We were taking a group of neighbourhood kids on an outing recently and when we piled onto the bus I (Anthony) sat next to a pair of sisters who I met the day before. As I was talking with them the young boy in front of me turned around and asked me if the girls were my cousins. I stopped, thought for a moment and answered in the negative. These girls were black. I was white. I kept my eye on the boy to see if it was a joke. It wasn’t.

After a few moments of confusion and amusement, I realized something wonderful had just happened. Maybe it was due to the familiarity I shared with the girls, who knows, but for whatever reason this little boy hadn’t realized, or had at least briefly forgotten, that I was white.

Over the past few months the children have been both entertained and frustrated by the differences they perceive between my wife and I and themselves. We wear flip-flops, they wear sneakers. We like rock n’ roll, they like hip-hop. We can choose to leave this ghetto any time, they cannot. There are minute and tragically significant divides that at least refer to the cultural difference, if not define it.

Charlotte 614 is currently a predominantly white outpost ministering in a predominantly black neighbourhood. We are endeavouring to realise Godly relationship and Christian community amidst, and despite, racial and cultural barriers. And for a few moments at least, as far as this young boy was concerned, these little girls and I were family.

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:11

Anthony Castle

Koinonia Community

I have been studding community a lot lately and thought Id share some of my revelations. Biblically we use the Acts community a lot, so do I, but I wanted to look at other sources too; namely John ( the gospel John guy )

The very make-up of this Epistle is messy, there is not a normal form. The author does not properly refer to himself, but calls the readers his " little children " and constantly weaves in the pronouns " I " and " you. " This shows a unique relationship, one much deeper than a traveling preacher would have with a nieghbourhood, this is a relationship based in (Greek) Koinonia !

Koinonia is simply Greek for fellowship, but in its application means so much more that simply spending time together. John shares the idea that Salvation is developed through fellowship, community, with others.

1 John 1:3-4

3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

1 John 1:6-7

6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.


These scriptures reveal so much about the miracle of Salvation, to me. I am firm in my definition of Salvation, Romans 10:10, but what if we shifted our strategy from ...

A. Getting someone to repeat a prayer of confession ... To ...

B. Getting someone to come join in fellowship where we share our lives together in Koinonia.

Is it inevitable that if we have right relationship with Holy Spirit and an alive powerful relationship with Jesus and our Father that those around us will be naturally be drawn into a Salvation experience ?

Yes !! Jesus never prayed the " sinners prayer " with anybody, he invited them into fellowship, into community. True converts are ones that join a body of believers and experience love, freedom, safety, discipline, joy, mourning, dancing and Jesus uncut from religion.

The next part of this Chapter is one used to water down Holiness, but as we search this Chapter through the lens of community we see that Holiness in and of itself exists, in fullness, only amongst each other. I pose that Community and Holiness are tied together being that they both are movements that lead to complete freedom from sin and blame. Look at the scripture, if we live like Jesus in right relationship with our Father and each other there is a cleansing from ALL unrighteousness.

I think we have messed up holiness by keeping it in the closet, it is meant to happen in the light through fellowship and community. I bet if someone totally isolated themselves that they could stop outwardly sinning, but HOLINESS IS NOT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION ! Holiness is freedom from sin and shame, it is an inward purity which leads to an outward example of perfect love.

I am totaly coming out of the closet, I am not ashamed, I am hungry for Holiness. I want complete freedom from everything of the world, I want to stand before the throne of God completely free and pure, totaly holy. I do not think I am there today, right now, but it is my aim, to be just like Jesus.

Above all else, Jesus was a friend, a friend of Gods and a friend of sinners, inviting them to hang-out, watch, and follow if they want to.

Rob

Today was an eventful day, marked by unusual experiences. I slept badly due to a poor skittles choice late last night and so my fuel tank was starting with a deficiency.
Tempress Boone (summer service corps missioner and full-on slum sister) invited me out to do a round of visitation on her normal Wednesday route, and so we knocked on the brittle screen door of Miss Shirley and Mr. Taft. We entered into their wee 2 bedroom house. There was no air conditioner, and only one fan that the league of mercy had provided on an earlier visit. I chose a seat that was directly across from the fan, anticipating the cool breeze such a position would bring.
Unfortunately, I did not consider the fact that both Miss Shirley and Mr. Taft are heavy chain smokers, and the fan blew all that second hand smoke my way.
My eyes were swelling, my nose was expressing a strong unwillingness to inhale and I didn't want to open my mouth. Which is kinda of a problem when it comes to making polite chitchat.

So I sat there for a while, initially irritated and affronted by the way the situation had played itself out. I was grumpy. I felt ill.
Then, I stopped.
I decided to just suck it up (not literally) and get over it.
Once I stopped being so preoccupied with myself, I was able to engage my surroundings, listen in on what the folks had to say, and enjoy a good ole' down home visit. I had learned my lesson, I had pressed through and I had overcome. YeeHa!

However, the Lord saw fit to learn me extra good today, for upon my arrival at home, my husband met me with concerns about our air conditioner. Our rentman had installed a central air unit to our home, but since that day, the house temp. sits anywhere from 80-90 degrees, with the A/C running all the time. Rob did some investigating, and noticed that one of the duct joints had separated, and the glorious cool air was drifting off into the neverneverland of our crawl space.
So, he proposed a plan.
He would go under the house and reposition the duct, and it was my job to hammer it back into place. I figured he would be better at the whole hammering it into place thing (plus, I didn't want to be the one to flub it up) so I offered to go under the house.
Now, let it be known, that I made this decision based on past comments I'd heard from my husband about how clean it was down there, and how you can actually stand straight up, because our house was built on a hill and whatnot. So I guess I was expecting the Hilton down there or something, but man, was I off.
So Rob comes down with me, opens the padlock (if we don't lock it, folks be holin' up down there and gettin' all hopped up) and leads me in.

At first glance, I probably should've ditched my flip flops for proper closed toe shoes, but all common sense left me at that moment. Only sheer bravado kept me from turnin' tail back upstairs. But seriously, let my husband think I'm a chicken? Nosirreeee....so under I went.

First, I was mad that it was dirty and dark and the ground was covered with questionable crunchy things. Then I was mad at Rob for painting the crawl space in such a positive light. I recoiled at the thought of bugs crawling on me, or getting nasty old cobwebs filled with bug crusties caught in my hair.
I stood there, paralyzed by my distaste at the task at hand and the level of personal involvement it would require of me...especially when I realized that the vent I had to go to was about 20 feet away and I'd have to get there on my hands and knees.

Then, I stopped.
I decided to just get down to business and enter in. Literally.
Once I stopped being so preoccupied with myself and my personal distaste, I was able to engage my surroundings, get to the duct (a la navy seal on my belly, rolling under obstacles, dodging broken glass) diagnose the problem, make the necessary repairs and seal the leak.
OH yeah baby...I had pressed through, I had overcome.
I was really really dirty, but I felt like a million bucks. I was like Arnold Schwarzenegger comin' out of that hole. The neighbourhood kids called me cool and my husband thinks I'm a superstar.

So, two long accounts. What's the point? Here's the point. Where are you at right now with God? In ministry? In your marriage? At your job? With your family? With your church?

Are you stuck in ickypoo land where you are focused on how everything is affecting you and making you feel uncomfortable, and forcing you to get down and dirty?

Take the tip-off from the smoky sister under the stairs- just get over yourself.
Press in.
Push through.
You may end up filthy dirty with old, dead bugs in your hair, but you'll have accomplished something and you'll feel really great about pushing your limits of comfortability.

Trust me!

P.S. For the sake of my sanity, no photos were taken of this incident. (!)

it's getting' hot down here...

wow! Great news in terms of Kingdom Advance over here on the Charlotte front.

Tonight we had our squad meeting. Seeing as we have 8 full-time ministers here, we have broken up into two groups that meet for spiritual accountability, encouragement, correction and exhortation. It is always a fruitful time spent in the presence of God, Holy Spirit, us and Christ Jesus.
Tonight was a real treat, though. Rob and I have one of our neighbourhood friends staying with us for a while. He is 14. Typically my squad dwells in the living room of our home, and tonight our friend "J"was in the next room over drawing and surfing the internet. He had one ear tuned in to the goings-on in the living room though, because when Tempress suggested that we all just pray for each other, he called me into the dining room and with his eyes downcast he whispered "will you all pray for me too?"
Hmm. let me think. (!)
So, when it came to be his turn, he sat with us and let us pray with him, over him. Rend the heavens on his behalf...and it was really really great. One of my comrades felt that we needed to give J the Joshua treatment (found in Zechariah 3:3-5) so, with J in the middle, and the four of us encircling him, we began to speak truth into the lies that others have told him, that he has told himself and of course what the devil has spoken too.

Lies like:

• You're stupid, you'll never amount to anything
• You're ugly
• You're abandoned. You're unloveable
• You are a reject -one wrong move and everyone will hate you, all your friends will leave you
• God doesn't care about you - He doesn't hear your prayers

It was a powerful experience. An emotional time as Holy Spirit did his work of grace in his heart. We replaced those word curses with words of truth, and words that bring life.

Words like:

• you are smart, you can figure things out, remember things, you can go to college and succeed at anything you want to
• you are a handsome man
• you are loved by God
• God has set you in the middle of a family, and provided a safe place for you to grow
• God has adopted you into His family and you are accepted and cherished
• God created you to have a love relationship with you, you can depend on him and you won't be disappointed.

Then we wrapped his head in a turban and prayed for a renewing of the mind and purity of thoughts...he received it all and there was much rejoicing.

Woooweee!!! Holy Spirit was hot tonight and the saints were on fire with boldness and freedom.

HalleluYahweh!

This is a picture of our new house.

3401 Statesville Av
Charlotte NC
28206

I came across this picture this morning. It reminds me of the uncomplicated mission of community. So many things can get in the way of just hanging out, but I am always satisfied the most when I am just loving on my neighbor's with G, D and C.

We have a mission statement around here, one that marks what success will look like for this summer. It is to get to know everybody's name by September. We have begun some other elements of mission, visitation, VBS, ect. But I really believe that the most effective fruit for the Kingdom will be to have learned everybody's name.

Imagine that if at every ministry outpost or corps the soldiers and officers could go for a walk and say hi to everybody they passed by name, I bet it would reap a harvest immeasurable.

PROPS !!

Props to my Sister Shimei from Birmingham 614:

She is leading a mission to Haiti next week. The coolest part is that she is bringing Birmingham Battle Schoolers almost entirely saves from their street level Corps. That is awesome, these guys are simply equipped with Holy Spirit filled passion for souls and I believe that God will bless it large.

Pray it up for them next week.

Hey, I thought I would give an update to everybody. Lately life has been moving much faster than the blogosphere ... Well we moved into a house on the same street which gives us about 200 more square feet. We now have two kids that have come to live with us while their Mother gets her personal situation stabilized. That has really changed all the everyday stuff, having two teenagers adds a crazy dynamic to a household and I have become my Father and Mother all in one.
The other day I went to their door and was like " OK guys, time to get up. You can't spend the day watching TV in your room. Why not go get some fresh air outside." That was scary ! It is kind of like a crash course in parenthood, man it is hard being a parent. Sorry Mom.

God is good, we have begun small group discipleship with all the kids alongside a full time kids camp and the Service Corps, alongside The War College students, are making a real impact in becoming a righteous presence here in our community.

Its the personal sacrifice that is making Jesus stand out more and more around here, some ladies on league of mercy assignment have been visiting some shut in retiree's and yesterday brought them their own fans to keep them cool. It was 108 Degree's here but they had no issue with giving up their own comfort for the benefit of others.

It is rare to go out and see any of the team here not sharing a meal with someone or to see them not helping a single Mom with her shopping, or babysitting for her. I am severely humbled by watching this new family of mine give until it hurts and then finding more to give, they are truly presenting an offering to The Lord that is costing them something.

I know that the difference they are making is eternal, I know it because it is given through literal blood, sweat and tears. The courage demonstrated by these two guys and five woman would bring a battle hardened general to his knees. They are a motley crew of hero's and lovers of Jesus' most precious friends. They are simply six salvationists who, by faith, have begun living out their Articles of War.

God bless The Salvation Army, its officers, soldiers and the general.

Thank-You

Experiencing the emotions and circumstance of Christ is a gift.
Knowing even the suffering of Christ is even a more precious gift.

Have you ever received a gift that you did not want, clothes or maybe a dictionary?

I have been experiencing a great deal of ungratefulness lately, its like you could give everything in you as an offering to someone and they just spit on it.
Imagine Jesus gave his life and still we can forget to say thank-you.
I do not like learning this one, it hurts a lot, but it still pails in comparison to the ungratefulness and brokenness that Jesus suffered ... For me.

Is Christ trying to share any of his hurt with you ?

Double Blessing Friday...claim it as your own

Last summer I was sent to Melfort, Saskatchewan with my friend Xander. While there we had home Bible Studies every Wednesday where we studied the book of Exodus.
One night we were studying chapter 16- which is when the Israelites were wandering around the desert and decided that they wanted food and so God sent them manna and quail. With the manna and quail He gave these instructions:

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."

We were discussing this and thought- that's awesome! On Friday we get a double portion because out blessing for saturday is rest. So we began to claim double blessing Friday. And this is my testimony to double blessing friday...

One day I was praying about moving to Ontario and I says to God- God, if I am to go there, I need money. If I receive $300 today, then I'm supposed to go. Then I called my mom and she tells me, Oh, Jaime- your Grandma just e-mailed me and told me she sent you $600.
And then yesterday (we studied Double Blessing Friday in our rations) I had asked God for a stove and a fridge for our house...and we got one for all 3 houses...
And then we had 2 boys over for dinner, and their 2 cousins came.

Pretty much Double Blessing Friday is awesome...because God is awesome...

an update from the 'hood

Good day!

Well, ministry is in full swing down here in JT Williams, Charlotte North Carolina. There are now 8 full-time ministers on our ministry team (1 has moved into the neighborhood, 2 are on loan from The War College in Canada and 3 are summer service corps and Rob and I make 8).We are finishing our second full week of official kids club day camp. It's been challenging, but the kids have embraced the new faces wholeheartedly, and the new folks are getting the same treatment as us 'regulars'receive, which is sometimes angelic, and sometimes...not.

Our day together starts off at 9am with Pray the Bible, a devotion (led by one of the team members) communal breakfast and then we kickoff kids club day camp at 10:30 until 3pm.The kids love all the attention and having adults to play with so it's hard to resist their urgings to just play one more game of basketball...before you know it it's dinnertime and then dishes (what a pile-up! Good thing we take turns...)then we just hang out with one another, read and check emails.

In the evenings, we invite our neighbours over for meals and movies, or head to the Charlotte Prayer Room (www.Charlotte24-7.com), out to a movie, discuss the day's highlights and low moments or focus on prayer ministry and spiritual development with one another. Then there is ice cream (of course) and we head off to sleep.


Rob and I usually hit the hay around 12:30-1:00 after having chatted over our day and having strategically placed fans about the house to disperse the cool air pumping out of our 200btu air conditioner throughout the rest of the house.

I have to laugh at the hilarity of it all! Honestly...we thought we were getting such a deal on that air conditioner...Heehee...
We only have an air conditioner, because our neighbours have them. You see, we developed this policy a while ago to promote incarnational living and simplicity...we call it "If the poor don't have one, then neither do we".

This principle protects ministers like us, who have good intentions to move into a marginalized neighbourhood, but then end up turning their shmucky little ghetto house into a palace of upper middle class living on the inside, and actually missing the whole point. Also missing out on the understanding and righteous anger that gives birth to advocacy for a community and a people group that grows out of living just as your drowntrodden neighbours do.Funny thing though, this principle has played itself out in an unexpected way here in Charlotte. The evidence is seen in our medicine cabinet, where you will find spray treatment for ringworm (half empty), clear nail polish to combat chiggers (nasty things), the special lice comb and lice shampoo, afterbite for those nasty mosquitos and antibacterial cream for those of us who scratch our bites until they bleed...so...if the neighbours have them, so do we!

But the truth is,it's all worth it to be part of this JT Williams family.

Perception Is Not Reality

Tonight we had some dear friends in the fight over to our house for a meal and just to hang out. It was really really enjoyable, because we shared about what was going on in our lives, what God was doing, what our passions are and so on.

One area that Rob and I shared on in great detail was our frustrations since moving here to Charlotte in January. In hindsight, there is a long list of frustrations, delays and miscommunications that just made life harder in the daily grind. In the end, it always came back around to the present reality that we had never actually wanted for anything that we vitally needed, never starved or had to live on the street and ministry never came to a stand-still because of any of these obstacles.

That's a pretty amazing testimony, and it makes it easier to lean on God in current days as we get frustrated with delays and miscommunications and all that, because we know that God has got us covered, and He acts on behalf of those who wait for Him (Isaiah 64:4)
So then I was checking email, and found this in my inbox...again, I didn't write it, but I like it.

Perception is not reality
The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. - Job 4:10

In the advertising business we often say that "perception is reality" for the person who views our advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it.

The enemy of our souls is very good at this game. He may bring on us what we perceive to be true when it is a lie. It may appear that there is no way around a situation. He may bring great fear on us. When we buy into his lie, we believe only what we have chosen to perceive to be true. It usually has no basis of truth. Such was the case when Peter looked on the waters during a night boat journey with the other disciples. At first glance, he and the disciples screamed with fear, thinking that what they saw was a ghost. It was actually Jesus.

Satan's name means "accuser." He travels to and fro to accuse the brethren. He brings an impressive front to all he does, yet behind that front is a weak, toothless lion with a destination that has already been prepared in the great abyss. He knows his destination, but he wants to bring as many with him as possible; so he often has a big roar, but little bite.

The next time some event comes into your life that creates fear and trembling, first determine the source. Look past the emotions and evaluate the situation in light of God's Word. Perception is not always reality. by Os Hillman

posted by:
Heather

Are You a Threat?

I didn't write this, but I like it...
Devotional by Os Hillman

One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" - Acts 19:15

Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness? If satan and his demons had a board meeting and your name came before the board, what would they say? Would they say that you are one of their most feared enemies and they needed to keep many demons harassing and opposing you? Or would they say, "Gentlemen, this person poses no threat to our activities. Leave him alone. He needs no help from us."

There are millions of church-going believers sitting in pews Sunday after Sunday who pose little threat to the kingdom of darkness.

If we truly believe that we war against rulers and principalities that cannot be seen, then we must realize that their mandate is to hinder any believer who is seeking to walk in the fullness of God. However, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn. 4:4b KJV).

If you are seeking to fully follow the Lord, you can expect harassment from the enemy. God permits temptation because it drives us deeper into the soil of God. These times reveal God's power to keep us and walk us through the temptations. Our message becomes fruitful when it is born out of obedience and suffering for His name. Do not consider it strange if you find yourself fighting major battles the more obedient you become to the Master.

God desires each of us to become a feared enemy of hell in order to affect satan's domain. When you begin to feel harassed, chances are you are beginning to affect the kingdom of darkness, and satan doesn't like this.
So, how many demons do you think are assigned to you?


Well freinds, that's definetely food for thought to chew on in our camp this week. As our ministry team increases in number, gifting and power, the devil and his hordes come marching to rob us, kill relationship and tear down all that God is building in this place. We must be alert!

"Be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour." 1 Peter 5:8 Amplified Bible

For further contemplation and exploration of the ideas outlined in this devotional, check out The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

posted by:
Heather Dolby

what we hearin' in the 'hood...

Piggybacking on yesterday's post, I present for your curiousity and enlightenment:

Our Neighbourhood Theme Songs

A song about being proud of your roots:I'm from the ghetto homey, I was raised off of bread and bologna
You can't come around here cuz you're phony
All my gangstas, gon put ya hands up (put 'em up)
And all my hot girls, back dat ass up

A song about the police and a black motorist:They see me rollin
They hatin
Patrolling they tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
My music so loud
I'm swangin
They hopin that they gon catch me ridin dirty

A song - well - it's self-explanatory:She poppin she rollin' she rollin'
She climbin' that pole and
I'm in love with a stripper
She trippin she playin she playin
I'm not goin nowhere girl I'm stayin
I'm in love with a stripper

A song about relationships:
and they say
he do alittle this,he do alittle that
he always in trouble, and i heard he aint nothin but a pimp
hes done alotta chicks hes always in the club and they say
he think hes slick, hes got alotta chips he sellin dem drugs,and i heard
hes been locked up
find somebody else
hes aint nuttin but a thug...so what

so there it is. Hard to believe?
Check it out for yourself, www.charlottesbeat.com and click onto the stream.

Here's the deal - I almost can't blame these kids for knowing ALL THE WORDS to these songs, and we're talking kids from the age of 2 1/2. Whether they understand what they are saying or not, the reality is that the beat is sweet and you can dance to it. The christian stations in the city just haven't got the same groove. The music is somehow too squeaky clean to relate to real life like they livin' it.

I get why William Booth took songs out of the pubs - not just cuz folks already knew the tune and would catch on quickly, but they were probably a lot more fun to sing and groove to...

regarding blog dated Thurs. May 24/06

A couple of posts ago I blogged comments made by kids that I'd read on another blogsite. They made me laugh out loud and so I decided I'd share them.

Well, I got to thinking today about some of the comments I hear from the kids in our neighbourhood, and I thought, as a companion list, I'd offer up some of their sayings:

"I had your momma last night."
8yr old boy to another young boy

"I can get more girls than you"*
12yr old to 10yr old

"When we get home from church, I'm gonna beat you so hard..."
12yr old to his little sister who wasn't sitting still in the van

"Ha ha, I got some and you got none cuz yo' momma's po'..."
4yr old girl with freezie to 7 yr old girl without freezie

*I note, that at this point in the conversation, I pointed out to both of them that they were really too young to have girlfriends, or even be doing stuff with girls. I was promptly informed that girls at school go into the boys bathroom all the time and they'll 'do stuff'. Yikes.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the sister post, entitled:
"Neighbourhood Theme Songs".

part 2...

Right now it's early Wednesday morning. I'm alone in the house - Rob is in Atlanta.

It's been a rather hectic few days since he left, and I imagine that life will continue in that direction until he returns. (The kids LOVE to test boundaries when Rob is away. Yikes.)

Regardless of that, I covet these times of quiet. I have a lovely cumfy chair in my office that is condusive to thought and musing and I'm sitting there right now, enjoying the sounds of birds and crickets chirping outside.

Normally, this is my morning routine - arising to coffee and the Lord and sitting awhile preparing for the day. When Rob is gone, I find myself staying up into the night, winding down from the day, turning over situations in my mind, looking for perspective, encouragement, understanding and peace.

Here's what's running through my mind tonight:

Today 4 yr old Lele covered herself with stickers - right on her skin. When she tried to take them off and realized they were stuck AND pulling the skin, she freaked. I tried to help her by wetting them. That didn't work out so I carried her home to her Mom. Who just pulled 'em off dry, and with one quick rip...

Today I spent hours with 8yr old Quan. He wasn't allowed to come over to our house for a while, but now he is and I'm glad b/c he's a great kid and I missed him. While I sorted my receipts for Area Command (seriously Jim, they're coming) he spent an hour happily punching holes in a piece of paper with my hole punch. Ah. Simplicity.

I couldn't get Jeani to stop doing flips and somersalts on our couch - she's really too big for that and even though she's only 7, she's already wearing high heels and she just about poked one of the other kid's eyes out...

I baked banana cake for the kids and they left their napkins in my (I mean Rob's) flower garden out front instead of putting them in the garbage pail 2 feet away.

I wiped snot out of a little boys nose. It perpetually drips and from my observation, he is generally content to let it run right into his mouth...

I played ball with a 3yr old who swung the bat and hit himself in the head more times than he hit the ball. He kept trying though and didn't cry once.

I was waved to by at least 5 neighbours, introduced to 60yr old Joon's sister, broke up at least 3 fights and 2 hissy fits and someone trusted me enought to tell me their last name. Their real last name.

I said no a bunch of times. I said yes a bunch of times.

I cried as I looked at a little boy 'helping out Miss Heather' by watering the flowers. I think he drowned them, but he was so cute with the hose that I didn't have the heart to shut him down.

I laughed with a boy that has some of the best dance moves I've ever seen. I sang along with our latest neighbourhood anthem - "I'm from the ghetto homey, I was raised off of bread and bologna, don't come around here cuz you're phoney..." seriously, that's a real song.

I love the Lord.
I love that He's brought us here to this city and this neighbourhood, even if it DOES make me a bit crazy sometimes. Perspective is key, I think. That's what my cumfy chair is for. So I can sit myself down, take a deep breath and hear from God. Perspective. Encouragement. Correction. Peace.

Do you have a cumfy chair?

part one

I was sitting over at my neighbour's house a couple of nights ago just chatting. It's been a while since we did that and it was late enough that the kids had all filtered away and the night was peaceful and cool.

She's been next door since the beginning - that's right - 6 months ago. I can hardly believe it has been that long, and we got to talking about what the days were like back in the beginning. Back in the day, when all we had was two lawn chairs, a coffeepot and an airbed. She and I used to sit on our front porch and talk about all the different foods we'd make if we had a stove and a fridge to keep it in. We'd get ourselves feelin' so hungry with all that talk about food.

It was a really special evening for me, because it was the first time that she had invited me to come into her home and sit down. I'd dropped stuff off inside before, helped her clean after a fight with her estranged boyfriend, and even gone in there to get her stuff when she was in jail...but this was the first 'sofa visit' I'd been invited to share in.

I was looking at pictures of her from when she was just three years old. She was a cutie. Except when I commented to that effect, she shook her head and said "See, I was only three years old and I was big already. Just obeast. I am obeast and it's sad."

I'm pretty sure what she meant to say was "obese" but it came out as a word picture. Can you imagine what the word "obeast" looks like? Pretty unattractive. Maybe even hideous. That's how she feels about herself.

Now I wonder. Is she the one who first used that term to describe herself? Or did someone speak it over her, like a label or a banner and she then just adopted it?

Either way, it makes it all too clear to me how one word spoken over someone in their life that is unkind can hover and loom over them for decades afterward and become a big part of the way they define and view themselves.

It might not seem like a big deal to anybody else, but I think she's lovely and I wish that she would look at herself that way too.

posted by:
Heather

Education in Crisis

I am more convinced all the time that we need to infiltrate the education system with righteousness. I actually was brought to tears reading today's paper, mainly because the article was much closer to my soul that when in print.

The high school in our neighborhood passes 37.1 % of kids, and the state is preparing to close it all together. This school was the " pride of Charlotte," from the 1940's through the 1960's and became a "national showcase for successful desegregation." ...

" But racial tension flared in the mid-1990's. White families and teachers began to abandon the school."

The school started this year with 35 new teachers, and 20 will not be back this September. This West Charlotte school has begun offering a $10,000 signing bonus for any experienced teachers that will come teach in West Charlotte, and as to date has paid out nothing as not even one experienced teacher has applied to come.

The current teachers say that " tests don't measure the heartbreaking lives of these kid's."

It is disturbing here when you ask a kid, " What do you want to do after you finish school?" and they stare back at you with a blank look saying " Do ? What do you mean?"

There is so much we can do as the Body of Christ. It is a lie that the school system is closed to the gospel, in fact our experience is that the system is crying out for good news. We have school counselors calling us to work out career days and make-up tests with the kids in our neighborhoods.

Later this week we will take a kid to DHQ for a career exploration day in the IT department. The principal is letting us take kids out of school for discipleship; see the IT department is not only a door plaque to this student, his friend and cell leader works there.
We called his principal and made a covenant stating that if our friend goes to school for 5 days straight then he could come and spend a day with his Jesus Mentor hanging out. We are bringing him on Thursday, and that week he went to school every day will be the only one he completed this year.

He will be given natural lessons in IT installation and web design alongside supernatural deposits of love and hope.



There is so much we can do if only we will.

Today was quite a day. Andrea and I have been holding down the fort, and will continue to do so until Sunday late afternoon, while the men are off at play at men's camp. No worries! We're capable women. We've got it covered.

There was an intense storm this afternoon that cut out all the power. I was off on a mission to pick up some more kids from across town, so Andrea (bless her heart) was flyin' solo when the power went out. It was raining and even hailing outside and she had at least 8 kids between 4 and 15 in our little house with NO lights, NO radio/CD player, NO tv... (haha that's a joke, we don't have a tv) and NO computers.

What did all of these media oriented kids do for the 3 hours the power was out?
You guessed it, they picked on one another.
And they ate snacks. You can actually look at the furniture and see remnants of everything they ate over the course of the afternoon. (sorry Rob...good thing we bought that little cleaning machine!)

I probably could've been better at moderating their sugar intake, because by the time 8pm rolled around some of the kids were so hyper, that they couldn't control their little flailing bodies and wild laughter. It was funny, but sufficed to say it got a little out of hand. It was like a zoo in here. Too bad I don't have any pictures of that, because words don't do it justice.

We had all had dinner, freezie pops, blueberry muffins, candy and doritos. We looked up everybody's brother/baby daddy/momma on the county court website (you can search for inmates and past inmates, see their photos and what they were charged with, all online...it's like a ghetto family photo album for some of these kids...) and then Andrea and I needed a mental health break and decided to head off to the Charlotte prayer room www.charlotte24-7prayer.com but when we arrived (I only got sorta turned around on the way there) it was unavailable.

So we did the next best thing - we went to Wal-Mart.

!

By the time we got back, it was around 10:30pm and we felt rested and refreshed by our outing. I figured the kids would all have scattered and the front porch would be deserted.
Man, was I off.
We could see their shadows in the midst of the dark - darting about in untamed merriment. We could hear their tribal shrieks before we saw the whites of their eyes.
They ran up to the still moving van - calling to us:

"Miss Heather, can we watch a movie?"
"Miss Heather, can we have a snack?"
"Miss Heather, where are you going? Can I come?"
"Miss Heather, where'd you go? You were gone too long."
"Miss Heather, I want some" (of what, I have no idea...probably one of those pre-emptory questions, just in case i was toying with the idea of giving something out!)

There were hands slapping at the minivan, and afraid I'd run someone over, I put the van in park and opened my door - answering the above questions as best I could:

"No. It's bedtime for Miss Andrea and me."
"No, you've already eaten everything I've got."
"What do you mean? I just got home."
"I went out."
"Some of what?!"

There was a unanimous squawk:

"WHAT!"
"You're so mean."
" You never let us do anything."
"We never get to come over to your house."
"I know you got food in there."
"You aren't going to sleep - I bet you are gonna watch a movie without us."

Andrea and I made our way into the house, dodging the wiry kids that were trying to push past us into the house - as though their very presence within would qualify them for a prize (the coveted freezie and Madea movie) and we collapsed on the couch, more than amused by it all.

Next thing you know, we see little pairs of eyes peering into the windows and through the screen doors. There's a kid at each window, front and back door peeking in and squealing to the others:

"HEY! They're not sleeping. You said you was sleeping!"

*sigh*

God bless this place - it feels like home, even though home has never looked anything like this in the past. That's the power and beauty of being in God's will.

"My dwelling place is the Most High" - George Scott Railton

Fuel for the Fire

I received this in my inbox this morning from a fellow workman in the Lord from a more contemplative, intercessory stream of the Church. These are just excerpts from the message, however it confirms what anyone who has a relationship with Holy Spirit and a heart for Charlotte has been sensing for months, and even years...

We've been praying, praying and praying in hundreds of gatherings in recent years for the church in Charlotte: for the unity of the Body, that we would comprehend the vastness of God's love and be "filled with the fullness of God", and that the word
of the Lord would run swiftly and be glorified (among the other prayers given in the New Testament we've continued to pray).

The Body of Christ will languish in complacency and boredom without God raising up teachers and prophetic voices who are authentically hearing the voice of God and perceiving His blueprint in regards to how the Body is to be connected and
engaged together in the cause of Christ.

I'm grateful to say a new day has broken in Charlotte, light is shining and the advancement of the gospel will soon become more pronounced and widespread.

We will see this city impacted with the gospel in tremendous ways in coming months and years.

Bring it on Lord Jesus!
posted by:
Heather

I ripped these from my friend Stephen Bell's blog (www.stephenbell614.blogspot.com)
It reminded me that if we're good listeners, kids have all sorts of creative and hilarious things to say...

Dear GOD,
If You watch me in church Sunday, I'll show You my new shoes.
-Mickey D.

Dear GOD,
Did you really mean "do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if you did, then I'm going to fix my brother.
-Darla

Dear GOD,
Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
-Joyce

Dear GOD,
Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before, You can look it up.
-Bruce

Dear GOD,
My brother is a rat. You should give him a tail. Ha ha.
-Danny

Dear GOD,
Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother.
-Larry

Dear GOD,
I bet it is very hard for You to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.
-Nan

Dear GOD,
I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was cool!
-Eugene

posted by:
Heather