Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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My church just finished this 40 days of community campaign through Pastor Rick Warren’s “40 days of Community” bible study. It was incredible to see our church come together to serve in the community and build relationships and fellowship with one another through small groups. We had different mission projects and served in the community through this time and God moved in so many different ways and in so many different lives.

 
With the 40 days of community campaign ending this past Sunday and with everything that God had showed us through this time, both Jen (my best friend) & I really felt God calling us to step it up, go outside of our comfort zone and to be obedient to what He was placing on each of our hearts. We felt God calling us to reach out to the homeless in our small, quaint town of Hilo, Hawai’i.

Downtown
         Hilo
              at night

Last Sunday, we decided to go downtown to the bus station to give away extra donuts from one of my Krispy Kreme fundraisers. What God showed us when we arrived at the bus station was something neither of us will ever forget. He completely opened our eyes and our hearts to the needs and the burdens of the people here in Hilo. At the bus station, we encountered the homeless, people with disabilities, a single mother with 6 small children and even some college students from the University we attend. We were able to talk to them and provide some food for them, but God had even bigger plans in store for us.

During the Celebration Sunday service at Kinoole last week, our college women lifegroup had the opportunity to share with the church what God has been doing in the past 40 days during the campaign. God gave me the courage to speak about Jen & my opportunity to reach out the homeless and the passion and urgency we now feel toward the homeless and those less fortunate in our community. This was an incredible gift from God b/c he is slowly stripping away every ounce of fear in my body. All of my life, I have been terrified to speak in front of people and God is slowly breaking it all away. He is using me to speak in front of others so that HE may be glorified and that I may be humbled. What an amazing God I serve!

The 2nd night that Jen & I went out to visit the homeless, to our disappointment there was no one at the bus station so we prayed for God to lead us to them. The song lyrics “Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see” by Brandon Heath kept repeating over and over in my head as we drove around town. After a lot of prayer and driving around we felt God calling us to the dark places in town b/c more than likely the homeless hide from traffic and cops and the busyness of the town. He led us to this homeless man who was camped out on the side of a dark, empty abandoned gas station.

I realized that God doesn’t call us to the light to be the light, he calls us to the darkness to be the light. And so many times I have been afraid to go into the darkness for fear of the unknown, fear of the stereotypes that have been instilled within me and the fear of being unsafe. Jen & I discussed this in the car and we both felt God burdening our hearts for a reason and calling us to be a light here in Hilo. If we as Christians are too afraid to leave the safety and the comfort of our own homes, then how will these lost people be reached? How will they be helped? How will they be saved?

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:14

More than ever, these past few weeks I have realized my passion and my desire to reach out to those in my own community. I have always had this immense desire and passion to serve overseas and to leave my town. Up to this point I would only consider talking to the homeless and doing outreach missions while being on an official “mission trip.” God was speaking to me this week and was telling me that if I continue with this mindset, I would never gain the understanding of the needs of the people that I encounter on a daily basis- the ones closest to home. We don’t need to travel to discover people who are lost and burdened. These people are all over and there are needs everywhere. And although I know that God is calling me to overseas missions, He has also been opening my eyes to the mission field that I currently live in – the one that I call home.

These past few weeks, God has slowly been stripping away my pride and my fear and is challenging me to obey His calling here in my community. I have been continuously praying for God to open my eyes to the spiritual world – the things unseen, and to the needs of the people in my town. I have prayed for Him to burden me with these. I am now beginning to realize just how heavy and how hard this prayer is to pray. It has opened my eyes to just how real and alive God is b/c He is answering these prayers. He is placing some heavy burdens and emotions on both Jen & I and it isn’t something that we have been taking lightly. It is strongly affecting us and the way we now view our town and our community. God has been leading us to those whose hearts He has already prepared for a time such as this. And we cannot help but to obey and follow the one who sees the bigger picture, who has the perfect plan, and who calls us His own.

 
 

Funny how God places this so heavily on my heart one month before I leave the country for 11 months…