Last night we had a bunch of folks over at our house to study the Word, hang out and share about how our day went. We were just getting into the groove of things when we heard three shots fired outside. It's been a while since we'd heard any gunfire action, so it caused a bit of a stir among us. Even more so when we realized that Jaime was out there by herself so Travis and I walked over to the cluster of houses to locate Jaime and make sure that she was safe. It was an eerie atmosphere, with people creeping about all over the place, sticking to the shadows or predatorily moving across lawns, passing under the streetlights. Something was going on, somebody was settling up with someone else about who knows what.

I stopped when we got to Jaime and Jesse's house, Travis crossed the road to the community house, to check for Jaime there. When no one answered my knock, I turned around to survey the situation. Next door, the neighbors had had their car windows shot out. The owner of the vehicle was pretty ticked off, he didn't live at the house, his sister and her son did. I heard his sister's voice from within the house, yelling at her son to hurry up and get his shoes on before 'they' come back around. I sat down on the porch to see what would happen next. Four people came bustin' out of the house at a frantic pace. the little boy was hurrying to keep up with his mom and aunties. They were leaving quick, off to find a safer place to pass the night. I asked the woman, Is there anything we can do? Do you need us to take him (the boy) for the night? She said no, that he was fine with his auntie, and that there was nothing we could do...it was a helpless feeling for me indeed.
At that point, Travis returned from the community house where Jaime was - she had assumed that the shots were firecrackers and hadn't paid them no mind.
As Travis and I were standing there, assessing the damage, we heard sirens, and before we could disappear ourselves, two patrol cars came screeching onto the court. One slowed down and began a steady search with the searchlight through the bushes while the other sped to the end of the court to begin his search there. We felt that was a good time to take off, lest we be stopped for questioning...

This morning, on my way to class at the community house, I stopped to get a good look at the shot-out car. Bullets had passed through the side and rear windows of the vehicle. Anyone who had been in the driver's seat or rear of the vehicle would have been hit, likely fatally. I could see where the bullet exited the rear of the vehicle, and, I'm sure if I'd had the time I could've poked around on the ground and found the casings, or maybe even the bullets.

Now, none of this is news to me. I get that bullets are fired, stuff gets hit, damage is done. And yet, for some reason, the reality of the situation hit home to me. The gunman had to have been standing in the shadows between the two houses because of the bullet's angles of entry and exit through the vehicle. He wouldn't have hit anyone in the house, but he could've hit either of the neighbor's houses.
We have all sorts of kids wandering around in little packs throughout the neighborhood after dark - anywhere from age 8-15. He could've hit kids. I've often heard of kids being victims of drive-by shootings, gang warfare, etc. but never really understood how a kid would get in the way of live gunfire. After giving the events of last night some thought, I realized that the kid doesn't even have to be IN the way, because people shoot guns off in all sorts of random directions.
It makes me really really angry. One of my little friends shot at,injured, killed over drugs, territory, cheating spouses, money...one less little face at the corps on Sunday. One less little face asking for a freezie or jumping up for a hug.
Not only that, but when I think about the little boy, 8 years old, in his pyjamas hurrying away from his house at 8:30 at night, fleeing in the dark because someone is shooting at them, i could go right off the chain - because that same little boy should be in bed. He should feel safe. He should be getting rested up for school tomorrow. But he's not. Yet this morning he was still expected to be at school like the other kids, focused like the other kids, prepared like the other kids. But how can he?
How does he stand a chance at having a normal, healthy life when he's never experienced anything remotely like that?

Yesterday at church the Lord gave me a very special gift.

You see, we've had the opportunity to bring young people (2yrs-15yrs) to one of the corps here for youth church every Sunday morning. Yesterday we arrived a bit early, and the kids got to play outside on the practically brand new superduper playground next to building. This was a really big deal, because in our neighborhood, there are no parks, no climbers, no swings or anywhere that's designed just for kids to play safely.

ANYways, the most popular playground piece was the monkeybar climber, and there was a long line of kids wating for their turn to swing from rung to rung. It's fun to watch each one maneouvre across, but the blessing was in Geoffrey. He started at the far end, but, obviously only a novice to monkeybar climber immediately committed monkeybar climber suicide - he stopped on his second rung in and just hung there. Now, anyone who has ever attempted this gymnastic feat KNOWS that as soon as you stop, all the strength seeps from your arms, your body feels like it weighs a ton and your hands get all sweaty and threaten to let go. The probability of starting up again from that point and completing the event sways devastatingly low. Geoffrey hung in the balance.
All of his peers were watching him, ready to judge his coolness and acceptance based on this performance.

His face fell.

Then, someone from the crowd yelled out

"c'mon Geoffrey! You can do it!"

Others followed with similar cheers, and before I knew it, Geoffrey, buoyed by the cries from his friends kicked back into gear. He made it two rings further when his endurance began to flag. His inital standstill had taken its toll and his face showed the strain and the anguish. Travis came up behind him and began to speak words of confidence and perspective

"You're almost there! You're so close, keep going Geoffrey!"

His face was actually contorted now. Travis had two arms around his legs absorbing some of his body weight, sharing his burden in order that he might attain his goal. The crowd was absolutely frenetic at this point - was he going to make it? Would he give up and let go?

No.
He didn't let go. He made it. There was wild laughter, and much rejoicing as Geoffrey's cheerleaders celebrated his victory.
As for Geoffrey, the face that had worn discouragement, dejection, exertion and hopefullness all within two minutes now shone with euphoria. You would've thought he'd won the lottery - or better yet, a gold medal the way he was beaming. He had done it. He had made it across the monkey bars. All was right with the world in that perfect moment.

As for me? I was overcome by it all. I wept with joy, because Geoffrey had made it to the end. He had a drive to succeed and desire to win, but realized pretty quick that he couldn't do it on his own strength or will alone. To achieve his goal, he relied heavily on the encouragement of others, the wisdom of those who had a greater perspective than him, and the strength and presence of one who could lift him up and whom he could depend on, even if he couldn't see him.

Is there a moral to this story? I believe there is...

Who is this Christ?

Teach Us To Build Your Kingdom...
Born of a Hebrew Mother
Exiled to live with the Egyptians
Rejoicing in the faith of a Syrian Woman
And a Roman Soldier
Calling both a Greek and Jew to discipleship
Allowing an African to carry your cross
A Roman woman to bathe your face
A stranger-thief to join You in heaven
Christ of all, teach us to build the Kingdom for
All Your people.
Amen.

~Barbara D'arcy

I-58

Check out
ififtyeight.com

They are focusing on The invisible Children this month. They are a group of young people from around the Salvation Army world who have resolved to push against injustice, lets push with them.

In recent days we are seeing peace and reconciliation prevail more than ever in North Uganda and Sudan. We must press in and pray. God surely does not require our prayers but he will use them. In Uganda the LRA ( Lords Resistance Army ) has kidnapped 20,000 children who face an initiation of murdering their parents and then going to war. Their sisters are brought along as sex slaves and when they are considered undesirable then they are given guns to fight too. It is not possible to be there in the physical right now but if you pray for the children of Uganda every day some will be saved from death and rape.

Go to ififtyeight.com and do something.

Check out this link from BBCWorldservice on Night Commuters,

who the Church calls invisable Children

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_night_commuters/html/1.stm

Why The War College Charlotte

Our first two War College students have arrived and are acclamating well. Many ask, " what is The War College about? "



You may have heard of The Salvation Army's bold foray into radical battle schooling. The War College has been created to train this generation's warriors to win the world for Jesus. Why should you invest a year of your life at The War College, in Charlotte, North Carolina? Reasons abound:



Teaching. You will learn from some of the best leaders in The Salvation Army. People like General Eva Burrows, Michael Collins, Captain Danielle Strickland, Colonel Earl Robinson and Major Jamie Braund bring proven expertise to Salvation Army warfare.


Content. You will be immersed in essential subjects for warfare success, such as extreme holiness, warfare operations, spiritual disciplines, extreme prophetic, spiritual accountability, social justice, and apostolic leadership. You will receive the course content required for success in the future wars to which God appoints you.


Training. You will be trained by successful Salvation Army leaders in evangelism, discipleship, intercession, the prophetic and other spiritual gifts, servanthood, cell multiplication, preaching, warfare worship and more. You will find yourself in the thick of the fight, right on front lines. You will also be deployed for four months to another Salvation Army unit for further experience.


Community. You will live in close quarters with other slum brothers and sisters (the noble calling of many early Salvationists), manifesting a righteous standard and authentic Christian community to a hungry neighbourhood. This experience will prove to be a sanctifying process.


Location. Charlotte, is one of the world's most liveable cities. North Carolina's beauty is renowned.But that's not all. You will live in Charlotte's poorest zip code, right in the thick of the fight. This is our best answer to General Booth's dream of hanging cadets over hell for a fortnight.


Win The World. God is raising up The War College to train this generation's warriors to win the world for Jesus. The spiritual synergy of the experience will spin off dynamic ministries and warfare on fronts around the world. Warfare that will transform cities and people groups and nations. Compare that to your alternative of post-bachelor degree, entry-level office work or your fourth year undergrad.


Wagner Affiliation. The War College is affiliated with the Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI) and phase 2 students can qualify for post-secondary diplomas. This is a bonus to students wanting to continue their study beyond The War College toward associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees.


Calling. God's call on your life is the best reason. Maybe you hear Him specifically calling you to come. Maybe you're not sure but you figure that you'll need some of this stuff for the calling you know He has given you. Check out thewarcollege.com pages for more information and an online application.

On Sunday we brought back some kids to find that their Mother was not in yet so decided to take them for the drive to return a 15 passenger van that we use on Sundays. On our way home we decided to stop at our local Pilot truck stop for a slurpee. I went in with two young kids and we grabbed our treats and went to cash out. While we were paying the cashier asked if I had adopted these little kids, obviously I wasn't their natural father due to skin colour, and one of the little boys said " nope, he's The Salvation Army, you know our pastor." The lady responded by mentioning how nice it was that I came and spent time with these kids here in this neighborhood. I did not respond with the whole explanation of incarnational ministry and how my wife and I actually live next door to these kids ect. I had my own personal blessing though, knowing that I was not going to just go drop off these kids, San Quan, Aleah and Cameron and go home but we were going home together.

Back in the 80's it was real popular to do " Parachute Ministry " where you would go drop in on a poor part of town and hang out for a little while, there just was not a big emphasis on staying. Jesus clearly models the "no ditch" rule, in fact he models the " ditch the rich " rule. He had no problem going for diner at a rich guys house, or sitting next to the Jones' at church, but he had it right see he would parachute in on the well off and then go home to his friends. Often he would recruit there, or teach and love, but we all know his explanation on how he did not come for those who were well etcetera.

Moral of the story. Kids love slurpie's.
Oh and don't sell everything you own and give the money to the poor; pack it up and move in with them.

Justice and Emotion

Doing Justice don't always feel good.

The Judges that God appointed to rule over the Israelites really were protectors and shepherds with a great deal of responsibility. They took their job personally, they did not separate themselves from their mission. Seriously think of Deborah going to war or Gideon deciding to take on the Midianites after receiving confirmation through a dream. God actually commanded Gideon to cut back his troops to 300 (Judges 7) imagine 300 guys against an army of thousands. God told Gideon he did not want the men to take credit for the victory, God wanted the Glory. Hallelujah !

I wonder if we can apply this to our current situations, maybe God is asking us to take on the enemy even though we seemingly don't have enough resources to win. Maybe he wants it that way so that when victory comes we can only point to him as the reason for our accomplishments.

It is so easy to hold back with so many reasons ...

Not enough money.
Not enough soldiers.
Not enough volunteers.

But I wonder what God could do if we just stepped out even when it seems hopeless in the physical relying totally on the supernatural.

Now there is a key here. IM not saying to just run into everything ill prepared, the key is listening and discerning Gods timing. See Gideons victory was not just in stepping out in faith but doing so in the fullness of Gods timing. If he had of went too soon or too late he may have suffered a grave defeat. Gideon had ears to hear what " The Spirit " was saying. The other key was that he acted on it. He did not put the decision to a committee vote, he acted on Gods charge.

How do we hear God in these days ?
Are we open to hearing God through dreams and visions ?
Will you act on Gods charge even against natural opposition ?

Where are you LORD

I have been broken lately.

I am having trouble trying to find God at church. I see him everyday in the dark places, he crys out to me from behind hungry eyes, he sings to me through the crys of the dying and forgotten; but in searching for him upon the decorated platforms and padded pews I have found only traces and memories. There are people there, they know him, they love him, they say they want him there, but I don't know how to believe them anymore. Christ has become offensive to them and Father religion gives them security and posterity. There is more of a concern that someone may lean on a mercy seat than there is for their soul.

I was saved in filth

I was discipled in the filth

I have tried to bring others from the filth ... But no one wants them, at church.

I will return to the filth were Jesus sits waiting. He isn't welcome in the buildings of man I have recently visited, he isn't really wanted. The cost of welcoming him in is too great, too risky.

God is not dead, are you ?

Do everything without grumbling or complaining.

I attended a conference months ago, and took scrupulous notes. Those of you who know me will be shocked, I'm sure.

Funny thing about my note-taking though, is that I go to such lengths to get it all down, and then I close my notebook and forget to look at it again. Haha. So, in order to remind myself of what the Lord has been teaching me over these last months, I've been digging back into the HeatherWrighteous gold mine. Enough drama. Here's what I came up with:

"One of the most effective lies of the enemy towards the leaders of the Church today is this, that you, as you are right now you are really not acceptable, Jesus is only really tolerating you because somewhere along the way you might change but in His heart of hearts He is profoundly disappointed in you.

Lord, we need to feel Your Holy Spirit bring upon us the reality of Your affection for us - despite immaturity, weakness and sin. Let us feel Your affection for us, Just As We Are."

~Jack Deere

Worth writing down, eh?

~Heather

God is good. Indeed.

The last few days have been a time of sabbath for those of us kickin' around here. We farewelled our summer service corps missioners at the end of July, and our Australian comrades flew back to finish the home stretch at The War College in Vancouver on Monday. So at the moment, it's Travis, Jaime, Rob and me.

Fr me it has definetely been a season of schooling. Not only is God teaching me stuff, but I am learning from those around me as well. Particularly, that God can soften any hard place in my heart. Guaranteed, if He wants too.

So here's the deal - there's a blog back in early March where I alluded to an incident of us calling 911 because one of our neighbourhood boys was being beaten by his stepfather. It was really traumatic for me, because these kids are all really dear and I feel very protective over them, especially since they're usually the ones getting a raw deal.

Anyways, there was a bit of a showdown, we've spent a lot of time with these kids and I have developed very strong opinions of this 'stepfather'. Violent. Crack-smoking. Prostite-employing. Stealing. Intimidating. Lying. Cheating. Aaargh.

Has anything about this guy's behaviour changed in the past 6 months?

Nooo...

So what's the difference? Relationship. Due to a strange twist of circumstances, we ended up taking care of this guy's dog. She's a great dog, don't get me wrong, but this is definetely not how I saw this whole story panning out. This guy comes to visit the dog. Helps me out any way he can. Calls me Miss Heather. If anyone in the neighbourhood gives me a hard time - even looks at me sideways, and this guy will 'take care of it'. He often speaks with tears and regret over his life and his circumstances. Homeless. Broke. Full-on AIDS. Estranged family. No dog. Today, through tears, he called Rob and I his brother and his sister - the only family that he's got.

That all made me very uncomfortable. I had already figured this guy out. I had decided that I didn't like him, and due to his actions (especially towards my little friends) and didn't have to like him.

Yet, look what God has gone and done...He has made relationship.

"...WHOSOEVER will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17b

Do you want a REVOLUTION?

The War College - Revolution session begins September 2006. Consider handing over twelve months of your life to the Living God, serving his closest friends, the poor, deep in the ghetto...

Applications are available online for the 2006/07 session of The War College and I challenge you to apply NOW while you have the chance.

In Charlotte, the trappings of luxury are eerily juxtaposed with homelessness, cycles of social poverty, victimhood and violence. What an excellent location to invest a year of your life in training and fighting the Holy War!


You'll spend nine months in the class room and on the street, before a three month deployment elsewhere in North America.



check it out - www.thewarcollege.com, apply today!

A friend of ours was surfing the net and came across this interesting tool, check it out at: http://bangor.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm

Basically, it compares crime rates in America's cities.

Did you know that Charlotte outranks New York city for crimes per capita?
http://bangor.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Charlotte&s1=NC&c2=New+York&s2=NY

hmm...

grace,
Heather

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

Something to think and pray about this week:

Have you ever prepared to meet somebody who mattered a lot to you?

You reach the door of the room where your friend is waiting, and pause before opening the door. Saint Ignatius suggests this picture as a preparation for prayer.

Gather yourself, with your hand on the door-knob, and think:

Something important is about to happen to me.
Somebody important is waiting for me.
I am walking onto Holy Ground, stepping into Sacred Space, going to meet the Lord of my life, the one whose name is I AM.
I am preparing to invite God to deal with me, to speak to my heart.
I will be receptive.
I do not know what words to say, what thoughts to think, so I trust in the Holy Spirit, who will teach me from the inside.

In that mood of confidence I open the door, to find God looking at me...

there's MORe - check it out: www.sacredspace.ie

posted by:
Heather

I DARE YOU TO MOVE ...

" Why do I talk about commencing ? We have already begun, and that with
considerable effect. Our hand has been forced by circumstances. ...
Look at that dark ocean, full of human wrecks writhing in anguish and
despair. How to rescue those unfortunates is the question. The
particular character of the methods employed, the particular uniforms worn by the
lifeboat crew, the noises made by the rocket apparatus, and the mingled
shoutings of the rescued and the rescuers, may all be contrary to your taste and
traditions. But all these objections and antipathies, I submit, are
nothing compared with the delivering of the people out of that dark sea."

General William Booth , In Darkest England and The Way Out, page 289, 291.

I am not an insubordinate soldier, I do not bash or curse The Salvation Army. In fact I believe that God has a desire to use this, Fist of the body of Christ, to win the whole wide world for Jesus. To inaugurate the coming of Christ to save a dying world.
I do however wonder how many of this Armies soldiers and officers fall into the hole of taking up issue with what we wear and how we sound when we do it! Placing tradition higher than revolution. Are the things God is using to save souls "contrary to your taste(s)?" A movement was begun 120 years ago; let us not be responsible for slowing it down.

so let me tell you some more about the townhouse we've rented, and why we've rented it. Some of you may be scratching your heads (or shaking them) and saying, why another house? Didn't they just rent a house?

Yes.

So far, here in JT Williams, we have possession of three buildings. The house that Rob and I live in, which was our first acquisition. Then, in late March, we rented a house across the street, which is our soon-to-be-up-and-operating Community House. I say that because we are just waiting for computer desks and chairs for the 4 computers we had donated, to open it.

While I'm on that topic, does anyone have any desks or chairs kickin' around that they'd like to donate? Please email me at heather@thewarcollege.com.

So the Community House is where Travis Roberts, our kids minister extraordinnaire lives. (www.made4war.blogspot.com ) It's a great spot for it too, right next to the Liquor House (where you can buy booze, smokes, drugs, guns and sodas and freezie pops for the kids) so we know that it draws a crowd and people already like to go there.

Then we come to the townhouse, which is one street over from us, where Andrea and Anthony Castle will live upon their arrival tomorrow from Vancouver. They are missioners from the Holy Session of The War College, they hail from Australia and they are spending the summer laboring alongside us here in the 'hood. (www.andreathinkingaloud.blogspot.com and www.holywarpropaganda.blogspot.com )

Soon we will receive a Salvationist Service Corps, (www.youthdownsouth.org/servicecorps.htm. )made up of three slum sisters and we will expand again, which will put us in good shape spacewise for the Revolution Session of The War College which commences its inaugural year in Charlotte this September (to apply, check out www.thewarcollege.com ).
For now, we're content with a trio of homes from which to minister, live and love.

It's a good thing too, because a house isn't much when it's empty. We've certainly experienced some provisionary miracles over these past 5 months. Rob and I had only lived here for 4 weeks when our furniture came, it was all donated and is actually rather nice and in good shape. We shared most of what we got with needy neighbours and then with Travis when he moved into the Community House. After asking for help at our local Corps, we've received more needed bits of furniture, kitchenware and general household items. We are still asking for beds, couches/chairs, dining room table/chairs, dishes, glasses and that sort of thing. Please email me if you would like to make a donation to a worthy cause!

Through all the din, we are still giddy with anticipation. We're looking forward to the the time when all is operating as it should, with each house being self-sufficient, each inhabitant knowing and interacting with their neighbours and inviting them into their homes and lives. We are curious to see God tip His hand and work out His plan of salvation and healing for our neighbourhood.

Until then, Anthony and Andrea will shower at our place (they have no hot water yet) and all of us will share meals cooked on the stove at our house, eating the food from Travis' house until we can nail down fridges, stoves, hydro and all that jazz.

It's funny, I was thinking today as Rob and I were taking a cracker snack break from cleaning at the townhouse, that even though we don't have everything we need to start a proper house, (my Grandmother would be appalled!) I'm still really excited. Even though some of us will go without for a time so that others can be more comfortable, it's worth it. It is absolutely true that every sacrifice that we make in the Name of the Lord and for the extension of His Kingdom is worth it because we deny ourselves and think of others - and this is the character of Christ. Even more so when you can be cheerful doing it!

We plan on having some pictures of the townhouse online soon, but until then, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood (or even if you're not) stop by our place for a coffee and see for yourself what God's got cooking in the 'hood.

posted by:
Heather

some of our goings-on.

wow - what a day it's been so far. And it's only 3:30pm.

we spent the better part of today cleaning out a townhouse we have rented. In my opinion, it's fabulous, there are two stories, big windows, lots of room in the kitchen and space for a dining room table so that folks can sit down together to share a meal. As we pryed the plywood away from the door (apparently people have been sneaking in there and smoking crack) the three of us began to pray and praise God that we are able to expand to a new street in the neighborhood and also give the missionaries that are arriving tomorrow an awesome and spacious place to live. The fact that it's considered 'undesirable' (by the tenants AND the handyman) is even better, because that means that with choosing this location, we are truly going for souls in our neighborhood and going for the worst-the hardest, the meanest, the darkest. Then, when they open their hearts up to God, the transformation will truly be supernatural.

I also praise the Lord because He protects me-even in the 'little' things. While cleaning I came across a pile of razor blades scattered along the tops of the kitchen cupboards. (See Mom! I was cleaning on TOP of the kitchen cupboards!) Of course, I had to stand on the counter to do that (a no-no...I know) but at least I could SEE the space that I was cleaning...that's how I found the razor blades. Fair enough, I commented to Rob and we both sighed and had a nostalgic downtown eastside Vancouver moment, then I threw them away.

Couple of hours later, I was up in the bathroom, not being as careful as I ought to have been when cleaning on top of the mirror/vanity. I was just going to town on that thing because it was filthy dirty-you can imagine how much dirt accumulates in that spot. ANYways, I was sliding a paper towel along the top of the vanity and heard a tinkle, and another razor blade dropped down into the sink. I CAN'T believe that I didn't slice my hand open on that nasty thing...I had forgotten the #1 rule we learned in the DTES...don't put your hand anywhere you can't see it...so really, even though I was careless, the Lord had my back. Seriously, I don't want any nasty diseases...

SO.

Moral of the story everyone, when you are cleaning out your crack house, you might want to use rubber gloves, and definetely check for razor blades. Oh, and don't tell your mom that you were standing on the kitchen counter, because not only is that unsanitary, but it's also dangerous! (You could fall and hurt yourself!)

posted by:
Heather

So, more fun stories. Were really not trying to freak people out or revel in our shocking capers, however the unbelievable stuff that just happens in the hood just has a need to be revealed. Who would believe ?
Travis, our CSM, came over for breakfast and was like " Did you guy's see the man with the shotgun on the front lawn." and we were like, "NO." So we all rushed to the door and sure enough there was a man walking abruptly with a ten gauge shotgun.


So Travis grabbed the camera and got the money shot while hiding in some bushes. You know you've been in the ghetto too long when you chase down an armed crazy man for the blog shots. Travis also holds the record for the most gunshots slept through 6.

50025000600 minutes

Wow, I have been married for over a year. I've been getting dogged for not being home on my anniversary, so I wanted to justify what a nice guy I really am, and to show off how beautifull my wife is. We spent a night in a 200 year old Moravian cottage for our anniversary and here are some pics of it all.


Can you find Heather in the Misteria ...




Thank-you Jesus for my wife who is a Lilly among thorns and for sure the most lovely among the maidens.



This room was the summer kitchen used by the first Moravian settlers more than 150 years ago ...
thanks for all the calls and cards we wish we were closer to celebrate, but rest assured we know all you all are with us in spirit.

How to Build a Community - or - Everyone Loves a List

I found this list @ http://www.fionahailes.blogspot.com/ It is a practical list of things that anyone can do (or avoid doing) in an effort to cultivate real community.

At first glance, the suggestions could seem ridiculously obvious and much to simple. The truth usually looks that way at the get-go, at least until you start digging into it...that's when you realize that there is abundantly more than meets the eye.

So how about this, after checking out the list, leave a comment, indicating what you are going to do, God helping you, in your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life, so that we can be encouraged by one another.

Okay, I'll kick it off - I'm definetely going to work on asking for help when I need it and baking extra...err..ok, I'll just try baking at all...and then sharing it. Betty Crocker cookie mix, here I come.

And you?

Dear God, I pray that I will always have a good work ethic and make biblically based decisions regarding my responsibilities and finances;

that I will be a good steward of the resources You have entrusted to me and a good caretaker of the people You have placed in my life.

I want to be faithful to You and Your principles. Please give me insight and wisdom to know Your will and to always do what is right.

Bless me, Lord, that I may bless others.

God, You know I have always worked hard and been a person of integrity.

Your Word tells me:

"He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 28:19-20).

I pray that I will never let You down in that regard, in whatever it is You would have me do. Thank You for Your blessings and Your Word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well we told him, Travis Smith, that he couldn't get to heaven by doing good, but he just couldn't help himself. Lets blame Holy Spirit for making him " DO IT."
He noticed that the kids in our neighborhood didn't have much to do so he found an old basketball score, lying aimlessly in a Sally Army basement, and fixed it up.
It was the most righteous thing done this day, at least in our yard.
We'll try and stop him from doing any more good, but he is stubborn.


(fastforward 2 weeks) O.K. so every one of the kids you see in this picture are plugged into Christian community now, plus all their brothers, sisters, cousins and parents. All because of this basket ball score. This score added like 40-50 people to our buddy list, we will visit, advocate for, love, invite into community, protect, touch, share the knowledge of salvation with, take to the grocery store, wash their clothes, read the bible with, share our can opener, pray with/for, sing with, dance with and burn hot dogs on the grill with.
It kind of looks like a cross to me now ...



The love of God fell to the ground and died, but from that brokenness, new love has grown because that seed could not abide alone, and now so many in Christ's life abide that many more unreached can now decide if we go where the Gospel is unknown and show them how our love is not our own, but is our Savior's, for we are His Bride. Our love shall fall into the ground and die when we believe on Jesus, count the cost,and be to every ear and every eyea witness of the Gospel to the lost so when they see our love and ask us why,we can lead them to Jesus and the Cross.~ by Michael Rew

BEING THE MOST GOOD

I know that people are down on the "Doing the most good" theme, so I decided to try it out ! Hence "Being the most good." In our neighborhood there are many families, with kids, that are without stoves and refridgerators.
Kids literally go hungry cause their parents can't cook, and social workers demand action before intervening by removing children due to neglect. The difference in a families lifestyle after having the ability to prepare healthy meals is substantial. It is literally Good News. Up until these appliances were delivered families had no place to store their babies milk and formula. After the war in Iraq and the Tsunami last year the biggest need was cooking stoves, we couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have the ability to even prepare our children a meal; yet this is a reality for parents in your own community.

So we found several appliances, beds, cribs and strollers, borrowed a Salvation Army trailer and did the most good we could.
Our friend Travis Smith used his own truck to pull the trailer and we furnished two homes with all their essential appliances from donations.
Man there was like 500 sermons in all that heavy lifting, seriously it was a place where our actions met our words and our words told a story about a man named Jesus who loves you so much that he wants your kids to get fed and stop sleeping on the floor.

Thank-you Jesus

My new house

I got to see my future house and it smells like The Empress back in Vancouver. Great! I finally found something that is familiar to me.
I spent a few hours cleaning the cabinets and walls, and cleaning the walls again and again, because I would think I had it clean (it doesn’t really look very dirty) and then I would see a spot that I missed and I would clean that spot and then I would need to clean the rest of the wall all over again because that one spot made the rest of the wall look dirty and I would see another spot that I missed and the cycle began again (another vicious cycle that I’ve noticed). But the walls will be painted so I can just wipe off the surface stuff and call it good. I am usually never happy with just doing surface work because it’s but going deeper is so hard that it just seems like it’s not worth it sometimes, but I think that going deeper in a community on a spiritual level is a little more important than cutting through the deep stuff on the walls.
My bathroom has been fixed up though and that it the important part. We worked for a couple of hours and decide that would be good for the day…we don’t want to over exert ourselves while we’re…cleaning walls.
The house will one day be ready and I will be living there, but for now I am content living with Rob and Heather.
Earlier in the day Rob and I took a walk through the neighbor hood and we saw all the houses that are possible spots for TWC students to live. We also saw other communities that we want 614 to branch out into. We then walked through an area of houses that were all boarded up and basically condemned. No one owned them and they weren’t fit for anyone to live in. Rob and I decide to enter one of them (we didn’t break in, the press wood over the door was already broken off) as I walked into this area it was like stepping into a Vancouver alley.
In the alleys of Vancouver there was drug paraphernalia and condoms and nasty clothes that no one would really want to wear and just dirt everywhere. This was all in that one house. So we have the alleys of Vancouver inside the house’s here in Charlotte. I think that might be the norm for Ghetto’s I know that this house is a house that is rundown and condemned but as for the houses who have the drug dealers in them as the father to the kids I wonder if they are essentially living in the Vancouver alley’s?

posted by:
Travis Roberts

Good day friends!

Today Rob and I are celebrating the arrival of our brother in Christ and new partner in ministry, Travis Roberts. It was quite an event. We've been pumping Travis' arrival with our neighbourhood kids for the past several days, and so tonight they all piled in the van for the ride to the airport. It was great to watch because none of these kids had even been to such a 'fascinating' place as the airport before. The parked planes blew them away, as well as the conveyor belt that pumps out the luggage.

So there we were, the majority of our 'youth group'oozing with excitement at their soon-to-be friend and basketball teammate's approach. They weren't at all disappointed, Travis is a hit!

All the way home in the van, the children were peppering Travis with questions, alldesigned to get to know him better and figure out what he's going to be doing here.
Most of the kids wanted to know how old Travis was (22), if he liked basketball and video games (an emphatic yes) and if he used to live with his mom (not recently). However, SanQuan hit the mark with "Are you going to be visitin' people?" "Yes." Travis said. "Good," said Quan, "because there's this old guy in our neighbourhood named Joon and he's real lonely and he really needs a friend."
Wow. He's 8 and he gets it.

"With praises from children and from tiny infants,
you have built a fortress. It makes your enemies silent, and all who turn against you are left speechless." Psalm 8:2

I know I was left speechless...God bless the children!

posted by:
Heather

a word from our newest team member...

A day in the life in Charlotte

My first 24 hours in Charlotte was exciting. I got the royal treatment I was greeted at the airport by eight kids that I will be chillin like a villan from the floor to the cellin with and Rob and Heather. I was taken to my home for a few days (The Dolby residence) and I didn’t g to sleep until midnight because we just wanted to stay up and talk and have fun and just be with each other.

The next day I woke up at around ten am and we talked to friends for a while then we went to find me a bed at the TSA Thrift store. Rob makes that interesting. Then we went to the Prayer Room here in Charlotte (it’s not 24-7 yet) and we just soaked it up for a half hour. We ate lunch at CiCi’s pizza (praise the lord for Ci-Ci’s. Good pizza for real cheap).

We drove by some places low income housing places that have been closed up - boards put over the windows and doors and they’re set for demolition. With a bunch of other places and town houses will be put in there place. The families that were there were given a chunk of cash and were told to relocate which couldn’t have been an easy thing to do. Then we headed out to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of balls and balloons and other random toys that are going to be used by the thirty different kids that are here in the neighborhood. And then we sat in the house and talked with some more friends for a while longer and it was good. I am so ready to have some fun.

posted by:
Travis Roberts
www.madeforwar.blogspot.com

World View Skewed

I have noticed there has been a shift in the Church throughout the last several years highlighting that "real" poverty exists only in the third world setting, and that North American poverty is simply chosen lifestyle.
Im not suggesting that we stop sending resources overseas, in fact I think we need to send more, I just think that this world view on poverty can dim our eyes to see the poverty that exists right in our own locale.
Therefore in the fullness of mercy and justice we need to use both arms to touch the poor; one reaching to the worlds poor while the other reaches into our own communities.

Justice gifts have been popular as of late and I thought we could offer you a local front to bless.

If you would like to purchase a home missions gift in kind for someone we will send a card of gratitude to the party it is gifted to.

(Here are some entry level options)

A used refrigerator and stove for a family - $ 57.00 USD

A bed and frame for a child to sleep on (who now sleeps on the floor) - $ 199.00 USD

An employment kit ( resume, postage, two weeks transit fare and League of Mercy follow up and assistance ) $ 55.00 USD

Child hygiene kit ( 8 pr socks, 8 pr underwear, deodorant, body wash, tooth paste and brush ) - $ 30.00

Please enclose the persons name and address if applicable
Make cheques payable to The Salvation Army

Send to :
614 Firecrest Charlotte
2209-2 Alma CT
Charlotte, NC, 28206

World View Skewed

I have noticed there has been a shift in the Church throughout the last several years highlighting that "real" poverty exists only in the third world setting, and that North American poverty is simply chosen lifestyle.
Im not suggesting that we stop sending resources overseas, in fact I think we need to send more, I just think that this world view on poverty can dim our eyes to see the poverty that exists right in our own locale.
Therefore in the fullness of mercy and justice we need to use both arms to touch the poor; one reaching to the worlds poor while the other reaches into our own communities.

Justice gifts have been popular as of late and I thought we could offer you a local front to bless.

If you would like to purchase a home missions gift in kind for someone we will send a card of gratitude to the party it is gifted to.

(Here are some entry level options)

A used refrigerator and stove for a family - $ 57.00 USD

A bed and frame for a child to sleep on (who now sleeps on the floor) - $ 199.00 USD

An employment kit ( resume, postage, two weeks transit fare and League of Mercy follow up and assistance ) $ 55.00 USD

Child hygiene kit ( 8 pr socks, 8 pr underwear, deodorant, body wash, tooth paste and brush ) - $ 30.00

Please enclose the persons name and address if applicable
Make cheques payable to The Salvation Army

Send to :
614 Firecrest Charlotte
2209-2 Alma CT
Charlotte, NC, 28206

In Harms WAY

What a weekend, there isn't enough space to share it all so I'll just do the play by play. Last night one of our neighbor's was being chased by her boyfriend who had been beating her for some time. Her 8 year old son ran to my door screaming "please help my Mom." I ran outside and called her over to my house and she ran into my living room, her boyfriend in persuit pushed past me and threw her onto our living room sofa and began to strangle her.
It took me about 5 minutes to loose his grip by twisting his arm around his back and then another 10 minutes to get him out of our house. We called 911 and the ambulance came to tend to our neighbor and her boyfriend was arrested and taken away.
I went back to washing the dishes and the 8 year old boy went to play basketball. The entire situation so normal here that it was more of an inconvenience than a crisis to the neighbor's, so I have been in a semi state of shock for the last 18 hours the only one here able to understand that this is evil and wrong.
I watched an attempted murder on my chesterfield and that is not alright, it is not alright for an 8 year old boy to watch his Mother get beaten on a regular basis, and it is not alright that if I hadn't have been home that no one would have done anything at all.
I took 7 kids to Sunday school this morning, one of them the little boy, and they learned about the cross. The cross will prevail in their lives, not because I wan't it to, but because I demand it. Because without it they will live out a cruel shadow of the life God has planed for them.
God will not let them be forsaken, he will answer them as he loves the cries of the oppressed ... But someone must be there to tell them ... Will you !

In Harms WAY

Rob