It started off with breakfast with the Allies down at the harbor. The Allies are area youth pastors who gather every month for prayer and visioning together. They support each other and their families - they celebrate victories - they challenge each other with accountability - and essentially, it is a brother/sisterhood of young, innovative spiritual leaders who are pastoring students across our city. Today, they invited their Senior Leaders to join them and pray for them. I had the very very great privilege of giving a short devotional to the group. I talked about how God is calling the church (the people) to get of their boxes (their buildings) to spread the Gospel.
An hour after that meeting finished (youth pastors are not known for starting breakfast early), I had the opportunity to have lunch with the pastor and leaders at Church of Joy in Zion, Illinois. They also operate the Success Center located in adjacent Winthrop Harbor. These people reach out to inner-city students in Waukegan, Zion, Kenosha, Racine and other area communities to tutor them, love them, build relationships with them, coach them, invest Christ in them, feed them and counsel them. They operate a Sidewalk Sunday School as well. What a spectacular group of people. Their facility is amazing and what they do six days a week to help what are predominantly struggling African-American students - to give them not so much a hand-out as a hand-UP - takes the breath away. It was an honor to see it up close and personal.
It was an amazing day today.
And be blessed.
1 comment:
It sounds like you had an inspiring day! That's great!
Love the new background on your blog...it looks very cool. Kind of classy...
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