rolled up our sleeves

There have been a lot of posts this week about the Jesus Freaks experiences, so I'll focus a bit on our partners.

Last Friday the Jesus Freaks teamed up with a group from ICCM (Inner City Church of Minneapolis).  The ICCM team is made up of very joyful, energized Christians that are on fire for evangelism!  It was really fun to see them in action.

We met in a parking lot at the intersection of Broadway and Lyndale, but it was ICCM's second stop of the evening.  They had stopped first to visit some homeless that were living under a bridge.  They had already given out the Gospel with some hot dogs before coming to meet us.

When their van pulled into to the parking lot to meet us, the first one out to greet us was Steve, who runs their program.  They set up a couple of tables to give out hot dogs, chips, clothing, and shoes.  Smaller teams of people are sent out to engage people on the street and invite them back to the parking lot for food.  The offer of a free hot dog seems to be a very effective way of opening up a conversation with a stranger.  After our conversation was done, a lot of the people did head over for the food, and they'd be met by the team members still in the parking lot for more conversation.  So, each person got at least two chances to hear the Gospel and receive prayer.

A couple of us men from Jesus Freaks were asked to escort four ICCM ladies around the neighborhood.  The ladies were joyful, they were energized, and they were bold!  All six of us were able to meet a number of people on our walk.  Danny, one of the ladies from ICCM, spent a lot of time in prayer with one young lady that had a friend killed earlier in the day.

One of the things that really impressed me about ICCM, is that they brought brochures about their church and they handed those out to everyone with invitations to their church.  The brochures included a phone number that the person could call to get a ride to the church.  Since it was the Friday before Mother's Day, they were also offering to anyone that came to the Mother's Day service, a free picture of your mother, child, etc, done by a photographer.  A lot of the women we made contact with where very interested in the picture offer.  The underlying message of "we want you at our church and we want you there this Sunday!" was pretty clear.    

Once back in the parking lot, we still had a lot of opportunities to get into conversations because a lot of people where milling around the ICCM tables.  As I was talking to Danny and Phil (Danny's husband) about their deliverance from a background of drugs and abuse, a couple of gunshots rang out from the other end of the parking lot.  No one was shot, but it was a reminder that life can be a lot different just a couple of miles apart in the same city.        
 

The partnership with Harvest and ICCM was a very positive and upbeat experience.  The ministries serving side by side were able to sow a lot of seeds.  We didn't discuss doctrine, theology, or which worship style is best.  We just rolled up our sleeves and served.   

In Christ,

Al