If there were one image that could capture how we are feeling it’s the Valley of Dry Bones from Ezekiel 37, “He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD…I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life” (Ezekiel 37:3-5).
We woke up early to grab a quick bite to eat and to pray. JB, our cook, made some delicious Cheerios and Raisin Bran…can’t beat the classics. Prayer was powerful because everyone in the room, from Pittsburg to Braddock, to VFCC were all united under one desire—to prepare for our ministry today on the streets and tonight. Two VFCC students Daniele and Stacey partnered with the Pittsburg City Outreach worship to lead us and set the tone for the next hour seeking God. The Focus was on Christ and the people of the city. By the end of the hour we believed that the Lord heard us.
He did. Groups of people fanned out through Reading praying for streets and people, canvassing the city in prayer. In my group, we stopped in front of schools and met numerous people on the streets who responded to out message, who recognized that we genuinely cared, and that Jesus did too.
Lunch was cold cuts and the buzz from the morning was still feeding the energy of the room. Little did we know that the schedule was about to shift and right after lunch, immediately, we would be racing the rain trying to hand out flyers. The rains never came, but we spoke with a variety of people from a really diverse background. We were another witness advertising our Block party on Saturday and sharing the gospel and praying with all who were wiling.
Evening rolled around, ushered in by painful skit practice. Again and again ‘Jesus,’ played by Steve, upper cut me, the demon, with his sword. Again and again I leapt backwards into the audience—crashing and crumpling into the floor. This was an illustration of what was going to happen in a few hours when the people filled the church for our first outreach service.
Dinner, prayer, and here they come. We recognized some faces from the street as the local community turned out to see what was going on here…through the service the Lord used a skit, Jenny gave her testimony, and Pastor Brian spoke about really who Jesus Is…
The response was positive and we all gathered together after service for Pizza downstairs. My little buddy Carlos was given his first Bible and there was an sense of happiness in the room. At that point, another person who hadn’t been to church in a long time wandered in and we began to minister to him. If Carolos and that man were dry bones, they now do live and we are confident that God will continue to move in this Valley. Amen.
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