8 hour drive. 4 states covered. 27 students. 6 leaders. 5 work days. Nearly 90% humidity. And about 100 prayers answered! That was my last week in Waveland, Mississippi with the Lilburn Alliance youth group…
To be honest this was my first day with them: “What the heck am I doing here??” I knew I adored these kids. I knew I was on a leadership team with fabulous people. I knew my obedience to God led me to some half-of-a-ghost town in the south of Mississippi. Oh, but it was frustrating. Have you ever known the “yes” but the “why” left you completely clueless?
I went on doing what I needed to do. Then Thursday came…
Sarah, Alvoro, and I went on the morning run about 6:30. Just the three of us and the sound of our feet on the pavement. I broke the silence about five minutes into it – I couldn’t handle it any longer. Though I don’t normally chat while running, I asked my friends if I could shout…like, really yell. I started the prayers and Kingdom reigned down.
“God, You love this city!”
I refused to settled for “blah”. For the following 30 minutes Sarah, Alvoro, and I shouted out prayers for the group, for the city, and for ourselves. We needed to press in farther into the passions and spark of the God that brought us this far. We needed perseverance for this journey.
That day I went to the same work site I had been at the previous two days. It was a hard and slightly hopeless place to return to. I was unmotivated but I called to God with every part of me while I led the kids through their work projects. One of our senior guys, David, was given the challenge to seek God and His will for this place. Before we left David shared God’s joy, peace, and power over Freedom Hall. Then we prayed and declared it over each room we worked in. Simon led some of the other kids to write the words and Scriptures we declared over the doorposts. What amazing men of God who stood up and shouted God’s promises!
I was beginning to believe more in the hope of why God had me in Waveland. But the day wasn’t over yet. That evening we split guys and girls. While the boys went out to sweat and throw stuff the ladies got to come together and chat. Along with Amy and LeeAnn, we were all able to speak truth and identity into these women. Before we knew it we were all standing on couches and chairs and tables proclaiming God’s promises, strength, and covering over our lives. WOO! And I couldn’t let it stop there. I ran around the room praying and prophesy over each lovely lady – strength for the one moving to Haiti, healing for the one with Lupus, freedom for the one living in fear, beauty for the one struggling with identity. God showed up!! One of those precious princesses even felt God for real for the first time that night! God, You love this crew!
The evening with the ladies ended with a crying and snotty huddled mess. As they continued to pray over me all I could call out was “Thank You, Jesus! Thank You, Jesus!”
Thank You, Jesus. Thanks for showing up at the perfect time. Thank You for loving me SO much. Thank You for loving this group of young men and women. Thank You for bringing me to a point of desperation – a longing for nothing but You – where my voice can be loud and shouts of passion can bring a little more of Kingdom down to earth.
Whole crew out for dinner
Before we left to come home
Mural designed by Emily and worked on all week
