coney island

 

Marlboro Outreach

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Today was an amazing day as God allowed the school of evangelism team to minister to children and parents at the Marlboro Housing Project with food, fun & fellowship as many children and adults received Jesus as their Lord & savior. We were told that this was the first time anyone has done a outreach at their apartments. We were so blessed just to be there and have fun with them.

Ernie & vance checking the blog

As we speak.

Some snapshots from our freetime in the church before dinner

A Great Descriptive of Brooklyn

One of the members of the church here sent us a beautiful narrative of what we have to look forward to on our nine days in New York. Hope you don’t mind me sharing this Gerry.

“Come to Brooklyn,

You will find flowers growing here among the rocks, pushing their way up between the stones of the city, and through sidewalks cracked and broken by lost ones looking for light. Groping to find the Hand stretched out, the Voice calling them to come forth.

You will see faces and names painted here, painted in the colors of many nations, drawn on the walls in many languages, embroidered on the veils of Yemen, expressed in the dark eyes of Saudia, and subdued hearts peering out to find light. Asia too spreads itself in living colors over the fields white to harvest.

Come pick flowers from the fabric of the world. Ebony faces from the Islands of the sea. Pearly white smiles but hungry hearts. The Black Hats and Beaver hats that fill Borough Park and Williamsburg, lost from the true Jerusalem. Walk among the diaspora and touch the Tribes of Israel.

Come to Brooklyn. To China towns where women with tiny feet bow still before Buddha to burn their incense. Where gurus and cults ensnare the searching and misguided. Where Mosques and Temples and Shrines to the saints who were not saints, cast shadows across the path of those needing for hope, forbidding them to see.

Come to Brooklyn. You will find children older than their years, without fathers to guide them. Mothers in need, and girls preyed upon. And in the High Rises of plenty where all seems well, drug lords count their cash and pat their weapons and look down on the masses.

Yet the Word of God is living and active! The Lord is building His church! For nestled in many a corner, beams of light shine out… out to the sea of humanity like lighthouses along the shore. Spreading beams of Hope across the Horizon. Out to the parks and boardwalks on the sandy beaches of Coney Island. Out through the neighborhoods, down alleyways and open markets.

Come to Brooklyn and write your own poem. Find the flowers and pick a bouquet of your own. Come, point their faces to the Son.”

Morning Worship

Safe!!!

As our day comes to a close, we have all arrived safely in Brooklyn. Thank you for all of your prayers for safe travels :)

Brooklyn Represent

It’s 9:40pm and two of our four vans are here at the Horizon in Brooklyn eating L&B Spumoni Pizza. We’re here safely and even had a couple alumni and team members fly out to join us for the remaining days in Brooklyn.

Stay tuned and we will keep you posted with more personal testimonies from our students and photos showing the work God is doing.

Welcome to Indy

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Here is a link to where we will be staying tonight and tomorrow.

Horizon Indianapolis

Read up on the history of how it started. It is a really beautiful property and a great testament to how great our God is.

In Kansas, Now to Horizon Indianapolis

The heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the firmament showeth His handiwork… This is my view right now.

Pray for Traveling Mercies

This is one of six semi-trucks we’ve seen tipped so far driving through middle America. Some of our fleet drove through sandstorms and strong raging winds. Godspeed HSE.

Another Message from Mike

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”
Mark 1:35-39

In all four gospels, we rarely see Jesus alone. Everyone always wanted something from Him, either out of selfishness or out of faith, and He spent sunrise to sunset ministering to people. But in this passage from Mark, Simon found Jesus all by Himself, alone. “Everyone is looking for You,” he told Jesus urgently. And clearly, he wasn’t telling Jesus anything He didn’t already know. But the world could wait; prayer could not.

You see, Jesus knew the source of His strength and power was in prayer. When He was alone, did He watch television? Or play Wii? No, He prayed. Who knows how much rest our Lord got that night, but chances are it wasn’t much. He must have been exhausted after a long day prior, and still, we see Him rising up early in the morning, “a long while before daylight,” to pray.

Have you ever felt like everyone was looking for you? Like your cell phone never stops ringing, and the problems keep coming, and you don’t have a moment to yourself? May I encourage you today to take time alone… and pray. Without prayer, we are but robots going from task to task, slaves to the problems that constantly demand fixing. But there will always be tasks at hand, and there will always be problems to fix. How can we ever know God’s purpose for our lives if we don’t take time to pray? How can we become more than problem-solvers — “more than conquerors” as Romans 8:37 puts it — unless we commune with the One who is bigger than our problems? How can we but struggle from burden to burden unless we spend time in prayer? The world can wait; prayer cannot.

May I encourage you to spend time in prayer and ask Jesus to use you to start a revival in your life, in your family’s life, and in your community. No matter what you may be experiencing today, know that the Lord wants to bless you. I know that we all have pressures at home or at work that drain our souls. But just as Jesus was weary, He still made time to refresh Himself in prayer to His Father. Not only did prayer revive Him, it was His source of strength. When you are physically or emotionally weary, go to the Father in prayer — anytime — and He will refresh and strengthen your soul.

New Disciples. Vance’s Testimony: Friday, May 21.

Living in a community with other believers give me a glimpse of what it was like for the disciples. Like them, we eat, sleep, study, pray, praise, learn to lead, and learn to follow. Like them, we are discovering and developing our own uniqueness in the midst of our common goal. Though sometimes difficult, this communal environment is optimal for the death of self and the growth of love. My brothers and sisters see what I do not, both good and bad. They exhort me unto love and good deeds and I am changed by the Spirit of God through them. There is no place I would rather be than right here, right now.

Youthful Heart. Jackie F’s Testimony Pt. 2: Wednesday, May 19.

On Wednesday evening, some of us stayed here at the church for night-time service while others went with the youth group to an outreach in a park for the skater kids that skate out there.  I personally didn’t want to work with the youth because I don’t really have a heart for them.  Or at least I thought.  I honestly only wanted to go to the park to see the Columbine shooting memorial.  One of our drivers was dropping a group off at the park & then returning back to the church to pick up the youth.  So I thought, perfect I can go with him to the park, see the memorial & then catch a ride back to the church, that way I didn’t have to work with the youth.  Well when we arrived at the park the driver was told he needed to return back to the church right away.  That meant I either had to forgo viewing the memorial so I could get a ride back to the church or I had to stay at the park the whole evening with the youth.  So I stayed.  I was uncomfortable thinking about having to interact with the skaters.  They were just a bunch of rowdy punk kids to me.  God then reminded me that many years ago, I was one of those punk kids too.  Standing off to the side talking to Natalie, a 16 yr old girl comes up to us & asked if we could pray for her.  She shared that she just returned from Israel & really desires to live fully for the Lord.  But this afternoon she was with her boyfriend & was tempted sexually.  Immediately my heart broke for her, because I’ve been in her shoes time after time.  Only, no one ever reached out to me to encourage me to flee from the temptation until the damage was already done.  I shared with her my testimony & how God finally been convicted to live a pure life & why.  The whole evening God used me & my past to connect with these skater kids.  I finally felt that my shameful past of drugs, drinking, & sex was used to glorify God.  All around the park God was using HSE testimonies to minister to these kids.  You could see that progress was being made.  The walls built up against God in their hearts, are starting to fall down, slowly, but its happening.  Seeds were planted & I’m so eager to return to the park to water & plant more!  God is changing my heart towards youth & it’s awesome!

Loving Littleton. Lauren’s Testimony: Thursday, May 20.

The Lord has been using us HSE-ers in mighty and amazing ways. On Wednesday, we were sent out to be led by the spirit as to what he wanted us to do. We were given money, cleaning supplies, balloons and a lot of faith to do ministry with the community. Our group found ourselves serving at king supers for much of the day. At one point; Chrissie, Daniel and Chris Flores saw a young couple who were getting into some heavy arguments. They were screaming at each other. The entire situation yelled out for an intervention, but by the time we decided to do something, they had stormed out of the store. All we were left to do was pray. Thankfully, God is really good at getting rebounds. I prayed that the Lord would send another believer to talk to the couple. My prayer was answered when Monique ran into the couple when they had reached her part of the store with their argument. She poured compassion and understanding into the situation. Not only did she get to witness to them, but we all got to share and pray for them. How rad is that?!!!

Blessed. Jackie F’s Testimony Pt. 1: Wednesday, May 19.

God moved today.  He moves everyday, but a lot of the times I don’t notice it because of all the distractions in my life that blind me.  The first part of the day we were broken up into our families, were given $60 cash & cleaning supplies.  The only direction we received from leadership was to go out into the community we were assigned to & share to love of Jesus Christ with them in a tangible way.  My family threw around ideas of cleaning restrooms at Starbucks, paying for someone’s groceries, washing windows at the gas station, etc.  After praying for the Holy Spirit to lead us we broke off into small groups & went our separate ways on a mission to bless people.  However, most people we approached didn’t want the blessing.  Of course, we were discouraged, how can you say no to free bottles of water or free groceries?  But the Lord used this day to bless us instead.  It seemed like everywhere we went there was a Christian around wanting to bless us.  We got free lunch & coffee from the manager at McDonalds who is a Christian.  The other half of our family got free pizza, three different times we were approached by a Christian that just wanted to poured encouragement into us.  How loving is our God?  We still had money left over so we decided as a whole to bless the staff at the YMCA.  They’ve been so gracious to allow us to use their facilities to shower & workout everyday so we bought them pizza, a bouquet of roses, & picked up trash around the property.  That was the first part of the day.  God knew that our family was struggling spiritually & it was like he just wanted to use this day to show us how much he loves us and give us sweet kisses on the cheek.

Contention to Union. Nikki’s Testimony: Wednesday, May 19.

On Wednesday, two of our van families combined into one for an outreach. At first, there was a lot of disunity and frustration amongst the group. Later, we left our first location to go to an outreach at a nearby park. That same feeling of disunity was still in the air amongst us. Once we arrived at the park, clouds came and it began to rain. Everyone that was at the park left, while our group stayed and huddled under a pavilion. We all decided to pray and see what God had for us there. During the prayer, I felt the Lord tell me the reason… that we needed this time as a group to build our unity. It ended up that as it rained, we sat under the pavilion and affirmed each other and gave encouragement. After we finished, the rain let up and God had brought unity to our families. After that a van of troubled children arrived. Some of our group went to play with them in the park. Some of us even had the opportunity to pray for them. It was a day of unexpected circumstances for our group. Man makes his plans but the Lord guides his path.

A Message from Pastor Mike

Walking worthy of the Lord is something I desire to do with all my heart. I get very upset with myself if I have done something or said something that would displease the Lord. I want my whole life to be for Him and not for me. When I was in control of my life (before being born again), it was a mess, but since surrendering my heart and life to Jesus, my life has been a blessing and I am dedicated to try and please the Lord. Here’s the thing: I can’t do it alone.

As you read this, perhaps you are wondering how in the world you can walk worthy of the Lord, or be fully pleasing to Him? After all, you can get frustrated with the kids, or disappointed by your spouse; you are not perfect. But read on in today’s passage to see what comes next: “According to His glorious power.”

You see, as we walk in God’s grace and yield our lives over to the power and working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He enables us to walk worthy, to please Him, to be fruitful, to increase in knowledge, and to be strengthened with all might. These are not things we can do for ourselves, in our own strength, but they are the byproducts of allowing His grace, power, and Spirit to work in our lives on a continual basis.

Today, may the Holy Spirit strengthen and encourage you, filling you with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14

The Ministry. Christian’s Testimony: Wednesday, May 19

The ministry is a rough, difficult field. Frequently neglected, hardly recognized and often taken for granted. You deal with numerous problems of which you are expected to solve with a calm, cool, and joyful attitude. That is a well-rounded description of a minister. So what makes it all worth it? Let us say a man is called to that position and seeks to be obedient. Only, obedience is one thing, obedience with a willing heart is another.

So, what really does make it all worth it? What is it that keeps a minister from becoming jaded and bitter?

It is on this trip that I am beginning to realize… It is the changed lives for the kingdom. Seeing hope restored to the hopeless, love given to the undeserving, compassion to the broken that leaves the mark of love.

The people… The people are what make the ministry worth while.

Never Ready. Cody’s Poem and Testimony: Tuesday, May 18

Why is this melancholy mayhem?

A child looking for love but never finds,

Left with a robbed and weary soul.

.

Never ready for this realization.

Pain and hurt flood this soul.

Is such harsh veracity assumed false?

.

Yet among pain and sorrows of old,

You lay still and knock on this door.

“Come to Me, I am sovereign over all”.

.

Though it cannot be understood.

You wait with warm embrace,

To ease the pain and dry the tears.

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I wrote that poem about my day yesterday.

Yesterday was a prodigious day. It was full of people who demonstrated the reality of spreading God’s Word. Many were closed to all outward communication, while others were extremely encouraged to see laborers for the kingdom. It was a melting pot of attitudes and beliefs. My family and I were passing out flyers for a festival coming up this Saturday. We were assigned to the shopping strip in Littleton. While Jess (Lewis) led half of the family one way, I led half the other. My group and I ran into a couple of boys and gave them some flyers. We had a blast talking to them about Jesus and how many “coincidences” there are when it comes to life and Christ. After the boys left, another group of children came. They were all around 13.

I was not ready for what came next. As we all broke up and spoke to the kids, Amy and myself spoke to the girl of the group. Her name was Julia, but she liked to go by Jules. She wore colorful beads around her neck and wrist, she had drawn a black heart on her hand. I was overwhelmed. As we spoke to her, the Holy Spirit told me that she had been sexually abused earlier in her life. I as well, was abused when I was a child and always knew what to look for in a child to see if they were too.

I saw the broken eye-contact, the pain in her eyes, the fearfulness of her body language, but this time was different than any other time. This time, I didn’t just know by knowledge or observation, but I knew by feeling. The Holy Spirit came down on me and I was overtaken by this feeling of pain, hopelessness, but more so compassion. A compassion that moved me to tears, one that I never felt before. I always wanted to feel the Holy Spirit in an amazing way, but I was never ready for that feeling. I felt the vulnerability of a child who’s life has been stripped from her, who’s identity is found but trying to find a person to love her, but has lost that hope. I felt that way when it happened to me. I had forgotten. Sure, I’m in HSE and serving God to the best of my gifts and abilities He has given me, but at some point in my life, I did not want that to define me as a man, so I drowned out that pain, closed that book, and buried it in my soul.

He came down to me yesterday, reopening my book, as I asked Him, why? He said “Come to Me, I am sovereign over all.” I looked to the sky and saw His amazing glory, scribed in the clouds as rays from the sun and silver linings overtook the view. After He spoke, the pain and vulnerability left me, yet a burden remained. I may not understand why this happens in our world, but I do know that God is sovereign over all and will be your strength and comfort in weakness and struggle.

As I have reflected, yesterday has become a miracle for me, I felt God’s heart in a tangible way, and have grown to understand His love more than I ever have before.

What Kind of World? Amy’s Testimony: Tuesday, May 18

She was 13 years old and looked to the ground when spoken to. She wore make-up around her eyes and fluorescent beads around her neck and wrists. When asked if she went to raves, she said, “no, but I want to.”

He was super-friendly helping us in 7-11 as he let us know he had come over from India and had attended “Missionary School”. When asked, “What do you believe then?”, he answered ”I believe in all gods”

She was stooped over in her chair; hair hanging to her side, CD player fallen from her pocket. She had a half empty gallon of  orange juice next to her. The manager of the establishment asked her if she was “okay” as the orange juice next to her was much more than just juice.

What kind of world do we live in where these situations and beliefs are seen as “normal”? Where a 13 year old girl seeks a false reality and is sad, yet common? Where drinking, while seen as an unhealthy way of coping is still seen as a way to cope? A world where measuring our goodness on our own scale has led us astray.

These were just three of the individuals I met today within a 2 1/2 hour period walking around Denver. God showed me today that we walk through life not really looking around at the people we cross and we are certainly not looking up. We do not see suffering because we are to involved in ourselves. God showed me suffering today, and in such a magnificent place where the sun shines strong one minute and a thunder cloud follows you the next. And within it all, God reminded me that He is faithful to every individual, not only here in Denver, but all of the Earth. I do not have all of the answers but He does. Hope for a world without suffering is only a reality through the Truth of God.

God’s Preparedness. Gino’s Testimony: Tuesday, May 18

Nothing can thwart the advancement of God’s kingdom. Not race, color, creed, age, time or space. The HSE body is so diverse and well equipped for any challenge it is aspiring to witness in. While coming along side URBAN Outreach Ministries in rural Denver, HSE must have knock on hundreds of doors and encountered a full gambit of human conditions. At many points, the response was “no speak English”, so our spanish speakers would step forward. One time in particular, the response was “no speak English” so the Spanish speakers stepped up, to which the response was “no speak Spanish”. We replied, “what language do you speak?” to which they said, “Arabic”, so our Arabic speaker stepped up. God is always prepared. Eventually, the Gospel was boldly proclaimed in Arabic to a Muslim no less. Wow, What an amazing God we serve.

A Poem: by Gino: Sunday, May 16

Red Rocks: Neat place, a poem of lost souls.

Lost and dying world seen in many a face

All searching for something greater than themselves

Mystic rhythms, not at all mystic

More diluted then spirituality based on the same hypnotic escape from reality

Yet mediocre…

Continuing to make a mesh of delusion to discontent

May He deliver them from their vain repetitions.

Please pray for those lost and dying people. They need the Father just as much as we do.

God’s Greatness. Jay’s Testimony: Tuesday, May 18

This morning was a busy morning. From prayer at 6am to breakfast, leader meeting, packing for the day, a morning devotional and much, much more all ending by 8:15. Then my amazing evangelical “high 5 for Jesus!” family (#5) went to serve the Lord. My only desire is to lift them up with encouragement as we go and witness for the Lord. Thank God for giving me the opportunity to lead such an amazing family. As we start our outreach, God begins to use every family member gifts, talents, and testimonies to reach and lead 15 souls to the Lord. Wow, God is great.

In Need of a Father. Daniel and Ernie’s Testimony: Tuesday, May 18

Daniel, a teen from the slums of Littleton dedicated his life to the Lord today :) After entering into a divine appointment with My practicum family (#5), he stuck around to listen even when his friends left him. He listened to the truth as Ernie and I spoke to him. With his father’s death and the recent loss of his grandfather, he was looking for a fatherly figure to love him. Thank Christ that He is their and ready to embrace daniel on his new journey.

Glorious Beauty

On Sunday, our group was blessed with the opportunity to see a glorious part of God’s creation. Red Rocks Park in Denver is a random assortment of rocks that are… well… Red! They are unique and seem to be out of place amongst the lush green mountains in the distance. With gorgeous views and beautiful formations it is truly a wonder of God’s creation. Truly Psalm 19:1-6 comes alive in this place. Please pray, as some testimonies will be mentioning, people here are lost just as everywhere else. They come to fulfill themselves with the spirit of nature and energy, not the Spirit of God. Please pray for those lost in confusion who have been captivated by the deceit of the enemy, that God will draw them to Christ. John 6:44

Good Morning

Good morning everybody, have a blessed day. Pray that God’s wisdom, love, and sovereignty rules this day and leads us to many amazing opportunities :)

Heating Up

As we end our third day in Denver. God has been at work and testimonies are starting to pour in. We have been serving and God has been faithful to make the harvest plentiful. Tell your families and friends to check out the blog and see just how powerful God is, and what He is doing. Thanks so much for your support and prayer.