It has been awhile since I updated everyone on what we have been doing, so I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been everywhere in the last month.
In Lagrange we were involved in a revival in which Pastor Mike was speaking. When we go to a church we have no idea what to expect because Missio Dei seems to be all about keeping us on our feet. There are some things that we do pretty consistently though like run the merchandise table, perform some kind of skit or drama, and help out with the altar (I have become a very good catcher by the way). Occasionally some of us get to share our testimony or talk about what we do and I usually get nominated to speak on the spur of the moment- which is awesome. The leaders know I value every opportunity I get to hold a microphone. We got the chance to do some more door to door witnessing and I am really excited to get to see what God continues to do in Lagrange.
From there we headed to Jackson where the Abundant Life church was in the middle of a new movement called Reach the City. RTC is the brainchild of our director and founder Mike Holt which basically is a 40 day campaign to completely turn a city upside down for Christ. It involves every person and every ministry in a church and equips, inspires and commissions them to become contagious Christians. They are constantly encouraged to reach their co-workers, friends, and family in bold ways. We are tired of Christians who go their whole life without telling one person about what apparently means so much to them.
Reach the city is a brand new idea and Abundant Life Jackson is the first church to launch it. Needless to say a lot rested on this church. Our expectations were completely blown away by the eagerness, determination, and creativity of each and every member of that church. I have never seen so many people ready to get out of their comfort zone and change their world. On the final day of outreach, the congregation invaded every part of the city. They divided and they conquered. If you were to drive through Jackson that day you would have been bombarded with free soft drinks at one red light, a free kids event with inflatables and face paint on the side of the busiest road in town, free cookies at another red light, and a whole team of door knockers. The church decided to end their 40 days with the beginning of a 3 week tent revival which attracted hundreds each service.
During the course of the week we were there we had the amazing opportunity of being involved with what is called the 7 project. Though we are not the team in charge of the 7 project, we were filling in that week for the usually team who couldn’t be there. The 7 project is basically an initiative where we go to as many schools as we can and ask the principals what the 7 worst issues facing the school and do school assemblies addressing those topics. These are not your average school assemblies as they consist of skits, videos, relevant speaking, and 70,000 dollars worth of professional sound and light equipment. The responsibility of operating and learning this equipment was given primarily to me so I had a lot of fun with even more frustration. I learned a lot and realized how much more there is for me to learn about sound and lighting for huge events.
We were blessed with the chance to do two back to back school assemblies giving us the opportunity to speak to the entire freshmen and sophomore classes of Jackson High School. Even though technically we can’t talk about Jesus in a school setting, that did not stop Him from showing up anyway. I know the government might think they took prayer out of school but we saw that it is still there. With a secular message we had many people brought to tears in front of all their friends because of hoe emotionally stirred they were and dozens of kids who came to the front of the cafeteria to “bury” the things in their life that were killing them inside in a real coffin we set up on stage. We would be pretty content if that was all, but God had more planned.
The point of the 7 project is to bring students into a relationship with Jesus Christ, which cannot be done by us in school. So we invite everyone to a special “7 at night” that takes place after school hours. We took over an old gym with fog machines, Atlanta’s own “The Varsity” who gave out free chili dogs, professional sound equipment and an over the top light show. 300 students showed up and over 150 filled out salvation cards. Yes, that is half the people there! The night was a huge success and a great victory for the church which completely staffed the entire event and was an excellent help.
After we left Jackson we headed back to Macon where many of the team was able to go home and do fundraisers. There are still a lot of funds needed to be met within the team and prayers would be greatly appreciated. I got to go home and see the birth of the new kid in the Semple house, my little brother, Samuel Quinn Semple. I have been at the hospital when all of my siblings were born (not in the same room thankfully) and I was really glad my schedule worked out to see Sammy. I had no idea someone so small could bring so much healing and hope. This kid has destiny to change the world and it is already all over him. I am proud I get to be his big brother, though it will be hard not being able to be as much a part of his life as I have been for the others.
When the vacation was over we headed to one of my favorite places in the world- Rescue Atlanta. RA is a homeless ministry in downtown Atlanta that is in pursuit of the people God desperately wants. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what sexual orientation you are, or whether you have had a shower in the last month- Rescue Atlanta loves on people and shares the love of Jesus with everyone they come in contact with, which is a lot of people. I visited this place four years ago and it changed my life. Since that trip my heart has been broken for the people in that city and I can’t go through there without being compelled to do something.
It took a couple of days for our team to really figure out what our place was in this ministry but when we figured it out God moved. We sorted through donated clothes, helped prepare meals, and fed got to hang out with the homeless on the streets where we were feeding them. Thursday, a worker at RA talked to us about what the Bible says about healings. He showed us that Jesus and the disciples never prayed for healing, they just believed and claimed it with boldness. Moments later we were laying hands on each other and saw two definite and immediate physical healings right there within our own team. Needless to say we were pretty inspired to go out witnessing, which we did.
We have done street evangelism before and none of us are completely uncomfortable talking to strangers but we went out that day into downtown Atlanta with a boldness we have never had before. There was no beating around the bush or wimping out before things got uncomfortable. In a matter of 2 hours we saw 4 salvations and 3 or 4 healings. What we learned here will take us through wherever this journey takes us.
We have been at home base in Macon for a week, and we will spend the next two weeks here as well doing further training, drama practice, worship practice, and various other things. Next is a weekend in Biluxi, Mississippi for the Mississippi Youth Convention and then straight to Savannah for more inner city ministry.
Oh, and I redesigned my blog. I am pretty proud of it.
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