The East Coast

It's been about a month since I got back from the east coast and I still am trying to process everything that happened. There was so much that went on in so little time that it's very hard to put into words. Let me just start and say that God was in every aspect of this journey. From beginning to end we saw God's hand in it all. And I think that is the most very important thing to recognize because that is the reason that we went there. We went there to show the people Jesus and I think if He wasn't in it then we would not have been able to do that...at least under our own power anyway.

So to start off the trip we had a group of 5 men leave Lynden at 6am on a Wednesday morning with a truck and a 5th wheel behind it; as well as a motorhome with a contractor 15 foot trailer behind it. We had quite the caravan going on. The drive ended up being very long for them. They arrived in Howell, NJ at about 8am on Saturday. Right off the bat things started to go wrong. They arrived at the camp and the camp was simply not ready for our awesomeness. They didn't have room for the truck and the motorhome. So what they ended up having to do was sending us to a different camp closer to the coast in Point Pleasant Beach. This was totally God ordained. Even when we were frustrated we see that God was working out His perfect plan in all of this. The group arrived to the camp in the afternoon and this camp was part of a church called Jersey Shore Calvary Chapel. We were essentially camped out in the backyard of the Pastor's house. His name was John Durante and we had no idea who this guy was. But this guy was an amazing man of God who just wanted to serve the people in his town as much as possible. Not only was he doing all this work but was still pastoring at the same time. It was very humbling to encounter him and just to hear from him all that The Lord was already doing.

The second group of 5 men flew into NJ on Sunday night and the work would begin on Monday. When we went out to begin working we really didn't know what to expect in terms of whose houses we would be working on or how badly damaged the houses actually were. When you look at these houses from the outside they look like normal houses. But as soon as you walk inside the houses you see just how bad this hurricane was. Each house that we encountered had at least 10 inches of water in them at one point; some as high as 2 feet!

But the real reason we came was for the people of the city. People who had just lost everything and who needed help. Every person we encountered along this trip was somehow affected by the hurricane and they just needed help. But what really baffled them was why a group of ten men would come from Washington to help them out. This opened up so many doors to just show them who Jesus is. One guy in particular was married to a lady who attended the church that we were serving alongside but he did not. This was the last day before we would leave and for some reason he thought we were going to be showing up at his house at 9am. This we didn't know and we were going to be later then 9am. We showed up around 10 and apparently between 9 and 10 he was just ticked. He said to his wife that "this was why he doesn't associate with Christians" and so on and so forth. He was not happy. But when we did show up and he saw how many of us had come he just broke into tears. He was just overwhelmed by the fact that 10 guys would show up to help him and pray for him and just talk with him. He was so overwhelmed that he couldn't hang around for very long or he would cry like crazy. Hopefully we opened some doors for Him to meet Jesus and for his wife to bring him t church. That was why we were there. For the people to see Jesus. To love on people and say we love you and want to help you because Jesus loves you.

There is so much more that I could go into but it's hard to put it all into words. I hope that we can continue to do trips like this and help people who are in need. This country needs Jesus. America isn't Christian, we are just practicing the ritual. That's why we should be missional. The United States is dying. We claim we aren't ashamed but we still haven't hit our own block up. WE need to get out of our Christian bubbles.

I love these lyrics from Lecrae's song "Send Me"

"Life is more than church, work and football
What if you were dead and Christians overlooked y'all
This is why we leave the couch and leave the comforts of our house
To show a dying world a God they'll probably never read about

The great commission says 'Make disciples of all nations'
Have we even made them in our own nation?
Come on christians
Missions exist because worship doesn't
People don't worship the God that made them
We are ambassadors"

We need to get out of our comfort zones and go out and preach the Gospel. As American's we thrive off comfort. But God never promised lives of comfort...he said we will suffer like He suffered as a Christian. We will face persecution and we will be mocked. We shouldn't fear suffering...we should welcome it because it is a gift from God (Philippians 1:29). God suffered for us and even though we may not understand the suffering at the time it is ultimately for God's glory.

A little less than a week ago the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT happened. It is hard t believe how somebody could do something so horrific but this world is wicked and fallen. Just this morning 2 men from our church dropped everything they were doing to fly to Connecticut to serve alongside the Calvary there and bring the Love of Christ to that city. God is giving so many opportunities to our small fellowship that are bigger than any of us. Who thought that within a months time of each other 2 groups of men would go to the east coast to minister and love on people who are hurting?! God works in amazing ways. Continue to pray that God would do that in our own lives and in our fellowship. And pray for Josh Claborn and Tim Rinker as they are over there in CT right now. Pray that The Lord would give them opportunities, wisdom and discernment. And for their families back home as well. Being so close to Christmas it is very hard I'm sure. Lord willing they will be back on Christmas Eve.

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies---in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever Amen."

1 Peter 4:8-11

I hope that we can all get a sense of urgency and get out and reach the people not only around the world but even in our own backyard.