Our God is truly an awesome God. Long before we came to Cincinnati He was at work arranging an opportunity for us that was not in our plan. Thankfully, He's in charge and we are not. The plan for Wednesday was placing doorhangers in the afternoon and running a block party in the early evening at a local park. The Lord's plan was for our team to go to a city recreation center to provide an indoor block party.
Three months ago at Urban Hills Church's first weekly service on Easter Sunday a young man named Jake came to faith in Jesus. Three weeks ago he was baptized. On Wednesday morning we woke up to steady rain and the realization that the day was not going to go as planned. Our church planter, Pastor Ed Blackledge, decided to call Jake just to see if there was anything we could do at the city rec center where he works with kids. Pastor Ed later mentioned that most local government officials and locations are very closed to churches. In this case, the Lord used the combination of Jake's presence (and recent step of faith), the rain, the local association's block party trailer and almost 100 kids with no afternoon pool trip to give Urban Hills an usual opportunity to step in and save the day.
Our team set up several inflatables including a moonbounce, a jousting ring, and a bungee cord race. then we set up a face painting area, a sno-cone machine, and a cotton candy machine. All for free to the city of Cincinnati. We also provided dinner for the staff by ordering extra Chinese to our dinner. We did not do a lot of verbally sharing the gospel, but we're finding that in our post-Christian culture many of our best opportunities begin with showing God's love so that His truth can be told later. Pastor Ed was very excited about the relational foundation that was laid. Now they are more aware of Urban Hills Church presence and they may be drawn there. Now Jake is known as a Christian from this new local church that is different and cares about the community. Now Pastor Ed is a more familiar face with some credibility built up. We are here for a few days. He and Urban Hills will be here long after we leave. We pray they will water and harvest the seeds that have been planted.
One other thing - the team decided on Tuesday to have their time at the nearby amusement park that night instead of Friday. They did this, even though it meant less time at the park, because the local festival that Urban Hills is participating in as an outreach begins Friday night. By going Tuesday, the team freed up time Friday night to go to the Anderson Days festival wearing their Urban Hills shirts and supporting the church's booth. May we become less and may HE become more.
Please pray for:
- Thursday's plans to distribute labeled candy bags and Chic-Fil-A sandwiches to local businesses including the local school system offices plus many more doorhangers in neighborhoods surrounding Urban Hill's worship location.
- our team to give their all for the tasks they have today.
- The seeds (doorhangers, car washes, playing with kids, etc.) to take root in Anderson Township so that UHC reaps the harvest for the Lord.
- Pastor Ed and Buffie (plus their daughters), for encouragement, strength, and discernment as the seek to reach this area for Christ.
- Our safety and health as the week starts to wind down.
In His Name,
Pastor Allen