Love brings Joy
Doing what we do in communities does not always lend time to be able to capture moments for those not in attendance. As much as I would love to have everything we do and every person that God allows us to encounter documented to show you all, that would be time consuming and take away from the time that we would be able to use to actually impact that city for the short time we are there. So we are left to hopefully cast the vision of our ministry through the quick cell phone pictures and the instagram posts that we make. Though we know that not everybody can really grasp our mission from a couple selfies and concert photos, we pray that it gives you an idea of what we are doing while we are on the road for 3-4 months every summer.
Recently, we were in Rochester, NY and had the honor to serve dinner and do some music for a neighborhood that Pastor Mike Peace, a pioneer in the Christian Hip-Hop genre, has been working in for years. He has seen God do some amazing things and the testimonies that he shared with us were amazing. God is really moving through their efforts. The crime rate has dropped, drug dealers are less visible , and the street corners are less occupied than before. However, much like all of the other cities we visit, we know that there are still broken people living there. There are still single parent families struggling to survive and there are still obstacles that these young people face on a daily basis that are always trying to pull them in a negative direction. Though God is moving through Pastor Mike and Bethel Church, the enemy is still not so willing to let go of this neighborhood.
When we were invited to come out and serve, we did not know exactly what to expect. Would the people enjoy music while they ate? Would they look at outsiders coming into their community as something other than us just wanting to throw them a party and love on them? Would they even want to stick around once they got their food? The repsonse we saw was yes they would like music, no they didn't feel as if we were any better than them (probably because we as The Extreme Tour are always challenging artists to have genuine encounters with people and treat them as chidren of God rather than potential fans ), and yes they would stick around. In fact, as the day went on they got more engaged with the music and began to let their guard down. They really enjoyed themselves, and so did we. We hung out with them, got to know them, and let them know that they are worth having a party thrown for them. God loves the people of Rochester, NY just like He loves the people in your city, and in every other city or town in the world. He desperately wants them to know this. It is amazing to be able to bring this good news everywhere we go and it is an honor to be able to be a demonstration of His love to all those that we encounter.
For those who are just joining us on our journey, or those who support us monthly, this is what we are able to do because of your faithfulness and willingness to help send us. The picture above , to me, is a picture that captures the joy that is felt when someone realizes that they are loved. This boy's life will never be the same. For a moment, he was the center of attention and was able to forget the world around him and just enjoy himself like never before. Some might ask, what happens now? Is he just left there alone now, never to feel that again? Our answer is no. We know that our job for that day was to plant a seed and let him know he is loved. Just like each of you that support us continue to do your part, we know that Pastor Mike will do his part by watering that seed, and we know one day there will be a harvest and we will ALL celebrate together knowing that we each did our part to share God's love to this young man.
You cannot help but smile when you see this young man's joy, and I couldn't think of a better way to let you know what you are helping us be able to do. So Smile Big, Thank God daily, and continue to go.BE.love to those around you. Love brings Joy...
