are working on the front lines of this war. That night we'd spoken with a man that was staying at Long Island Shelter and Larry asked if was still bad there - the mans somber response was "I hate it". Since that night Larry and others have described the shelter as "Sodom and Gomorrah."
Our mission here has been unlike our previous two in that no obvious goals or purpose seem to be getting received by the Spirit of God. I am watching and following Him to see what and where He wants us. Peace has overcome me to just wait on Him.
The second morning parked in the Vineyard church lot, we were wakened with a knocks on the door at approx 8:30am. I quickly dressed to meet our early visitor. It was an Australian man and his two boys. What I'm about to tell you is amazing....this man was out for a walk with his family the day before which they had not done in some time and the Spirit lead them by the church we were parked. We were not there so he came the next morning to meet us. Scott Russell is a mission minded man that moved to the USA some 7 years ago by the leading of the Spirit of God to the ministry of evangelism, the son of a pastor and the father of 7 kids. That's right...7 kids. His oldest of 6 sons is only 7 days older than my oldest Timothy. Scott's only daughter is 3nand his youngest son is 18 months.
Scott is leading his family living here in Boston to reach out to hurting people, the poor, the sick, homeless and people with drug addictions. About 5 years ago, he set out from Boston in an RV with his family and drove to California and back over the course of about 5 months they ministered to countless people across America.
As we shared and testified of what the Spirit of God was doing in our lives, we both were just in awe of how He brought us together. Scott invited us over for breakfast and so we all dressed and loaded the minivan to meet the rest of the family. We spent the next couple days joining them for meals and learning more about our new friends.
Scott does not have any sort of regular job, but he lives on the assurance of faith and God's provision for every need and more. It's amazing actually. Scott is very much Spirit driven and we are so like minded in our call and pursuit of God. On Sunday we had to move the Bus so the Vineyard church would have all their parking and so we moved to Scotts house. The bus and trailer fit perfectly in their side yard and they are providing water and power. This is an amazing change from the conditions of our first week here...we are praising God and loving our new family.
Scott has a good pastor friend that does a radio show here in Boston 1230AM, that reaches the Brazilian community. Scott suggested we come on the radio and share our passion over the air waves. God opened the door and we walked through. Victor, Scott and I talk on air about the importance of God in family. We prayed for people listening and proclaimed the word of the Lord to the listeners. Timothy and Zachary watched from the studio and Kimberly and girls listened on the radio has home. It was an awesome experience.
Our host family is feeding us and bought new jeans for the kids. God has given us a special blessing of new friends that can minister to us from their own travel experiences.
We continue to watch for opportunities to be used by the Spirit of God to touch and change lives. One evening on our way back to the bus, I saw a woman on a street corner in Saugus seemingly distressed and crying. As we passed I thought we should stop and I asked Kimberly if she would talk with her. So we turned and went back. We met Elizabeth that day and she had been waiting for the bus for a couple of hours and was not sure when it would come. She'd dropped her truck of to get repaired and was waiting for the bus. She talk with her and prayed with her proclaiming the name of Jesus. She was blessed by our kindness and mission. We dropped her off and went home.
After spending a few weeks now in Boston, we are really getting a sense of the people and landscape of Churches here. It is truly a beautiful place and the landscape of the land is very different. People are not very open to talk with you and there are churches everywhere. Homelessness is a major problem here but you would never know it. The city government and associations are very aggressive at making sure EVERYONE has housing. If you want to live outside here, it is generally because you absolutely want to. The opportunity for programs to help people get off of drug addictions and such are very much available, but you still find people in homes going back out the streets to cope with addictions and even sleeping outside in the summer. Another thing that happens that people lose their house because they want to help other homeless and too many people doing bad things get together in one place. The only answer to all these problems is Jesus. Life changing experience with the one that can bring healing to any problem.
Tuesday prayer meeting, Wednesday Bible study and Thursday night revival meeting have been our regular routine for a couple of weeks. Friday night street ministry in Everett where Larry's church is located yielded the opportunity pray with several young men on Hancock street. One of them in particular could not speak of the trouble in his life but he was quick to allow me to pray for him. He try to verbalize what I could pray for but was unable to speak, so i just prayed for peace and guidance by the Spirit of God. His countenance changed after the experience.
God's building boldness and showing me more of His nature to love and heal people. So much of my life was spent in churches that did so much good for the Kingdom but much of it was not born of the Spirit. Buildings and schedules are needed to bring people together for a common purpose in God's mission, but they too often quench the Spirit or Limit the Spirit simply by the nature of what these structures do. I know there is a place for them but we MUST be ever mindful not to let these things prevent the work of the Holy Spirit.
Since the first mention of Long Island shelter, the Spirit has been at work breaking my heart for the people there. The city buses homeless into the island starting around 4pm each day. Once there, drinking alcohol and doing drugs don't seem to be monitored or discouraged. Sex and violence is also rampit at the shelter. Homosexual relationships and worse are not discouraged or prevented by the authorities of the shelter. In the morning the buses return the people back to the streets of Boston.
Wednesday the 24th this week at around 1pm, a group of humble men will prayer walk the grounds of Long Island shelter (Google Maps Link). No contact has been made with the authorities, we will plan to just go and seek the will of the Spirit and pray against the powers of our adversary the devil. Only prayer and fasting can fight such evil. I believe the Spirit of God will do His work here and that a revival will begin. I don't know how that is possible but by His intercession and by His own move here it is possible. So we go in obedience to see and experience a great move of His Spirit.
Join me in this prayer and fasting as we pray in agreement for God to open the hearts of these captives and for Him to raise up laborers to this appointed mission to reach into the darkest part of Boston. May His people be the hands that God uses to reach and the hands that pull these people out of the pit. What they need is one thing...Jesus.
Aug 31, 2011
Greetings prayer warriors,
Last week by the leading of the Spirit of God, a group of men went to Long Island Shelter not to be mistaken as Long Island NY, to prayer walk and seek the will of God regarding how He could use us to minister to homeless that frequent the shelter. This is a tough place to live when you’re homeless.
Pastor Larry told me that we'd need a contact or a miracle to actually get onto the island. As we were about to depart for the island, i received a call from Scott that had already arrived ahead of us and was turned away at the gate. I was ok with just praying at the gate but my heart was to do more...not sure what but more. I decided to google long island homeless shelter and the first listing had a phone number. I called it and punched 4 or 5 menu options landing in a voice mail box...i left a brief message and we departed. Two other young men joined us in the mission Ronald and Bobby. Both of these men have had difficult pasts on the streets and by God's amazing grace, He pulled them off the streets and into His kingdom work along side Pastor Larry.
We drove approx 35 minutes to the strip of parking spots across from the guard hut blocking our progress through to the island. As we pulled into a spot, Larry did not even have the van in park yet and my cell phone rings. It's Amy with the Long Island House Commission. I tell her we are at the guard hut and would like to come visit but understand if it is too last minute, now about 3:30pm. She asks if the kids are with me....she'd gone to the missionbus.com website from my message and was eager to meet with us. Amy had just returned to her desk to hear my message and her afternoon was completely clear. She said to come through the gate and she would give us a tour of the shelter. There it was, our miracle. I stand in awe.
My heart raced and I thought about the night before laying in bed on the bus telling Kimberly I'd hoped for more than the prayer walk...a meeting at the shelter with people that needed to hear that God loved them and that we'd traveled all this way to tell them. My thoughts returned to the present as we passed through the gate and over the long bridge ironically named "bridge to recovery". We prayed out loud and quietly as we made our way to the shelters main buildings.
We met Amy in the parking lot and she showed us around the main buildings. While we were walking I told her our primary purpose was to communicate a simple message, "God loves them and He has not forgotten them". She paused for brief moment and said "they need to hear that." We saw the first floor of the main building that houses 60 woman and 400+ men most nights. The homeless are bussed in by Boston city buses and returned to the city in the morning. Next we gathered in a conference room to talk about our purpose for the visit. After a bit of talking we agreed on two meetings. The first of which will be 5pm tonight Wednesday August 31. God's given my hearts desire. This initial visit will be me with a few other men to assist serving dinner to 60 guests that are in a drug recovery programming helping homeless to return to the community as housed citizens. After the dinner we will have an hour long meeting with music, testimony of transformed lives and we will lift up the name of Jesus as the only hope anyone has to brake free the bondage of this world and everything it has to offer.
Our next meeting will be a day time event with the kids singing and playing music along with more encouraging words. I will let you know when this date is confirmed..I believe it will be Sept 2. Amy asked when we'd be leaving Boston, my answer unsure, she said they'd allow us as much as we would be willing to for meetings at the shelter.
On our exit, Amy released us to walk the campus and we prayed together praising God and earnestly asking His Spirit to free the captives....bring liberty to the captives. Pray in agreement with us as we go tonight and may many be encouraged and lifted by the power of the Holy Spirit. His spirit is in us and we are compelled to share this hope we have. The glory to Him alone.
More to follow...you can pray on it.
Sep 12, 2011
Long Island Shelter Update
our last update was the day before our first visit to the Long Island Shelter. Scott and I left for the shelter about an hours drive in traffic to the south side of Boston. As we crossed the "Bridge to Recovery" we prayed together that He would reveal Himself to us and anyone that desired liberty from the bondage of this world.
We arrived at 5pm to work the service line, this gave us both an up front view of the faces of the people we'd pray for in the coming hours. About 200 plus came through the line before 7:00 pm when we had to move to the prayer meeting. We'd greeted all them them and invited them as the Spirit moved to the 7:15 meeting. Several mentioned the meeting before we said anything about it...they'd be there was the word. I heard a voice over the intercom announce the 7:15 prayer meeting.
We had 4 people in this meeting and each one had a story. They faces of these souls revealed the heart of why we'd come. To encourage. Marie, Gregory, Albert and Gedesh sat around a table as I played the guitar slowly and welcomed the Spirit of God to join us as we prayed to bind out distressing spirits as David did when he played for Saul. We prayed for each other after a time of encouragement and speaking the word from His heart out of mine. Scott asked each person directly if they'd asked Jesus into their hearts and each one had confessed Jesus as Lord.
Our hour long meeting revealed the need and desire for a regular prayer meeting or Bible study. After our final prayer we left the Island. Amie was a great help to show us the ropes and what to expect. She is very open to the Gospel to share and encourage the people at the shelter.
Amie confirmed our next meeting on Friday with the kids. Our meeting would be a musical inspiration of the Spirit to show love to a group of 60 men and women in a Drug Recovery program located at the Long Island Shelter. Friday came and we loaded all our gear into the minivan and set the GPS for the Island.
We setup and prepared to do the work of the Spirit. I had prepared no agenda or order of meeting, we just let God move and He did. He wove together a beautiful time of singing, scripture reciting, testimony and strings played for His glory. After it was all over we were just in amazement at what he'd done. He used us to encourage a group in such a way, not just sugar coated but direct, as He called their hearts from our challenge to lay down their lives for Him if they had never done so. All eyes and ears were on us as we testified to His amazing grace.
Later that night Kimberly reminded me not to try to repeat what had happened, as it was God. Let Him do His work through us, we need to be reminded of this, since we can get into a trap of re-creating successes. Making formulas and building programs to do God's work usually means we've lost faith in the Spirits ability to His job, so we intervene. Then we wonder why things don't success just like before. God rarely moves in the same way twice, if ever. The beauty of trusting Him is not knowing how it's going to work out. That's always the fear.
Wedding
Our 5 beautiful girls were asked to be flower girls in a wedding of our new friends Ronald and Ashely. It was a nice wedding to participate in as Timothy did video and I was able to do the wedding photos. God used us in a way we'd not expected to bless this couple on a very special day.
Fire Truck, Police and City Officials
Another week was about to pass and it was Tuesday the day before our 2nd meeting at Long Island. We'd taken the kids to Boston for some errands and to visit Harvard University while our trip took us near Cambridge. I received a call from Scott our host and he was a bit panicked. He said the Saugus Fire Department, Police, Building Inspector and Health Inspector were there at the house and they wanted us to move the bus within 24 hours. I thought he was just kidding, because Australians kid alot, so I asked for him to put the guy in charge on the phone...and he did. This was serious. Apparently a few neighbors did not like the fact we'd been there for 3 weeks so they called the authorities and they came looking for a reason to move us. They claimed it was against city ordinance to park an RV in your yard. They also said we could not park anywhere in Saugus not even at a church. They wanted us gone.
They put alot of pressure on Scott and Laura to move us on. We arrived at the bus and began the process to prepare for the move in the morning. This was a big job and it was raining most the time. I had started the process to convert our bus to run on waste vegetable oil so the power steering pump was dismantled...more to come on that in a minute. I was also a bit concerned about trying to hitch the bus with the yard so wet. The weight might bog us down and get stuck. So I had my work cut out for me to move by 3pm the next day. All was completed and God's hand helped us rolled out of the yard and up to Peabody to the West Congregational Church. Sad to leave our new friends but we knew God was on the move. It seems He is good to do this when we get too comfortable. It is so easy to get comfortable, even on MissionBus, but He is so big and so able to move to keep His children close and reliance on Him. This is so true in more ways than I can even say.
Scott knew the pastor at the West Congregational Church and believed he would let us stay there a few nights until we could find a home. Pastor Ralph did agree to let us stay through Saturday afternoon when events would start for the week and they would need the parking spaces. The 2nd morning parked we were awaken again by a visitor, this time a woman. I dressed and meet her at the door. She said her husband had heard a story from a man that met us in the Lowes parking lot 4 and half weeks earlier. We figured out it was Toby. John had told his wife Rikka about this family on a bus doing mission work and they saw the bus parked here just a short distance from their house. She said they'd stopped the night before to buy pizza for us, but we were not home. Then she handed me money to support our mission. The unique thing about Rikka is that she also has seven kids and she attends one of the Churches I had been in contact with in Saugus before moving to the Vineyard church. She homeschools her kids and is crazy about Jesus and live in the grace of our savior. I prayed with her and for her family. God continues to use His people to encourage us and bring support through faithful followers to meet our needs.
So many people see missionbus and we really don't even know how far His story is spreading. It is like wild fire.
Sadly we had to cancel our 2nd meeting at Long Island because we didn't get a confirmation on the new parking situation until it was too late for us make it. My heart was very sad, but I know He is still working all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. The last part of that verse is key...the first part sounds really good, but the second part is what really activates the first part.
Talking with Pastor Larry we might have a lead on a great location to part for the final duration of our stay, as I'm not feeling the release from Boston. Christian Book Distributors is only a few miles away and they have an enormous parking lot that is not utilized. I had hoped to find out before Saturday if we could move there, but so far no confirmation. The owers are out of town until 9/12. So we packed and moved again. This time no direction accept the Costco about a mile away. We moved there and I went inside to see the manager. The general manager's name is Rick and he agreed to let us part in the back until Wednesday 9/14, as they had a big regional rep coming onsite, but we could stay until then. So this bought us a few more days.
Friday we delivered a 100 or so blankets to the Woods/Mullens Shelter in Boston, this is the sister shelter to Long Island. Individuals needing a place to sleep goto Woods/Mullens then get bussed to the Island depending on availability. Only 200 beds at Woods/Mullens. These blankets will be used by Amie in the Volunteer Services group for a programed called Homeless Transition Services. This program provides living items like blankets, pots, pans, lamps, stuff you have in your house for people transitioning out of the shelter an into housing. These blankets were donated by Centennial Baptist Church in Rutledge GA for such a time as this. We praise God for His faithful giving their resources to help those in need.
So we worship while we're waiting...and on Sunday the girl sang in the service at First Baptist Everett the Tomlin song "Here for you". They make His heart to rejoice with their faith and confidence in His name.
WVO Conversion
Maybe you've heard maybe you haven't, well, MissionBus will soon be powered by Waste Vegetable Oil or WVO which is just the veggie oil restaurants like McDonalds uses to make french fries or anything deep fried.
About 4 weeks ago when we moved to the Russell's house, the door started opening for this project. First thing that happened is Scott has 100 gallons of WVO already processed and ready to burn. Second, a guy came to pickup 55 gallon drums from Scott via a listing on craigslist and he'd converted 2 vehicles to run on WVO. I had previously had conversations with my good friend and brother in Christ Greg over a year ago about doing the conversion but I didn't have the confidence or expertise at my call to assist me, so I shelved the idea. Pete has system diagrams and photos and really increased my knowledge on the whole process. Then I was able to talk a Jonathon Dubinsky with Teva Learning Centers. He converted a school bus to run on wvo and God worked it out through Scott to talk with Diesel Craft who gave me contact info for Jonathon. Again, God working. The third man Zsolt also converted a bus to run on WVO and between these three technical and mechanical resources, God has provided the resources to complete this project.
So with the major barriers to the project seemly dropping, the last issue was funding. I prayed for a week before proposing the idea to a missions minded individual to seek the Spirit in supporting this project. The Spirit moved and the project has been fully funded. This conversion will reduce or eliminate our dependence on petro for the bus, give us the ability to run MissionBus on straight WVO, diesel or a mixture of both in most climates including very cold which is hard to do on WVO. Our travel cost to move the bus will reduce from $0.57 per mile to $0.01 per mile or better. We will have the ability to process WVO in a cleaning / filtering process that can run while we are rolling down the road, in fact the process will using heat from the engine heater hoses in the process. God is using people all over to help with this project including my brothers at home in Rutledge fabricating parts for our newly designed Rad Glow WVO heater that will use glow plugs and heater lines to bring the WVO to the required 180 degree temp for burning in the diesel engine.
Prayer Needs
-Kimberly and I will serve dinner and lead the second meeting at Long Island Shelter
-Pray for God to raise up labors to bring the true Gospel message to Long Island and begin a revival of the Spirit in the hearts of men and women.
-Pray for success of the WVO implementation
-God's provision for mission work
Thank you for prayer intercession on our behalf, your prayers are felt and are so encouraging to us. Feel free to send notes as you think of us, that I can share with the kids. It really helps them to hear from you...helps all of us really.
October 10, 2011
Man makes plans but God orders our steps...this verse from God's word is beginning to make sense to me, though not fully grasp. I would have never planned to still be in Boston after 11 weeks, but He has an agenda that will prevail if we'd just let Him guide our steps. He is so faithful.
Since our last update...I spent two more weeks spent at Long Island Shelter. The visits did not yield any great harvest of souls by man's conventional rule or desire to show progress. What it did yield is surrendered hearts that saw God move and the Spirit demonstrated to me that healing comes through the building up of His people and encouraging words "in Jesus name" that bring hope and peace. Men and women all across Boston had an experience with God that I'm humbled to have been a part of and the witness to see and testify of it.
Broken, distressed and lost souls encountered a loving God that wants to know them more deeply than they ever thought He did. God is at work all over this world to make Himself known in this way in every heart that is willing and surrendered to hear the sound of His voice and to respond to it.
It has been three weeks since we finished our work in Boston, we've said goodbye to most of our friends here and He has released us to move on. Over the last three weeks, we have been making some modifications to the bus and preparing for our next destination.
We are beginning our 25th week on MissionBus. Each one aboard this bus is desperately longing for "home", but we know that and He is showing us that at the end of ourselves lies an experience with Him that can only be achieved when we let go of self and cling to His faithfulness. We are now "feeding" on His faithfulness day by day and learning to live for Him through His Spirit.
We will leave New England in the next 3 days bound for Detroit, MI. No plan as to who we will meet there or work with, no plan on were to stay and no firm resource of provision to get there or once we arrive there. Living by faith and trusting Him for every step. His work in each of us is becoming more and more apparent each day as the weeks pass. Looking back, we see so much work that He has completed and I wonder how much more we can endure. I know His faithfulness is greater than any trial or battle we will face, but it's still very difficult.
Your prayers and notes have been a great encouragement to our family and we are so thankful for it. Our needs are great but our provider is greater. I look forward to testifying after the next leg of our journey. God speed and may all the glory and honor be to our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ.
October 19, 2011
750 miles and 4 days travel time to Detroit, MI. God’s grace and mercy follow my footsteps. We arrived safely here in Detroit. Raining for the last 24 hours and we have another day of it until the sun comes out. Tomorrow we will scout the downtown area and prepare for street ministry on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Recap from the final weeks in Boston.
We spent the last two weeks in Mass at the Salisbury Beach Reservation State Park doing our WVO conversion. This conversion will enable MissionBus to run on waste veggie oil that restaurants used to cook French fries or other fried foods. The boys helps me run hoses and wiring from the front of the bus to the rear. Many tasks to complete: rear tank mounted, holes cut to route veggie lines, grease car valves mounted, relays mounted, fatty wagon heater installed, WVO filter mounted, veggie lines routed and clamped, front pump wired/mounted, sock filter built and mounted and hoses/valves reworked for super purge system. The conversion is completed.
We met a lot of really nice people that gave us food and even shared smores by camp fire with the kids as we shared about our journeys. Our family friended a young boy that came to camp two weekends in a row. Kimberly read a book to the kids and shared Jesus with him. He thanked us for teaching him more about God.
God provided the funds, space and amazing weather for us to stay at the park - even with the weekend overbooked - He made room for us. Each time our funds deplete, He is faithful to provide just enough for us to move to our next destination.
Once the wvo conversion was completed, we waited for Him to provide funds to move to Niagara Falls, NY about 500 miles away. This was the route to Detroit and my parents planned to me us there on Oct 15th. I had a connection en route to Niagara, NY to fill up on wvo but it was not God’s timing. Pete was one of the engineers that assisted me with the wvo design. He is very busy working on cars and going to school so several attempts to contact him while in his town did not connect. He called as about 100 miles away and so we missed the opportunity for 90 gallons. God had other plans and He provided for diesel instead, so we continued to move on.
The Walmart in Niagara was a amazing, the parking lot was very spacious and with windy gusts up to 40 mph, it was common to feel the bus rocking from the power of the wind. A few days of wind and rain was giving us cabin fever.
We were so blessed to spend an afternoon and evening with my parents in Niagara Falls. The weather was too rainy to do anything but visit and the kids were so content to do that. Our time with Nana and Papa was rich and she even blessed us with the homemade brownies and zucchini bread.
Sunday morning on my customary walk to Walmart for Cheerios & milk, I noticed a couple walking into the store as I was walking out. In the parking lot, the woman coughed and the man stopped to help hold her. The Spirit of God put me directly into their path for a reason that I’d realize later that day.
I returned to the bus and we eat breakfast. A few minutes later as we were eating we watched the couple return to an old camper with California tags. They were empty handed. I presume they used the bathrooms in the Walmart and returned to their Camper. My message for Sunday was on thanksgiving. God had already spoken some specific works to my heart and now He was prompting me to reach out to this couple.
I collected a few items from our kitchen and took them over to the Camper. A young man answered the door and I told Him that God prompted me to bring this food and water to him. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he accepted it humbly and said “thank you” in a soft voice. He was young, the two of them must have been in there 20’s. After a brief moment of silence, he took the bag and closed the door.
We prayed for the couple that morning as we worshiped there and reflected on our own thanksgiving. So much we have to be thankful for and so many that need the peace that only God can give.
Monday came bringing sunny skies and a perfect day to visit the falls. We ventured out to cross the border and we were able to witness one of the God’s amazing wonders, Niagara Falls.
The next evening we scouted for wvo as we inquired with 7 restaurants in town. Most of them needed to check with their boss but seemed willing. We all prayed together that God would provide if it was His time for us to test the bus. The next morning God provided funds for us to travel through Canada to Detroit. No calls by noon so I decided to move on. WVO test would have to wait.
Each step of our journey provides new opportunity to trust Him deeper. We made it another 260 miles as we cross Canada as we spent the night in Windsor, Canada. Our first Canadian Walmart, was a treat. The only notable difference was their selection of 30 different types of cheeses, hehe.
Morning came and we crossed the border back into the USA and moved to the Walmart in Dearborn, MI just a few miles from downtown Detroit.
Pray for MissionBus this week especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as we bring the message of peace and hope to people that are in great need. Continue to pray for God's provision for MissionBus to travels.
If God wills, we will travel to Chicago, IL next week for more street ministry before we set our navigation southbound for Nashville, TN.
Posted by: Marc
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Mission Log: 2011/07/01
Lakewood, NJ / New York, NY – MissionBus City #2 - July 2011
So, where to begin? Oh, there is SO much to tell!
We arrived here in Lakewood, NJ on Thursday, June 30th (over 2 weeks ago ALREADY!!). We parked in a wonderful Wal-Mart parking lot. I say "wonderful" because it TRULY was! Each time we "arrive" somewhere, I am YET AGAIN, amazed at the GREATness of our God! The DETAILS that HE pays attention to and CARES for! Truly, He is a "PERSONAL" Savior!!! The area we were able to park in is "separate" from the MAIN traffic parking lot, which is WONDERFUL when "staying" for awhile! Thursday was a "transition" day for our family as we had just driven from the "shore" where we visited some of my Mom's side of the family, in Wildwood, NJ.
Friday (July 1st) we were able to "locate" the tent city site. We did not get to meet "Minister Steve" yet. We spent some time at the Lakewood square before heading back to the bus for the night. Friday evening Marc was able to TALK with Minister Steve on the phone. All previous contact was through phone texting & not voice. Marc was excited to talk with Steve and planned a time for us to meet him on Saturday morning.
Thursday (29th), while at the Wal-Mart parking lot, a man had stopped to talk with Marc about the bus, traveling, RV's and various other topics, his name is Mr. Lenny. Mr. Lenny and his wife (Mrs. Vivian) came by again on Friday evening and brought us a case of "Snapple" drinks...Mango Madness YUMMY and COLD! Truly a SWEET gesture of kindness that made our hearts AND mouths SMILE!!!
Thursday (29th) evening, Marc & the boys met a man named Gordon, who was sleeping in his van at night, there at Wal-Mart. Gordon seemed to enjoy having "company" during the evening time when he came to park for the night. He leaves during the day time hours.
Saturday (July 2nd) we went to the tent city and met Minister Steve. WoW! It REALLY is a TENT CITY! They call themselves a "community" and they LIVE like a community...there hidden in the depths of the trees! They have MANY chickens and roosters roaming about & minding their own business; with their chicks chasing behind them!!! (They are there for eating bugs, not for eggs or meat). We walked around the area and saw the different structures that exist; many tents, some campers, some "hut" like structures covered in tarps or heavy plastic, even structures that look like tepee's. These tepee structures are constructed in a way that makes the use of wood burning stoves & propane heaters efficient, possible and a LITTLE safer during the winter/cold months. However, 15 of these such huts, have to be dismantled & removed w/in the next 3 weeks (the local township government has declared so) and replaced with traditional tents, which cave-in during the winter months from ice & snow! There are MANY political issues in this area about the “homeless” dwelling in the woods; I confess, I do not know of, nor understand all the details & implications they have/do face on a daily basis. However, I DO know THIS, and I CAN testify of THIS… The Lord has ABUNDANTLY BLESSED Mr. Steve and the tent city community with INUMMERABLE helpers ranging from individual business owners who make/prepare food to bring to the community weekly, volunteers who have helped BUILD and are now helping to tear down structures, donations made regularly (the food distribution from Haddon House), Pizza donated EVERY NIGHT to the tent city community, people who come to visit, encourage and help where/when they can, water and other various supplies, FUEL for generators, FUEL for his bus to drive to/from the square and other pick-ups that he needs to do, tools and equipment that have been GIVEN to him (a hydraulic wood splitter etc). The Lord has even provided a lawyer to help aid Mr. Steve in the legal issues he is facing with the Township. As Minister Steve sets his heart on TRUSTING God and PURSUING to OBEY His word through caring for the poor and homeless, The Lord is FAITHFULLY meeting needs and REVEALING Himself to ANYONE who has “eyes to see and ears to hear”! Even to the extent of “personal interests/desires” within the hearts of His servants… a creative outlet/project of adventure… a SAILBOAT! How AMAZING to witness firsthand and to be a part of! I am AGAIN in AWE of the GREATNESS of our God and how intimately He is aquatinted with EACH ONE of His created ones… and how He desires to draw EACH ONE to HIMSELF! Makes me want to SHOUT… HALLELUJAH, Thank You Jesus! Lord, your WORTHY of ALL the GLORY and ALL the HONOR!!!
The tent city has trash cans for pick up, it appears; I haven't actually witnessed the pick-up or asked about such, for verification. However, they at least have a "common" place for trash instead of individual dumping spots. (Now, just like any town/area, some "dwelling" spots are more "maintained" than others- even within the tent city community). Since first typing this, I have met a woman by the name of Bethany, who was visiting the tent city one day while we were there. She told me that she comes to help Mr. Steve take the trash to a nearby dumpster. AGAIN, another helper for the needs of the community!
Steve has created an area for "bathing" w/the use of a propane tank & generator, people can take "hot" showers as often as fuel allows. They have a hand-pump well for bathing/washing but NOT for drinking. Steve has the camp hooked up with hoses & extension cords... A man with a heart like my husband... PASSIONATE about helping the homeless, poor & needy in the community, GIFTED with many talents, interests and abilities which make it possible to do such work, and LED by The Holy Spirit of God to be His hands, feet & heart to the people God has led him to help & love.
The tent city also has a common eating/kitchen area with grills and tables set up for serving food (not as an eating area, but rather preparing, serving & distributing). There is also a "common" structure for gathering. They use this place for worship/church service on Sunday and many other "meetings" such as AA and Bible study/prayer throughout the week. (I have seen a bulletin board with such info posted on it). They have several "out houses" in the "main camp" area, where Steve lives (he gutted out school bus for where he sleeps, with curtains along the windows). This area is where the kitchen area is, storage building, community center, bath house etc. It really is rather elaborate out there..."Rude"/basic and roughly built structures, but nevertheless, a gathering of people with a common purpose - SURVIVAL - basic human need for food, shelter and LOVE... And one thing in common - WITHOUT a "traditional" home!
Mr. Steve goes to the Lakewood square Monday- Saturday to hand out/distribute WHATEVER he may have to give. He has many connections that gather stuff for him to pick-up & distribute... Furniture, clothes etc. The first week we were here he had been VERY limited on resources given to him & likewise limited for him to distribute. Sometime this past week (I forgot what day it happened on) a man named Jim and his daughter Cris stopped in (to drop off some macaroni salad he had personally made) and told Steve that he was planning to do a cook-out on the square that coming Saturday (7/9/2011). Steve's eyes LIT up with hope, joy, relief & excitement about the upcoming assistance/aid to give to HIS (Steve's and the Lord's) beloved community of people in the Lakewood area that he cares for (NOT limited to the tent city people). We participated on Saturday (July 2nd) with Steve @ the square (when he didn’t have very much to give out that first week we were here). Afterwards, we returned to the bus for Saturday evening.
Saturday (July 2nd) evening back at the bus, Mr. Gordon lovingly & unexpectedly delivered 2 bags of apples and 2 bags of banana's for our family to eat & enjoy. He also brought us 2 containers of ice cream! Wow! Such unexpected hospitality and kindness!
Sunday (July 3rd) morning/afternoon (12:30 service time) we worshiped the Lord with our new friends in the tent city chapel! Steve brought the message of God's word and Pastor Chuck brought the Lord's Supper for us all to observe together! Pastor Chuck comes every 1st Sunday- how perfect for God's timing and our arrival!!!
Sunday (July 3rd) back at the bus, Marc had been working on the generator. We had not been hooked up to "shore" power since Tuesday (6/28/2011) morning, back in the Wildwood RV area park. Therefore, batteries were being charged by our newly installed SOLAR panels and had been working wonderfully to power our “on-board” fans on the bus to keep us cool during the day & at night (NOT using AC because the temperatures have been MUCH cooler and WONDERFULLY pleasant). I'm not sure of the details - oh, I think Marc was actually in the process of installing a fuel line DIRECTLY to the generator, instead of having to siphon fuel by hand into the generator when it needs refueling. However, something didn't work out exactly as planned and the generator needed to be REMOVED from the under storage area! Needless to say, I wasn't sure how the Lord was going to work THAT out!!! God has used Michael Igarashi and Chris Hill, separately, on two different occasions to lift the generator out/in the bus... NOT something I could help with!!! However, NO BIG DEAL for the Lord to work out!
Mr. Gordon delivered a HUGE watermelon to our bus, in the POURING RAIN, on Sunday evening… such a giving heart himself!
On Monday morning (4th of July), Marc was working on the generator and God brought Mr. Lenny to visit us ! He arrived with a second case of COLD Snapple's (Friday being the first) and a joyful, helpful heart for the task at hand! Marc & Mr. Lenny worked on the generator together and Mr. Lenny worked hard to persuade Marc to move the bus to his house & park the bus/trailer in the shade/shelter of his woods. After a lunch break, the generator “roaring back to life” (a pleasant sound to hear again) and a "family meeting" of the upcoming needs/plans, Mr. Lenny returned to help Marc "lift" the generator back into place in the under storage area. We followed him back to his house...MAYBE 5-7 miles away!
WOW is all I know to say! AGAIN the amazing detail & lovingkindness of our God! At JUST the PERFECT time, He sent a rescue & refuge for us! Staying at the Wal-Mart was NOT bad... In fact it was a blessing for SO many reasons. We met MANY people who were interested in the bus and what we were doing, (so we were able to testify even in a parking lot!), we met Mr. Gordon, specifically, (which we wouldn't have, if we hadn't STAYED there) and we were able to become acquainted with the area (with easy access to food :-)). I HAVE actually AND successfully been to the Target nearby... for those that received my previous update . So our time at Wal-Mart was just that, a blessing & a season; but the Lord knew we had other needs, WATER primarily, and He knew we would need the shade of some trees with the upcoming heat that we would experience this past week (July 4- 8th)! So, with that, He led us to Mr. Lenny's house on Monday, the 4th of July!
The need for water had begun to be an issue on Friday night & Saturday (July 2nd). Marc went to a nearby gas station where the kind workers allowed him to fill up a 5 gallon aquatanier from Wal-Mart. Marc "lifted" that tank over his head to put more water into our fresh water tank so we could "spot" wash/bathe and flush the toilet; but 5 gallons doesn't go very far with 9 bodies! Saturday, Steve also gave us 5 gallons of water to use. Then on Sunday, we had a DOWNPOUR of rain! Marc put out two 5 gallon paint buckets to collect run-off water from the bus & trailer... God provided 10+ gallons (I think he had another container collecting also) of water to use!!! How AWESOME He is!!! He KNEW our need and provided, with some creativity & resourcefulness!
Friday, July 8, 2011, we drove to a local state park where we can empty our black water tank. The gray water tank (sink/shower water) has not been an issue to empty while staying @ Mr. Lenny's house. Marc has a hose attachment so that the water can empty during use, instead of being stored in the "on-board" tank. The gray water (sink/shower) IS an issue when staying at a Wal-Mart or somewhere that is NOT ok with water runoff (equivalent to water from washing a car)... The need to empty AND fill tanks (fresh water for showers, NOT for drinking) is a HUGE aspect of traveling/living on the bus! I am SO VERY grateful that my husband lovingly and JOYFULLY (sometimes maybe even a little too MUCH enjoyment in the jokes & humor! ) tends to such needed tasks; WITHOUT such tasks, life on the bus WOULD NOT be possible!
As our “physical” location changed from the Wal-Mart parking lot to Mr. Lenny’s house, our purpose for being here in Lakewood became a little more clear and focused for us; Mr. Lenny and his household (wife, mother & mother’s aid), Minister Steve and tent city visits and Mr. Gordon from Wal-Mart.
Mr. Lenny’s household…
PRAISE that Mr. Lenny's mom (Ms. Gladys) has had peaceful sleep since we arrived & prayed w/her on Mon. 4th of July. We did not even know of a need for peaceful rest, but Mr. Lenny reported that his mother has been sleeping more peacefully since we arrived & since we prayed w/them. WOW!
Also a PRAISE... A major electrical problem has been discovered here @ Mr. Lenny's house. Marc is working to help resolve what issues the Holy Spirit reveals (update: they have resolved wiring issues by re-wiring 6 outlets and everything is safe and up to code now!)...TRULY a PRAISE that no disasters have taken place with the current electrical wiring. (Tuesday, 7/5/2011) Zachary stepped outside the bus and began SCREAMING "OW, OW, oW, OW OW!" each time getting LOUDER and more frantic. Marc & I went outside to see Zachary OBVIOUSLY not himself. We discovered the "reverse polarity" issue @ the plug created a "HOT skin" issue w/the bus! The front door (which is aluminum & "shouldn't" conduct electricity) WAS conducting electricity & Zachary completed the "electrical current" resulting in "minor" electrocution! Needless to say...God's mighty hand of protection has been upon Mr. Lenny & his family ALL these years to protect them all from such fate, or worse... And GLORIOUS praise for the protection upon each of us, ALL the times we stepped in and out of the bus while "plugged in".
Thursday, 7/7/11 was spent helping Mr. Lenny move his "privacy fence" back further from the street. It was about 5 feet from the street and needs to be 25 feet. Marc and the boys worked hard at "dismantling" the panels, pulling out the posts, relocating the poles & re-hanging the panels. Mr. Lenny had another man help DIG the holes... And THAT was a blessing! . Marc and his "SuperMan" muscles made it "look" EFFORTLESS to pull the 8 ft posts STRAIGHT up out of the ground! (they were NOT cemented in). The soil here is soft and sand-like, which made the digging & removing of the posts easier here than ANY similar task in "GA red clay"!!! MUCH progress was made here @ Mr. Lenny's house. Again they had us over/in for dinner! Many of the nights that we have been here, they have made & shared dinner with us - COMPLETELY unexpected! Wow! They even made dinner on Hope’s birthday and bought her a birthday cake to celebrate!!!
PRAYER NEEDS for Mr. Lenny
Mr. Lenny needing to sell his houses/property, he owns property here (NJ, NY, and FL). I think he would like to live in FL permanently, but cannot sell the other properties to make FL a reality.
Mr. Lenny - legal issues w/local township about pick-up/clean-up of property. Much work needs to be done, maintenance of current property, removal of cars/vehicles he has purchased to sell, but is unable to sell @ this time. Mr. Lenny had 2 court dates for his properties. The first court date (July 13th) was for here in NJ w/the fence & removal of "un-registered" vehicles on his property. The other court date (July 12th) was in the Bronx, NY, where he has a house with 4 apartments in the "section 8" housing community. He is constantly having to go to court for various reasons with this property-(in the Bronx) theft/robbery, non-payment by tenants etc. His wife (Vivian) will be traveling to FL to visit their daughter & grandchildren for their birthday's (grand-daughter 4 & grandson 2 years old). Mr. Lenny has a VERY helpful woman (Ms. Tonia) to care for his mother, assist w/taxes and all his other business dealings. For the last 5 years Ms. Tonia has lived w/his mother in the Bronx & now they live here @ his house in NJ. Actually, they live in an "apartment", converted from a previous barn, here on his property- his house is separate, and our bus is in between his house & the old barn (we are back under the trees/in the woods). Mr. Lenny's wife (Vivian) to have peace too w/in her spirit...in bondage to MANY fears!
Minister Steve and Tent City visits…
Steve is like a BIG kid... Full of energy, enthusiasm, creativity, hope, and UNconditional love to give to anyone in need :-)! And, he has a "creative" passion - MISSION: convert a traditional canoe into a sailboat. THAT is what HE would like to see happen, and has asked Marc “what he thinks about such an idea” ! Two grown men with such little boy hearts! It makes my heart smile so BIG, you can see it across my face !!! So, that is what Marc is going to help Steve accomplish. Just like friends that have come alongside of Marc to help with the bus or ANY of Marc's creative inventions/conversions, Marc now has the opportunity to be a "helper" to someone else, to see a dream realized and fulfilled! It should be interesting to see the outcome... If it SINKS or SAILS...LITERALLY!!! :-). Marc did some research about the idea of the conversion, and was pretty excited to share the results and "plans" with Steve; at which time, we discovered that Steve has some CLEARLY defined ideas of his own, on "how to" build his dream! The results of Marc's research were “promising” for success & “simple” to implement; but with the new plans Steve has drawn up, there are concerns that Marc has for - sinking- weight, and portability of the creation! I share ALL of this because it's NOT about the "idea", the boat, the OUTCOME/results... It's about something so much deeper & greater, kind of like the parables of Jesus' day... A message/lesson within a "story"- 'he who has ears to hear, let them hear' or a heart to understand. Only time will tell how all of this turns out
On Saturday, July 9th, Marc went with Mr. Steve to pick-up some food from a nearby distributor who GIVES Steve any and ALL of their food that is too close to “expiration date” to distribute to their stores for sale; expensive & gourmet cheese, crackers, cookies, meats, yogurts… all “kosher” and organic. Mr. Steve said he usually picks up approximately 3 pallets of food every 2-3 weeks; however, this week was unusual when they arrived and had 18 pallets waiting for them to load up into the school bus that Mr. Steve drives around!!! After Marc helped with loading the items, he came back to get us all, and we met up with Mr. Steve at the Lakewood Square where he unloaded MANY boxes of goodies! The boys helped un-load and give out the food. They had a GREAT time!!! We followed Steve to a local Catholic school where they allow him to also store some food in refrigerator/freezer space (and I think the school will also use some of the food themselves, but I’m not 100% sure on that?) Next we followed Steve to a “housing” community and again the boys unloaded boxes of food and handed them out. Abigail and Hope also helped at this location. Marc walked around with Princess and visited with the people as they came out. I stayed with Audrey, GinnyLove & Joy as they played/talked together in the minivan, nearby all the activity. Earlier in the week Steve seemed a little “down” anticipating this Saturday, knowing he had very little to give out… however, our Awesome God provided JUST the opportunity to GLORIFY Himself MIGHTILY with the ABUNDANT provision He provided through the Haddon House food donation AND Mr. Jim and his crew from the local soup ministry, who also came out to the square to cook out hamburgers and hot dogs! What a FEAST of food was shared and enjoyed by all who came! What a blessing to witness and be a part of distributing!
Our second Sunday here in Lakewood, NJ (7/10/11) we again worshiped with Minister Steve and the tent city people. Zachary played his guitar & sang “Awesome God” and “Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone” while Timothy played on the drum box & Marc w/the tambourine; they did a great job! Audrey has been working individually with the younger 3 girls to sing a song with each one separately… She and Joy “opened” the service with “Go, Tell It On The Mountain” (Joy’s favorite hymn). Minister Steve brought the message and encouragement of God’s word. At the close of the service, Audrey and Hope sang “Victory In Jesus” and then finally, Audrey and GinnyLove sang “Trust and Obey”. Audrey sings the “verse” part and each little girl sings the “chorus” part. As we were walking out of the “chapel”, Ms. Norenne asked Abigail if she sings, Abigail answered that she likes to sing her own favorite hymn “Amazing Grace”. Ms. Norenne said she LOVED that hymn, and so, upon request, Abigail sang the 1st verse for Ms. Norenne; her eyes moist from the sweet sound of Abigail’s voice. What a sweet sound to a Momma’s ears… voices of PRAISE, VICTORY, TRUST, SURRENDER coming forth out of the mouths of her beloved children!!! Can you SEE my heart SMILE??
Monday 7/11/11 Marc went alone into the tent city to begin some work on Steve’s sailboat. I took the kids with me to a local thrift store to try to find some jeans for our boys and other needed clothing items. Since we left GA in May, jeans have been worn through in the knees & bottoms and clothes have been GROWN OUT OF!!! MAJOR growth spurts UP and OUT of the current supply of clothes on-board! Shoes too!!! AMAZING how quickly and unexpectedly my kiddo’s are growing. I was not packed/prepared for this season of growth – physically!!! Unfortunately (so far), we were UNsuccessful with our mission in search of items needed, HOWEVER, I KNOW that our God is FAITHFUL and His timing is PERFECT… we shall WORSHIP while we WAIT on HIM!!! We went to pick Marc up from the tent city and to see the progress made on the sailboat. We talked with many of the same people we have met and met some new friends. Ms. Norenne loves our little dog “Princess” and loved on her while Marc was working on the boat for the day. Even our smallest member of the family is being used by the Lord to share His love, in ways that He knows their hearts can receive!
Wednesday 7/13/11 we went as a family into the tent city to watch and help in the boat building project! It was a WONDERFUL evening visit and MUCH progress was made on the endeavor ! We again returned on Thursday, 7/14/11 for more building on the boat and back at Mr. Lenny’s house Marc began to build a replacement door/gate for one of his fence entrances.
PRAYER NEEDS for Minister Steve and Tent City
Mr. Steve - legal issues for 15 shelters to be removed...laws for their homeless community & that kindness will be extended (by the local township government) towards the needs of other human beings for minimal living requirements (ie shelter from the weather). Mr. Steve has been a voice & advocate for "those w/o a voice"...he has CHOSEN to live WITH and IN the tent city community, to aid in "keeping peace" and simplifying his life of ministry to the homeless community here in Lakewood, NJ.
Individuals we have met in the tent city: David, Daivd (yes, two David's) Doug, Michael & Marilyn (married couple), Nancy, Nina, Norenne, Cindy, Mr. Motown, Matt, Joe, Charlie, Charles, Zeus, Angelo... And MANY others (between 50-70 people in tent city)
Mr. Gordon…
whom we met @ the Wal-Mart parking lot. He shared with us that he is Jewish- but is not "orthodox" or Hassidic. He has NY plates on his car; I'm not sure what has brought him here to NJ, other than the INTIMATE, PASSIONATE, PURSUING love, of God Almighty who wants to reveal Himself and His love to Mr. Gordon in a REAL & PERSONAL way, by the leading of The Holy Spirit of God, placing him in our path! When we left the Wal-Mart parking lot to come to Mr. Lenny's house, we left a note for Mr. Gordon (tied to a tree near the spot he parks in). He called Marc upon receiving our note & left a voicemail message saying he almost cried when he drove up, saw we were gone & then discovered our note tied to the tree! (And this is no "small", frail, fellow ... He is a heavy-set man's man!) Marc, Timothy, Abigail, Zacahry, Audrey & GinnyLove went to visit Mr. Gordon Tuesday night (7/5/11 BEFORE Zachary was electrocuted!!!) Mr. Gordon was elated to see them and visit!
Thursday, (7/7/2011) Marc & Timothy went (again) to Wal-Mart (to purchase some items for our family) and visited Mr. Gordon. Mr. Gordon told Marc that he was hoping to see Marc again before he (Mr. Gordon) left for the Pocano Mountains. Mr. Gordon told Marc "when I meet people like you, it brings HOPE. It's like you’re an angel!" WOW! How much our Savior wants to share His love for ALL of His created ones... Even those living in the woods, homes and PARKED cars in the Wal-Mart parking lot!!! He doesn't look at where they live & what they DO or DO NOT have... His desire is that ALL would know who He is- PERSONALLY- and how very much He loves them and DESIRES fellowship WITH them!!! What a GREAT and AWESOME God! I understand more clearly/personally the Psalm that has been on my heart these last few days- Psalm 65:8 "from where the sun rises, to where the sun sets, You inspire SHOUTS of JOY"... How can I NOT shout forth His praises? He is SO wonderful! SO merciful! SO moved with lovingkindness towards His "Created Ones"!!! I just want to SHOUT forth HIS PRAISE!!! I was able to meet Mr. Gordon on Saturday, July 9th (Hope’s birthday). Mr. Gordon said to me “your husband has the face of an angel”. Marc also visited Mr. Gordon on Monday night, July 11th.
On Tuesday, July 12, 2011, our family went to New York City for the day! The day began BEFORE the crack of dawn !! Timothy woke himself up early and lovingly, woke the others up too! We were on the road driving towards the city by 6:15 am! We parked the van at the Staten Island Ferry parking lot for the day and rode the Ferry! It was a BEAUTIFUL morning; clear sky and cool breeze! We spent the day walking through the city. Timothy willingly pushed our “chariot” stroller filled with our picnic lunch for the day, a two gallon water cooler, everyone’s refillable water bottle and various other necessities for our ADVENTURE!!! We ALL began the day walking – BRISKLY – and taking photo’s along the way. We visited the site of the WTC, “ground zero” and saw the new construction taking place. We stopped in at a souvenir shop and bought a few things to remember our trip by; Abigail VERY MUCH wanted an I (heart) NY shirt! Mr. David, the owner of the store was very friendly and patient as we looked around and made decisions on “who wanted to get what” and “which sizes were needed”. GinnyLove “happened” upon a BOX filled with party favor kind of sun-glasses, that were in the shape of 2011, from the New Year’s celebration in the city; he happily GAVE each of the kids a pair, and they were BEAMING with gratitude(the little things in life)! We stopped and rested at a small shaded park bench area… it was a welcome reprieve from the rapid walking pace. To be honest, I am IN AWE that the little legs kept up with the LONG adult legs!!! Joy did sit in the stroller for most of the walk after our first “break” in the shaded park bench area (I don’t know the name of this particular “park”). While we were sitting in this area, Marc saw a man (on the other side of the area) who “appeared” to be homeless and went over to him, to visit, talk & pray with him; his name is Anthony. Our lunch stop was in the James Madison park area. We found a couple of park benches available (next to each other) and Marc assembled our sandwiches for eating; he also treated everyone to a cold “Sunkist” soda, purchased from one of the sidewalk shops! After lunch, we continued walking towards our goal of Central Park; with a stop at the Empire State Building and the NYC – Goodwill (still in search of some jeans, shirts & shoes). We made it to the Empire States Building, ground level, but did not go for the “tour” to the top! The Goodwill stop was “accomplished” in our walking goal, but not with purchases! However, we pressed on. We walked through Times Square and were met with LOTS of activity. I must say, based on what I have heard from other people, their opinions and experiences, I was expecting JAM PACKED traffic, RUDE people and “road rage”…however, MUCH to my surprise, people were VERY friendly, a SMILE on their face and only an occasional honking horn! That HONESTLY is a HUGE PRAISE with a WIDE stroller and 8 people walking! We arrived at our final destination of CENTRAL PARK. It was a BEAUTIFUL and welcomed sight to behold! We found a resting place together; laid out our plastic pancho’s and stretched out to rest! It wasn’t long before appetites were growing and rest was no longer appealing Again, we were on the move! Our return trip to the ferry was an adventure on the NYC subway – HALLELUJAH! We hopped back on the ferry, crossed over, walked to the van, loaded up and headed back to Jersey. Marc drove us home as the kids and I PASSED OUT asleep! Next thing I knew, we pulled into a Wendy’s parking lot for dinner! The day ended as SUPERNATURAL as it began… with joy, love, peace & excitement! Everyone showered when we got home and Marc FINALLY passed out himself! Needless to say, we ALL slept VERY WELL on Tuesday night! A day full of memories!
As we walked along the streets in NYC and rested in a couple of different parks; we met, talked with and prayed with 5 different homeless people (they were the only ones we saw throughout the day); Anthony, James Monroe, Maria, Daryl and another James. Marc talked/prayed alone with Mr. Anthony, as I mentioned before. We met Mr. James Monroe, as a family, walking along the sidewalk and pushing a cartful of his belongings; we talked briefly and then Marc prayed for him. We also met Ms. Maria as a family, as we walked together on the sidewalk. People in front of us began to slow down and kind of “move to the side” before we saw her. It is difficult for me to describe how she was “standing”. She was on her feet, pigeon-toed and bent over from the waist up, propped up on hand braces/crutches as if she LITERALLY, TRULY walked on all four appendages (excuse me if my terminology isn’t correct). The wave of compassion that moved within me as my eyes met her eyes… “words fail me” to communicate, I am in tears as I recall the sight again in my mind. We all stopped as a family. Marc asked her what her name was; she replied “Maria”. There just weren’t words; only a look in the eyes, a touch of my hand upon her shoulder and then I began to pray over her. I could feel her tense shoulders relax beneath my hand as I gave praise to The Father for Maria’s life; I prayed and asked that He make Himself known to her in a way that she has never known Him before, that He would be glorified and that she would be encouraged; I could hear/feel her speak/agree as I prayed. She looked up and said clearly with a smile on her face AND in her eyes “God bless you”. Oh, yes, He did bless me indeed! We continued walking and as we approached Central Park, we saw a man passed out, legs sticking out into the walkway, completely unaware of anything around him. Marc went over to him, bent down near him and began to pray for him silently. He began to move/stir and awake himself. Marc asked his name and he answered Daryl. Marc prayed with him before we moved on. We crossed the street and came to the entrance of Central Park and again, saw a man lying on the ground. His name is James. He was BAKING in the direct sun! Marc began talking with him and he was saying something about wanting something other than a “peanut butter and jelly sandwich” to eat… something with MEAT on it! Unfortunately, there appeared to be NOTHING anywhere close by to fulfill that desire for him. He then mentioned wanting ice cream; which happen to be LITERALLY right behind the entrance wall he was in front of. Marc went and purchased a cup of chocolate ice cream and a cup of ice (he asked for ice also). Marc brought the ice cream to him and James began to eat it and drop it all over himself. Marc helped clean it up and then asked James if it was alright if he fed it to him; James agreed and ate the ice cream. Marc prayed with Mr. James and then said goodbye. We were told by some “on-lookers” that took notice of what Marc was doing, and began talking with Timothy, that another 2-3 miles up the road there were homeless people everywhere. For this day our NYC “street ministry” had ended, but only The Holy Spirit of God knows what the future holds for our family or the lives to be touched & prayed for.
Friday 7/15/2011 Mr. Gordon came to see us today, at Mr. Lenny’s house! Mr. Gordon brought with him, BAGS of groceries to give to us… WOW! 2 more cartons of ice cream . The makings for spaghetti; meat, sauce, noodles… which we made and ate this evening (Marc’s FAVORITE meal ). Two large packages of chicken quarter’s, a 10 lb. bag of potatoes, 10 lb. bag of rice, a bag of carrots and 2 dozen eggs! We were COMPLETELY blown away and surprised by his gifts! He came to see us before we and he leave town. He has Marc’s number and has called him on a few occasions, so we know that we can remain in contact with each other. Marc showed him the INSIDE of the bus . Mr. Gordon was amazed at the inside of the bus . On one occasion he said that when he first saw the bus he thought it was a “prison” looking bus ! Marc smiled and said “no one takes a double-take, thinking it is of no interest to what might be inside; built in security ”. Mr. Gordon himself has owned a “camper/RV” and encouraged Marc with the work that was done and how it was built! Thanks again to our friends/family who helped in SO many ways (physically, financially, prayerfully) with making our “home on wheels” a reality!!! Each one of you are a part of what we are doing! THANK YOU!! Mr. Gordon gathered us together and took a few pictures of us and said “you are my family now.” We said our farewells to Mr. Gordon as he drove away.
We then headed to the tent city community to work some more on the sailboat. Mr. Steve wasn’t there yet, and we heard Mr. Doug playing the piano in the community center/chapel area. We went to visit and talk with him for a little while and then began the day’s work on the boat. Mr. Steve’s son had come to see the boat that his dad had talked so much about and to meet someone within the camp area that may be able to do some work on his own car. As Mr. Steve was telling his son about all the “features” of the boat and the plans for the boat, he said “I’ve been asking people for years to help make a sailboat; calling around to see if anyone has one to get rid of, to make a way for the homeless to learn how to sail.” Wow! I had no idea how much time, thought and desire he has had in mind for what I thought was just “his” desire/dream… and yet he truly does want to SHARE so much WITH those who are struggling! How cool that the Lord would send us here to be a little part of a bigger plan (it still is a GREAT UNknown if it will sink or sail!!!) Mr. Steve also shared with us this evening that a “working person” needs to earn $23 an HOUR to cover the cost of a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment, used car and MINIMAL living expenses in this area!!! WOW!
As we headed home to the bus for the night Marc received a call from Mr. Lenny who has not been feeling very well and has only been getting worse. He went to the doctor last Saturday and had blood work done this past Monday. The results revealed that he has contracted Lyme disease from a tick in the area and is now being treated. MUCH work remains to be done here at his residence, but he does not have the strength/energy. Marc is working to repair a gate, move the fencing that still needs to be pushed back, remove vehicles from his property before he incurs fines from the Township, and any other tasks that he can assist Mr. Lenny in.
Marc had said that we will remain here, with Mr. Lenny, until July 16th. Then we will head north to the Boston area. I/we have some MORE family around in that area and hope to see them somehow/sometime along the way, while we are this far North! :-) As the 16th is actually upon us, we have already decided to stay for awhile longer to SEE the “maiden voyage” of the DREAM-boat and to help more with Mr. Lenny’s “things –to-do”. We are not constrained to any specific day to “move-on” nor are we rushed by deadline or destination… we simply travel as The Holy Spirit leads us on… in a “modern day” CLOUD by DAY, PILLAR of FIRE by NIGHT. Oh, the PEACE of being RIGHT where God wants us to be, WHEN He wants us to be there!!! HE IS SO GOOD!
I realize that there are SO many details I have failed to include in this update... I am trying to get it all in! So much of what we are currently experiencing/living may not make ANY sense at all NOW, today. However, I am discovering that "in time" I am able to "see" the dots connecting to a GREATER picture than I could EVER imagine! Thank you for sharing in the journey with me/us!!!
Posted by: Kimberly
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Mission Log: 2011/06/01
Jacksonville, FL MissionBus City #1 - May/June 2011
Update #1
If your following our tweets or facebook updates you may have some idea what we have been up to.
Here is some more detail for you.
God has connected us with an amazing opportunity. I knew almost nothing about our destination and mission prior to obeying the call to travel to Jacksonville. Since leaving Rutledge, God has shown Himself faithful in so many ways. Amazing provision for 4 new trailer tires, an alternator for the bus and place to change it without being stranded, provision for diesel to Jacksonville. The ways in which God provided each of these things are unmistakably affirming to establish our plans for Him.
Since arriving in Jax, He also provided full power and water hook up on site at Words to Works ministries. All of our meals have been provided....Good meals. I am still trying to grasp how He is working all this out. I am in awe.
The first day here I repaired 3 shower drains so a 24 hour mission team arriving would be able to have functional showers. A number of other plumbing issues need to be addressed and tomorrow I will be adding 50A outlets for RVs that come on a regular basis...like us, to do mission projects. Minor vehicle repair and maintenance are on my list to help out.
Between facility maintenance we are doing SONSTONE work (Timothy doing web dev work), homeschooling our kids (Kimberly working with them) and our team engaging the local homeless and low to no income families thru various ministry activities.
Friday night warehouse ministry, block parties and prayer walking the community.
Warehouse ministry is a friday night gathering in a warehouse behind the church, the garage doors go up and the community is invited in. They hear testimonies of transformed lives, homeless get fed and families get to see Jesus in action.
Words to works has an inflatables business that is a key component to support their ministry. The rent out 50+ inflatables and use their own jump houses and slides in weekly community outreaches.
We met four homeless individuals (Tim, David, Marsha and Tommy) at the Friday night warehouse and was able to visit them in the woods where they live about 4 blocks from the church where our bus is lodged.
W2W also has a large number of web, technology and video production activities the MissionBus team will be undertaking to advance marketing and efficiencies of the ministry and inflatables business.
Pastor Nick is planned to have knee surgery next week and I will help in administration for a few days in his absence. Gods timing could not have been more perfectly orchestrated.
Lord willing MissionBus will remain @ w2w ministry thru 6/23.
As the Spirit leads and provides we will move to Lakewood NY with a brief stop in nj to visit family. Pray for Gods fuel provision for that journey and wisdom thru His leading where He wants us to go next. We will need approx $950 to get us to our next city. He already has a mission and purpose for us. We want to be fully used of His Kingdom.
Update #2
Our family has endured great lessons by the Spirit of God this week and He is teaching us so much about Himself that i'm struggling to take it all in. The attacks of the enemy have been very strong and often physical in nature. Each family member has endured some kind of infirmary and seen extraordinary healing. Please continue to pray for deliverance from these attacks. The volume of experience learned of peace and patience by Kimberly and me go far beyond the natural realm.
Saturday we spent an hour in the woods and met a bunch of new people - Fred, Tim, Shadow and Phil. They welcomed us into their camp and we had the opportunity to pray for their needs. God provided a tent for Shadow to protect him from the migrating snakes in his area of the wood. A cooler for Fred to keep food and drinks cold. Work for Tim. The kids commented on how much they have missed visiting with homeless people and they were talking about when we could go back. We will be going this Saturday and plan to worship in the woods with them. Look forward to sharing this next week.
Sunday Shadow came by the bus and I gave him our tent - a 4 man dome tent that we have had for several years. It has served us well, but felt he needed it more that us in this season. Tim accompanied Shadow and had some questions to ask me. He wanted to know of animals when to heaven...you see Tim has a dog named Penny that he has had for many years and love her dearly. I tried to assure Tim that God was able to have animals in heaven but that I was so certain that when we see Him in glory, nothing else would matter. Tim was not assured, but I prayed with him that God would draw him closer.
The next mission team came in from Augusta GA. A group of 65 high school and college students. Our Sunday worship was awesome. Pastor Nick let our team kick off the service with a worship song. Zachary on guitar, Timothy the drum box and I played tambourine. We all sang together a song titled Lead me by Santus Real. The boys did awesome.
The Sunday night worship was probably the highlight of my week. To see these young people repenting and surrendering publicly, seeking forgiveness and healing. Totally Awesome. The Spirit did some amazing things to prepare this group for intense warfare this week.
This week we continued our new schedule of work, school and ministry. We did a lot of small repair tasks around the mission. More drain repairs, water heater maintenance, HVAC repairs, even a little welding work. Pastor Nick and I started talking about technology needs and tasks. We put together a strategy for all the stuff that needed to be done. Web, email marketing, Search Engine placement, etc.
Kimberly completed a project to setup a process for the mission teams to assemble notebooks for missions training. Sounds easy right...well, the notebook has 100+ pages and 82 of them had been assembled incorrectly so she had to fix them and organize the process so they could be re-assembled correctly. She almost gave up twice but she didn't give up from the pressures and she conquered the notebooks. She had help from your kids...and oh yeah...sorry, the Holy Spirit of God strengthening her. She grew spiritually from this task.
We took the opportunity on our off day to take the kids to a Florida beach with my dear friend Paul and his family. God has so blessed us with a 3 meetings with them during our visit. God is using them to minister and encourage us. I'm so thankful for each opportunity he has given us to fellowship in the Spirit with them.
Yesterday I saw Fred from the homeless camp walking by the church parking lot so I called out to him and he came over. I asked him if he still needed a cooler and he said he did. We had a cooler that was given to us that was in need of some repair, but was still very usable. I had already repaired the cooler with guerrilla tape :) --- like new. I had the opportunity to walk with Fred to a local store and pray with him as we went. He is looking for work and some other personal needs.
We have received $250 of our $950 goal towards our fuel cost for the Lakewood NJ leg of our journey. My God is faithful and He is showing Himself to meet every need, He is provider.
Keep praying for strength against the fiery darts of the enemy, He has been relentless in His pursuit of breaking us down. The kids are struggling but each day we are seeing a quickness to repent in their hearts and this pleases the fathers heart. I'm so grateful for the lessons they are learning here.
We are experiencing quantum leaps in spiritual growth in such a short period, hard to take it all in. I would not trade this experience for anything, thankful for your prayers.
Update #3
The last week of our Jacksonville mission was blessed by a visit with dear friends from home. The Spirit prompted for the meeting of men to discuss the possibility of an intercity camp ministry, a long time vision of Pastor Nick. We continue to pray that God will affirm any and all directions as He leads. The will of God is not finite thing as we know it. He has clearly given us a mandate to love Him with all our heart and to love others as we long ourselves. Every action, work and deed that our lives produce should be in accordance to the above supreme command. He gives us passions and gifts to pursue and use to fulfill every whim of the Spirit's move. This pursuit is not magical in nature as many believe. The Spirit moves combination of His word, our obedience and circumstances around us. We must learn to tune our ears to His movements around us if we truly desire to experience Him.
Finishing the projects at Words to Works was a challenge, as we planned to depart to the north in the next few days. We did finish all the projects we planned and some we did not plan.
God's provision to fund fuel for our next journey showed us His faithfulness and affirmation. We praise God for each of you that supported our first long distance move.
I did a small fix job on the words to works website. The mobile version of the site had place holder content that I replaced with something relevant. Seems like a small thing but time is precious and technical recourses are scarce.
I will continue so support them with updates on their site since this can be done remotely and I love to do this sort of kingdom work. We have also begun the process to move their database from outlook to sqlserver. The datacenter they have in place is staffed with 5 ladies entering data for the ministries marketing efforts. We can help make this process more efficient and enable better protection of the data.
The Tuesday before we departed the MissionBus team visited the homeless camp off of 44th and Main Street. I had visited there 2 other times with the kids, God was building relationships. Tim and Tommy were at the camp the last visit and present this last visit. We brought our guitar, drumbox, and tambourine to lead worship. The setting here in the woods is very clean and almost like an oasis with palm trees and tents scattered about. The soil is very sanding and water disappears as soon as it hits the ground aborbed into the earth.
We spent some time talking and encouraging our friends. I believe they both know Jesus and desire to do right. Tim's mom is actively involved with Words to works and Pastor Nick knows him well. After our second visit to the woods I saw Tim working the inflatables at words to works, I spoke with him and encouraged him to pursue Jesus with all his heart.
As we talked with them in the woods, I suggested that we pray and worship. I read Corinthians 13 and give the Bible to Tim. Before I started reading Tim reminded me he needed a bible, I smiled. I picked this one up just for him. After I read the chapter, I handed it to Tim and he smiled. Later he told me he was thankful for the batteries so he could read his Bible at night.
I am always encouraged when believers actually read God's word. So many followers of Christ are bound up in fruitless relationships with the Father because they simply do not read the word. This book is the heart of God, how can you expect to know His heart if you don't search it and dwell upon it in your heart.
We sang songs and praised God together in the shade of the palm trees. Zachary and Timothy are really progressing in their musical talents and the girls singing is so beautiful. Tim asked if we would play "old rugged cross", so I looked up the words and chords on my DROID and worked my way through it. I praise God He looks at the heart and not the outward sounds of a man :)
After we worshiped, I prayed and then Tim asked to pray. He expressed deep thanksgiving for our family to be there showing them love. He said that no one had ever come into the woods to visit them. I was pretty surprised about this, but whether or not anyone ever had...this day was different and he felt loved.
We gave our hugs and we departed.
Kimberly finished here project of making 200 mission training notebooks. She enlisted the help of her kids and dear friend Jessica. Michael even helped by making 100s copies for the pages that were depleted.
That last day of work I experienced the hand of God on my lift as He protected me from possible electrocution. I was pushing on two wires into the junction box to replace the cover. As my hand came of the wires, a loud pop and flash of arcing electricity blow before my eyes. The circuit was tripped. I was very thankful for the safety the Spirit held my hands off the wires. Now I had to find the upstream breaker. 2 hours of searching and a few phone calls helped point me I will the right direction. Consulting with my dear friend Micheal and the Spirit led us to check some fused cutoff switches in the main building. Finally we found a blown 100a fuse. There happened to be one replacement on the shelf next to the breakers. Replaced the fuse and everything was back online.
God has been so gracious to us in our first in city mission. We have been blessed in more ways than I can even write, but one thing stands above everything else - our surrendered lives conquered an enemy that has zealously attacked us from the first day we arrived.
By name, Satan....you will not prevail over us. You might discourage us, but you will not be victorious in your efforts. Who can stand against us?
Departure - bus is packed and checked. Sweet and bitter good byes to our new family at words to works. We will no doubt cross paths again. Our lives forever changed and made brighter for the kingdom.
We meet Pops in Savannah GA, soon Nana and Papa will arrive and we will have subs and cupcakes for Hope and Ginny Love's birthdays. So sweet and so much love from our parents. We are blessed.
Savannah to Emporia Va was just over 400 miles. We traveled with no delays. God's will affirmed. Up early to make our destination before dark. Another 400 miles to Rio Grande NJ.
When we set out for our journey I was concerned in my thoughts if the fuel fund would be enough as the price of fuel increased the more north we travel. As we were on the road in VA, a dear brother inquired of fuel funds through facebook. While I did not mention any numbers to him, the money he sent to our paypal was exactly the amount needed to pay tolls and fuel cost to our final stop. I am in awe of how our God works, he is just now beginning to get though to my heart to teach me how great and powerful He truly is.
Upon arrival in NJ, while doing my post trip inspection, I discovered a large crack on the front of the trailer. The crack is on the front corner where the triangle of the tongue is attached to the main frame of the trailer. The crack looks to have been repaired previously and reinforced with scabs of steel on the bottom and sides. At the bottom, the gap in the separation is almost 1/2 an inch. I first noticed the crack because the gravel guard was wrinkling on the front of the trailer where the front tongue section is now getting pushed upward from the stress crack.
I am amazed how it is even still holding together, but not surprised. HE holds all things together. My king is supreme to hold me close and together by His spirit.
The trailer is now parked at Mitchell Ironworks just 4 miles from where we are camped in the bus. I talked with the Bill, the owner, on suggested solutions for the repair. We agreed it is fixable. At this moment, I am still waiting on a cost estimate and eager to see how God will provide to fund the repair. I have no doubt He will again show Himself a faithful and loving God.
In the meantime, family is loving us and serving us meals as we enjoy each others company. So much love is being poured out onto our kids and we are thankful for this.
In the next few days, pending our trailer repair, we will travel 80 miles to Lakewood NJ to meet a pastor that has lived in the woods with homeless for the last few years. What we will be doing only God knows, but we will certainly pour out this love that He is pouring into us today.
You can support MissionBus by sending funds to our Paypal account online. We have access to use these funds immediately. Just login to www.missionbus.com and click the paypal link on the right side.
You can also send a check to Words to Works Ministries in Jacksonville Fl. W2W has agreed to be our non-profit sponsor. They will forward funds to MissionBus and you can deduct your contributions from your taxes.
Make check to:
WORDS TO WORKS MINISTRIES
Write into the memo field: c/o MISSIONBUS
Mail to:
Words to Works Ministries c/o MissionBus
7137 N. Main St., Jacksonville, FL 32208
Update #4
Last week we spent a few days with family in Wildwood, NJ. It was been a huge blessing. Our funds were low and incoming funds would not clear for a safe couple of days. Some very special family gave us money to spend on the boardwalk and also paid the way for our kids to swim and go on the adventure rides. What a blessing and such gestures of love towards our kids.
I found an ironworks welding company on Saturday night and the owner was in the office on Sunday. He agreed to work on the trailer and to let us park the trailer at their shop while we wait for them to repair it. This was a blessing because I didn't have to try to get it into the rv park with the trailer.
After two calls and one visit, it was becoming clear they we're under staffed. My second visit upon returning to the car from the shop office, a man sitting in his car yelled over, "come here". The man's name was Lee, he was the sole welder in the shop. He recognized our GA tags and asked if that was our trailer. He said he was very backlogged and he knew a guy that used to work there but he was retired. He gave me BJ's number and I called him. Lee told me this guy was 75 years old but had a shop and still very much working. We went to visit him just 7 miles away. Turns out...BJ is a nick name for John. Pastor John was a man that loves Jesus and very much evangelizing anyone that would listen. This old pastor makes amazing works of steel and repairs anything that can be welded.
I picked up the trailer from the other shop and drove the bus and trailer into his yard right up to his metal shop. John did the repairs to strengthen the frame where the joint was pulling apart. The cost to fix the trailer was half what it would have been but twice as blessed.
John also offered for us to stay at his place overnight which was a huge blessing. The next day he let me work one the solar panels install at his place. Timothy helped me with the project. The install was a success and both panels are now charging our house batteries whenever we have sun. The panels can produce as much as 9 amps for a 12 volt load but trickle charge the batteries with 3 to 4 amps.
Our next stop is to get the bus closer to ocean side apartments for family to tour MissionBus. I had previously surveyed the area and determined the Catholic High School 3 blocks up would be perfect for pull through access. The school agreed to let us park. Family came to visit the bus and we camped there for the night.
Early departure to Lakewood in the morning. We were on the road by 6:30am.
More to come very soon on the Lakewood, NJ MissionBus City #2 Mission so stay tuned.
Posted by: Marc
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