Every Wednesday night, we feed around 80 plus people at the Regal Inn. This includes children, elderly, and disabled. It is always such a blessing to see their faces not only when they receive a hot meal, but also when we tell them that the reason we came was because Jesus loves them and He sent us. We have been so blessed to have an opportunity to build relationships with these folks and many of them have started to allow us to pick them up on Sunday mornings for church.
Last night was a little different from most Wednesdays. We actually had almost 30 plates left over and so we decided to take them to the Murfreesboro Motel. I went to the front office to ask where I may find rooms with children and they were very helpful. When I went to the first door, I nearly cried. The room had several children and you could just see the poverty and oppression all over their faces. I knew then God had specifically drawn us there, right then, and revealed to me that this is where we will start feeding on Friday nights. As we continued going to different doors, the same scene, room after room.........
Kelly and I were led to a particular room down at the opposite end of the building. When we saw how dark it was and obviously dangerous, we asked James to walk with us. We walked with covered plates in our hands and there was the last door, cracked open.....
I knocked on the door and heard a the voice of an elderly man call out. "Come in", he said. So, uncomfortable to walk in, we stood at the door 'til he opened it the rest of the way. There in front of us stood the sweetest elderly man with a huge smile on his face. "Jesus sent us to bring you a plate, sir. Are you hungry?" He belted out with the cutest laugh and said, "How'd ya'll know it was my birthday?"
We all laughed and asked him how old he was and he said he was 73. So we all wished him a Happy Birthday as he went on and on about how happy he was that we came to see him. We prayed with him, hugged him, and went on our way.
We ran into another man that was coming back to his room from the store, and he asked how much our food boxes were. We told him they were free and offered him one. His response was, "What? Are you serious? I've never heard of this before." We went on to share with him why we do what we do and how the Lord sends us out with food for the hungry. He invited us to come in and pray with him. He also asked if we would pick him up for church.
Going back towards the car, there was another man who stepped outside his room for a smoke. We walked up and offered him a plate of food too. He declined, but really wanted to know why we were doing this. He told us we were the nicest people he had ever met and he just didn't understand why we would come out at night and do this.
We spent nearly an hour with this gentleman. It was a spiritual wrestling match. You could feel the presence of the Lord all around, but in the same time you could feel the ever presence of evil too. The more he opened up and talked with us the more we realized God had sent us to prevent a suicide.
This guy talked in so much confusion that it was hard to follow him, but we kept insisting that God loved him so much and cared for his life. He shared that he was 37 and had lost everything in Florida. He was staying with his parents and they put him out. Now he was here to find work, and cannot. He said he had nothing to live for. He told us that religious people have really hurt him and that he decided he didn't believe in God anymore. He's been in and out of rehab and he was just tired of life.
We began to witness more and more to him and share how God loved him no matter what he had done in his life. He would shake his head no, back and forth, and tell us that we had no idea how much bad stuff he had done. He then said he was so angry with God. He said he would never forgive his parents for putting him out.
As we continued to witness to him, it was so obvious that he was listening to another voice. At one point I told him to stop listening to the lies that the enemy was whispering in his ears. When I said that, he look right at me with a piercing stare. I knew I had touched something. Once I had his attention and his eyes were meeting mine, I knew then it was no longer me speaking to him, but the Lord. I shared the Scripture with him about how even though his mother and father had forsaken him, God would never leave him nor forsake him.
"I just can't", he would say, and I would say, "Yes, you can! All you have to do is choose. Just surrender. Jesus is waiting to take your hand." He would wrestle back and forth on the inside. You could clearly see the spiritual struggle he was in. He would start to almost mock me and say things like, "you don't believe in all that stuff about an anti-christ and the rapture and stuff do you?"
"Oh, yes I do", I said. "That is not what you need to be concerned about right now, though. You are not promised the next breath you will take and you need to know that you are in God's family when you leave".
I then asked him if the room next door to him were to catch fire and he knew there were children in there, would he do everything he could to save them. Immediately his response was, "YES! I love children and animals and I would do anything I could to save them...even if it meant losing my own life.". Then I replied, "Ok, then you can understand why we are standing here pleading with you. You are in danger and the Lord has sent us to pull you out...even if we risk our lives doing it. You know we are not safe out here at this time of night! I have babies at home that are waiting on their mommy and I'm out here. Do you think I'm doing it because I have nothing better to do? No, God sent me because He loves you!"
He broke. He began to cry. "I'm just not sure if I'm ready", he said.
He said, "Yes", so as we prayed with him, I asked God to push back every deceptive, lying spirit away from this man, so He could only hear the voice of the Lord. I asked God to hold him and give him peace that transcends all understanding. I prayed that this man would be so overwhelmed with the awareness God's Presence that he would be more drawn to Him.
When we finished praying, his countenance was completely different. His eyes were filled with tears and he hugged us and thanked us over and over. WOW!!!!!
We told him that we would be back around on Friday to check on him and if he need prayer or anything, to contact us.
Listen, to all of you reading.....I know this was a long read, and there were so many details I left out, but I hope you could feel the intensity of the struggle going on here.
We need a lot of prayers going up. We are dealing with so many, like this man out there. I want you to know that this ministry and our missionaries are not just handing out food to people who are hungry. God has called us to speak Truth and Love into the lives of lost and broken people. The food is only one of the tools God uses to get us in.
I am attaching a link to a youtube video with you called "Set me Free". This is an awesome dramatization of the struggle a person goes through while deciding to choose Christ. I pray that it helps someone today. May God bless you all!
We love you,
Candy and Garry
