FEAR Extinguishers (DAY 29) - Proclaiming that Christ has Risen!
On this Easter morning, a small group of us men gathered early in the morning to walk and pray - and along the way, God opened more doors for us to share - this time about the Resurrection of Christ! For the Arab Muslims that I met who didn't have any idea that today was/is the greatest day of celebration in the world, the greatest religious holiday of all time, I explained that this was the Christian "Feast of Resurrection" (the Arabic translation). How tragic that this glorious event happened 2000 years ago, and still so many have yet to hear the news! A couple of the Egyptian Muslims knew about Easter (as they have Coptic Orthodox friends). They were so kind, so affirming and when I prayed for them, they were clearly touched. When we walked by them again later, they wanted to give us free food (they worked at a restaurant). I was touched by their sincere appreciation and heartfelt wishes to us on our most important holiday!
On the same prayer walk, I was able to pop my head inside the same restaurant where the Egyptians worked and wish the Filipino employees a Happy Easter and declare to all who were working inside that "Christ is Risen" and to pray for them corporately. Others were listening and we pray that the Christians there would have opportunities to share with their Muslim co-workers why Christ died and how He rose from the dead.
After our community celebrated communion together, my wife and one of our elders headed over to some other restaurants nearby. This ended up being a powerful time of celebrating Easter with a number of Christian employees in two fast-food restaurants and a coffee shop. Even though one of the restaurants wasn't supposed to allow anybody inside, I walked in and offered to pray for them. 6 or 7 of them stopped what they were doing and a few even bowed their heads. It was a powerful time to pause and thank God for the Resurrection of Jesus. To declare the power of His triumph over death and the grave. They were so thankful. None of them were going to church today and so the church came to them!
In the next restaurant, we got to give them some Easter chocolate and also celebrate together the Easter message - there were 5 of them working in that restaurant and again we were able to pray and encourage them. I was able to share quite a bit more in this place as we ordered food and had to wait for it to be prepared.
Finally, we got to minister in a coffee shop that we have been visiting in the past couple of weeks. Today my wife was able to share a lot more of the Gospel with one of the Nepali women who worked there - she was a Hindu, but had been reading the Bible and was clearly a seeker. Beyond her, we were able to declare the victory of Jesus over death to the entire staff - which also included Indians, Egyptians and an Italian.
so YES...we maintained "social distancing" but we simply refuse to stay at home. Jesus commanded us to "GO" and the Lord spoke to us to be going to the people in this hour to be "FEAR Extinguishers"...PLEASE, PLEASE try this stuff yourselves!!!
...for such a.time as this!
#covid19church #covid-19 #covid19 #easter #resurrection #gospel #coronavirus
On the same prayer walk, I was able to pop my head inside the same restaurant where the Egyptians worked and wish the Filipino employees a Happy Easter and declare to all who were working inside that "Christ is Risen" and to pray for them corporately. Others were listening and we pray that the Christians there would have opportunities to share with their Muslim co-workers why Christ died and how He rose from the dead.
After our community celebrated communion together, my wife and one of our elders headed over to some other restaurants nearby. This ended up being a powerful time of celebrating Easter with a number of Christian employees in two fast-food restaurants and a coffee shop. Even though one of the restaurants wasn't supposed to allow anybody inside, I walked in and offered to pray for them. 6 or 7 of them stopped what they were doing and a few even bowed their heads. It was a powerful time to pause and thank God for the Resurrection of Jesus. To declare the power of His triumph over death and the grave. They were so thankful. None of them were going to church today and so the church came to them!
In the next restaurant, we got to give them some Easter chocolate and also celebrate together the Easter message - there were 5 of them working in that restaurant and again we were able to pray and encourage them. I was able to share quite a bit more in this place as we ordered food and had to wait for it to be prepared.
Finally, we got to minister in a coffee shop that we have been visiting in the past couple of weeks. Today my wife was able to share a lot more of the Gospel with one of the Nepali women who worked there - she was a Hindu, but had been reading the Bible and was clearly a seeker. Beyond her, we were able to declare the victory of Jesus over death to the entire staff - which also included Indians, Egyptians and an Italian.
so YES...we maintained "social distancing" but we simply refuse to stay at home. Jesus commanded us to "GO" and the Lord spoke to us to be going to the people in this hour to be "FEAR Extinguishers"...PLEASE, PLEASE try this stuff yourselves!!!
...for such a.time as this!
#covid19church #covid-19 #covid19 #easter #resurrection #gospel #coronavirus
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