Stories to Share

These are probably my most favorite brownies to bake and to eat! Anyone who knows me knows that I like sweets:) This week I made them for our dinner guests Curtis and Nancy Rothe. I met Nancy at Urban Night this spring serving in the sausage line and we bonded almost immediately. With her daughter recently moved away to Denver she was offering herself to be my 'Waco Mom' with open arms. As we were talking she said something like this, 'my prayer is that someone takes my daughter under their wing so I'll take you under mine.' Ever since, we have met together at different times, served together and most recently shared a meal together. God has put urban ministry and the poor on their hearts. They are hoping to start a ministry that partners the homeless with working people to mentor them through job training skills, life skills and much more. It was exciting to hear more about their ministry and how God is working their lives.

On a different note, here is a picture of Andrew's D-Group (Discipleship Group). Every Thursday during class we all meet in small groups to process, share, encourage and learn from each other. The people in our groups are going to be friends for life, I just know it! Andrew's leader is Talmidge (the right front), then sitting next to him is John, then Andrew and Kurt.

Every Friday night Antioch opens their doors to the homeless and people in need, which we call The Community Feast. It truly is a feast! The food is amazing and so well prepared. We start the night with some worship songs, then a short message, a time of ministry and then we feast. The night is always filled with tears, testimonies and lots of hungry people. Hungry for food and Jesus (although the latter they may not know just yet). Last night I talked with man who's story is even to painful for me to repeat. He was left broken, weary and desperate by this world and what it had to offer him. God rescued him and now he lives a different life yet he still battles daily and has to choose God to survive he says. After he shared his story he said, "what about you, what's your story?" I probably looked really dumb. I just stared into space thinking...what do I say after his testimony? I have been so blessed throughout my life and grew up in a wonderful loving home, knew Jesus from a young age, how could I relate to this man? After a few awkward moments of complete silence and a quick prayer, I looked at him and began to share my story. As I was sharing I realized that what we had in common was Jesus saving us both from our own sin. Our sin might look very different but it's still the same in Jesus eyes. It's still sin and we still need Jesus to rescue us from it. So 'THANK YOU JESUS' was both of our responses!