We’re 7 Christians united in one cause–find the black man in the hat with a Sprite. Wait, what? Don’t worry, you read it right. We’re in Atlanta, on a mission to find a black man and a Sprite. Why? Because that’s what God told us.
ATL–While most commonly known as an abbreviation for Atlanta, that’s surely not the case for goodness. gracious., a group of 7 Christians from across the US, surrendering the next year of their lives to God. ATL is short for Ask the Lord, a process of tuning in the voice of God and tuning out the chaos around. Through the ATL process, God reveals where to go and what to do. Sometimes He’s clear; more often though, it makes no sense until we see it happen. Instead of just explaining, let me tell you about my experience with ATL and a night I’ll never forget.
It all started with us sitting there, holding hands tightly, and praying to God that He let us hear His voice. Ashley spoke up. “I saw Sprite.” Okay, that’s a little weird, but we’ll work with it Lord. We continued to share the visions God gave us, noting the commonality–a black man in a hat. Now where on Earth were we going to find such a man in Atlanta? That’s going to be tough, right? So, we decided to follow Sprite.
I’d like to go off on a little tangent here and educate you all a bit. Sprite is made by Coca Cola. Coca Cola is based in Atlanta. That is your educational lesson for the day 🙂
Anyway, we began our journey, intent on going to the Coca Cola center by getting some cash for the street vendors. Instantly God sent people our way. Enter Ayesha. What a woman with a tremendous story. After buying her snacks, we parted ways.
God continued to intervene the entire way there, some of us stopping in an attempt to minister to a man named Curtis. Before we knew it though, we all found ourselves seated in Centenial Park in the middle of Atlanta. The Coca Cola building, green bottle on it (SPRITE!!), was in sight as we simply sat there and prayed for this city–a city who’s pain we could literally feel.
After some time with the Lord, we decided a change of scenery was necessary…so we headed towards the fountain. We barely made it to the sidewalk ahead when a homeless man, Tyrone, approached us. Right away, before we could even speak one word, Tyrone began to talk to us about how we’re all a part of God’s family. We sat down at Tyrone’s side as he continued to talk with us and I was overwhelmed with the presence of Christ in this moment. Was this our guy, Lord? Is this the man you hoped we’d find? I can’t help but notice he’s not wearing a hat…
Whether or not it was, it truly was a divine encounter. I counldn’t help but look at Tyrone’s eyes and see the love they posessed. Here was a man, homeless, HIV+, one eye missing, more scars than one could count, and he was telling us about the glory of the Lord! What a truly captivating experience!
After taking some pictures and eating dinner with Tyrone, we parted ways and headed “home.” God wasn’t done with us yet though. As we walked down the sidewalk, Denise saw a tremendous sight–a black man, wearing a hat, sipping a Sprite. This is so surreal, my Lord! You’re actually brought this man to life! We took a moment to pray, centering ourselves on God’s voice and His alone. Speak to us Lord. Silence the other voices and direct our paths.
We turned back and headed towards the man, but something told us he wasn’t the one. Instead, the Lord directed a few of us to Karl. While some ministered with Karl, a few of us sat to the side and talked. Before we knew it, David approached us and ministered with us, truly overcome with the Spirit of the Lord. Soon after, Rocky came at sat alongside Paul. In a matter of minutes, our small team of 7 was working in the lives of three special individuals, all thanks to the glory of God. As time seemed to be nearing the end, a man approached us with 4 year old Christian on his shoulders. “He wanted to see the Safehouse people.” How that boy knew us, we’ll never know, but what we can boldly say is how great is our God.
Oh and the Sprite guy, we saw him again. As we walked away from this scene, we turned back to see him bringing Karl a meal, all while singing, “Lord I Life Your Name On High.” Jesus truly lives on the streets of Atlanta. We just need to open our eyes!
Please keep Ayesha, Curtis, Tyrone, Karl, David, Rocky, Christian,
and the black man with the Sprite in your prayers!!
and the black man with the Sprite in your prayers!!
