Taking Back What The Enemy Has Stolen
(Part 2)
I talked before about my neighborhood (Riverside), and how God has been working to take it back from the enemy. Now I want to talk about another neighborhood in Jacksonville and what I have been seeing God do there.
Just west of Riverside (literally across the tracks) is a neighborhood called Lackawanna. Lackawanna is what would commonly be called "the ghetto" or "the hood". The streets are spotted with abandoned houses. There are drugs being dealt out of and used in many of the houses. There are prostitutes on the street corners and there are people being murdered in the streets on a regular basis. This is a neighborhood where the enemy has dug in and will do anything he can to keep his hold.
I know a lot about what goes on in Lackawanna because, before I found my way back to Jesus, I used to buy, sell and use drugs there. It can truly be a scary place even for people who are used to being around such things. I know personally there were times when I would wonder if I was going to get back out without one of the many guns, prevalent on those streets, being pulled on me.
Soon after God removed my desire to poison myself with drugs and alcohol, I was introduced to a ministry through my church called Street Corner Ministry. Street Corner Ministry has a house in Lackawanna called "the white house" where some people from the church meet early every Saturday morning to hand out food and pray for people. People line up down the block before anybody from the church even arrives each week. It is pretty awesome to see.
The first thing that happens is volunteers meet inside "the white house" and bag up bread and sweets donated by one of the supermarkets. While this is going on there are other volunteers outside talking to and praying for people. Once these bread and sweet packages are bagged, tables are set up on the front lawn and the packages are handed out along with fresh produce or hygiene products. People keep going through the line until everything is gone. Once a month there is even a cookout at "the white house" where hamburgers and hotdogs are cooked and handed out with chips, coleslaw, and drinks.
After all of the food is handed out on the lawn, paper grocery bags are packed with bread canned goods, dry goods, fresh produce, and sweets and prayed over. The bags are split up between two or three groups for a Prayer Walk. These groups head out in different directions to hand out the bags of food and pray for people in the neighborhood. People in the neighborhood flock to the streets to get groceries and more importantly prayer.
This ministry has been going on every Saturday for five years now. These prayer warriors from my church have been faithful that whole time. Through these prayers people have been healed of physical sicknesses, healed of addictions and other mental illness, had their finances blessed and much more. A few weeks ago, I even got to be a part of praying over and in a young woman's house where she and her son had been harassed by a dark entity (demon) for months. Truthfully, I was skeptical when we were heading into the house until I stepped through the front door and felt a dark sinking feeling. As we prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit to come into the house, I could physically feel the darkness being lifted. Every hair on my arms was standing strait up and the woman was weeping with joy. It was amazing.
I feel blessed to have found my way to a church that is so faithful to doing mission work right here is my city. I really believe that God led me to this church and to this ministry. I have been able to witness so many incredible things that God is doing in the few short months I have been involved. I do my best to make it there every Saturday morning and plan on trying to be there every Saturday until July when I leave for the World Race. I think it is important to fight evil with prayer. I am honored to have this opportunity to fight alongside these prayer warriors. Even if your church doesn't offer you the opportunity to do this kind of thing in your city, I suggest getting a group together and heading out just to see the awesome things God will do. Love Y'all!!!
