Chad and Eddie Update

Small update and prayer request:

We got Eddie to the Ranch this afternoon! Praise God for getting him there!! Keep him in prayer for the next 12 months, but especially these coming 30 days as this will be the hardest part of the program: heavy detox, no outside contact etc. He was SO excited when he got there. We all cannot wait to see how God moves in his life this coming year. As soon as we are able, we will be visiting him often. He is truly a member of the RIHOP family, and a beautiful son of God!

Chad: the enemy SERIOUSLY does not want him at the Ranch. He was unable to enroll today because his parole officer informed him TODAY that he must be in Emporia on Monday. Chad wants to be a part of the Ranch VERY badly. Please pray that this will not scare him away from this commitment. Pray that his parole officer will allow him to join this program and that we will be able to get him enrolled next week. God is after this man and will not relent until He has His son!!

More updates as they come :)

Light in the Midst of Darkness

A recent status update on my Facebook page read: "small glimpse of yesterday at RIHOP: bailed a guy out of jail who was thrown in after being jumped, hospitalized and falsely accused and fellowshipped with a couple of now homeless ex-felons. quote from one of them, "wow, God definitely brought us here, and now i'm totally giving second thoughts to not committing to Him. I'm serious, I'm really changed after meeting you guys today. God REALLY IS all about love!"

The stories:

The man we bailed from jail is affectionately known in Shockoe Bottom as "Dancin' Pops." He's a "70-something" precious man who lives with his wife downtown. He sincerely loves the Lord and is one of the most peaceful men I've ever met...when he's sober. He frequents the streets downtown because his wife forces him to leave home on a semi-regular basis due to his addictions to alcohol and other substances. Leslie, whom I mentioned in my previous post, has had an on-going acquaintance-based relationship with Pops for several years and has connected him with several of us at RIHOP in the past 2 months. We have encountered him both in times of soberness and drunkenness and counseled him after being kicked out of restaurants for stirring up trouble. However, each time we run into him, sober or not, he is cordial, sweet and thrilled to see us. We normally see him every couple of days, however this past month we have not had the privilege of running into him.

On Monday we found out why...

That morning, Benjamin Atkinson blessed me with a donation before he and his family headed out to Kansas City. As soon as I opened the envelope, God told me two things: He asked me to give the first-fruits offering instead of a regular tithe; He also told me that I would not be keeping all of the money...that He would use it to bless someone else and I would know when to use it. I needed to break my bill to give the offering God laid on my heart to give, so Leslie and I walked down the street to the Franklin Street Market. Here we found out by a regular patron that Pops had been in jail for the past 31 days. I found the story entirely unjust: several weeks before, Pops was jumped in his sleep, beaten nearly to death, then hospitalized by two men who later accused him of assault and put a warrant out for his arrest. The police found him with an open container of alcohol and put him in jail. His bail: a mere $50. He had been beaten, falsely accused jailed for a month and unable to make the $50 bail. As soon as I heard this I knew this is what God intended my money to be used for. Leslie and I hired a bondsman and paid the $50 bail and $50 fee to have Pops freed from jail.

As we drove him to RIHOP and then home later that evening, he was full of the most profound peace...perplexing because he had just spent 31 days in jail over a crime he did not commit. As we prayed for him, God revealed that He has HEAVILY anointed Pops as an ambassador of peace and that His desire is to use Pops to bring peace to Shockoe. The enemy, however, has been severely distracting him thru this addiction to alcohol. After 40 years of addiction, 30 days of forced soberness in jail apparently were not enough to break the bondage over Pops: he was drinking again yesterday and missed his appointment in court this morning.

---Please be in prayer for this man, whose name we recently discovered is Kendall. God has an amazing assignment over him and the enemy is trying everything he can to distract Kendall. His new court date is set for June 3rd. Pray God's GRACE over him that he will appear in court and be acquitted of all accusations.

Now on to the second part of an on-going ministry/testimony we just "walked" into...haha God, You ARE relentless!

Monday (who ever said Mondays are not good days!?) in between picking Pops up from jail and getting him delivered safely home, we came back to RIHOP for a watch. I was walking Leslie out as she was taking Pops to dinner and as SOON as we stepped out of the door onto the sidewalk we were all but thrown into a conversation...

A man we now know as Eddie looked right at us, held up his cross necklace and declared, "I know Jesus too!" From there began a whirlwind of conversation that lasted the rest of the night. Eddie revealed to us that he has only been homeless for 3 months, and his buddy Chad for one. Eddie is a loner more or less, except for his companionship with Chad; Chad is separated from him wife and has three BEAUTIFUL daughters. Both have been convicted of felonies, have histories in hard drugs, and openly admit that the reason they are on the streets is because of alcohol addictions. Monday night alone, we were able to buy them dinner (which they, at their suggestion, took the leftovers of and gave to a few friends of theirs whom they were aware hadn't eaten for several days), give them a few pairs of clothes, a sack of food and a comforter and four Bibles; Tuesday we were able to give them a tent, which by God's amazing grace they will not need to use as shelter any longer...keep reading to find out why!!

The more we talked with them the more we discovered the anointings and callings God has on their lives. Chad expressed his skepticism in fully committing his life to God because he understood that it would mean sacrificing the things he has clung to for most of his life. He told us that he IS saved (an incredible story in itself: a man from the ROC led him to Christ right outside of RIHOP several years ago!!) but that he hadn't pursued his relationship with Jesus at all since then. But by the end of the night, he told us, "wow, God definitely brought us here, and now i'm totally giving second thoughts to not committing to Him. I'm serious, I'm really changed after meeting you guys today. God REALLY IS all about love!"

They came to RIHOP on Tuesday and we were able to pray for both of them a second time; which is when God began to unfold to us the reason He had us meet these two beautiful men.

Leslie is connected with New Life Outreach, a church and ministry which also hosts a center for men called The Ranch. They run a 12 month program that not only focuses on rehabilitation and freedom from addictions, but establishes a foundation for a life after Christ. In just four days we have been able to connect these men with the program, set up interviews and ultimately...they have been accepted into the 12 month program at The Ranch!!! Even cooler: they are on FULL scholarship and the entrance fee has also been waved!! Leslie and I are driving them over tomorrow morning.

In just FIVE days, God has pulled these men off of the streets and launched them into an environment of healing and encounter with Him!!

---Chad and Eddie have expressed every day this week the longing to just be the men God has made them to be. We CANNOT WAIT to watch their progress as they dive into His presence during their time at The Ranch. Please pray for TRUE encounter with God. Pray that He will restore Chad and Eddie's identities as sons of God, as men of purpose and calling and as His pure and spotless bride. Also, please pray that God will FULLY heal Chad from Hep C and restore his liver. Pray for Eddie that God will heal him of bi-polar disorder and eliminate the need for medication.

Our prayer for Kendall (Dancin' Pops), Chad and Eddie: "Stand fast, therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).

The Testimony of LOVE

Wow, where do I begin? God has been...truly leaving me speechless these past few weeks. He has filled my heart with laughter and my eyes with tears for being so completely overwhelmed by His presence, and when I think He's done...He laughs and comes right back for more explosions of utter awesomeness.

To begin with, He recently fulfilled a prophecy received by Matthew and Sherrie Moore, the directors and founders of RIHOP. A while back, a man virtually unconnected with this house spoke a word to Matthew and Sherrie that there would be a "battle of the Moores" in Shockoe Bottom, the location of our House of Prayer. He prophesied that whichever house "won" would essentially inherit the land in this little corner of downtown Richmond.

...divided by the railroad tracks on main street sits a House of Prayer just several blocks from an establishment called Velvet Gentlemen's Club...owned by a man also bearing the surname "Moore."

Even before I joined the family of "RIHOPians" as Sherrie affectionately calls us, this matter was lifted up to Heaven daily. I have had the privilege of also becoming a part of this new legacy thru praying my Father's love over the situation over this past month.

All came to fruition about 2 weeks ago when we received word that Velvet had lost its liquor license, and the owner was deciding to SHUT DOWN the club! God fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken and was faithful to our prayers because we remained faithful to Him, even when it appeared that nothing was happening.

---note: now that the club has closed, there are men and women we need to keep pleading Jesus' blood over. Our prayer focus has shifted to provision for the women who have lost jobs, and a true ENCOUNTER with the LOVE of the Father, that they will not seek employment in the same line of work. We are praying restoration of brokenness and a revelation of worthiness to our Father. Also over the men who frequented Velvet, we pray repentance and healing.---

...CONTINUING with the testimonies!...

This Monday, a man walked into RIHOP looking for my dear friend, Leslie Brotherton. Leslie is an amazingly anointed evangelist...this girl can't go 10 feet down the street without telling SOMEONE about Jesus!

For privacy's sake, I will call this man Geico (inspired by the water bottle I'm looking at so graciously given to me by the provider of my car insurance :) ). Leslie had met Geico about 3 weeks ago after being told by God to go outside of RIHOP to move her car. They have since talked only a handful of times, but every time Leslie has reported more and more hunger for the knowledge of God. Monday, he walked thru the doors of RIHOP a man searching but lost. He left that afternoon as my new BROTHER IN CHRIST after Leslie had the privilege of leading him in the salvation prayer and giving him a Bible.

...don't stop now...there's MORE!!...

This Tuesday, three people who heard of RIHOP at the Awaken the Dawn (ATD) conference we attended in Fredericksburg last week, came in asking for prayer. The 6 of us from RIHOP who were here at the time had the INCREDIBLE privilege of conducting a time of personal prayer and prophecy ministry over these three. This is my favorite type of ministry, probably because this is where God has anointed me so heavily over the past several months. During my time at ATD, God told me (during a time of receiving prophecy) that He would soon begin to use me in the same type of ministry at RIHOP...I just had no idea it would begin so SOON!

It was the most beautiful thing to see planted at my Father's house here in Shockoe, and I believe this is the very beginning of God's work thru personal prophetic ministry, which He has called me out in.

...more STILL!!...

Today during Noonday Prayer Circle (every weekday from noon to one...come on by and pray with us!!) God led us to pray for the awakening in the African American community of Richmond, particularly the men. He has a VERY special and specific purpose for this group of people and the enemy is waging war heavily. God dropped the bomb into our laps and asked us to pray His heart into it. We began asking Him for inroads into this community...and what do you know, it's just like Him to PROVIDE!! As soon as we finished some of the most explosive prayer I've experienced in the Prayer Circle, an African American pastor (with whom Sherrie is acquainted) walked in the door. He told us he had no idea why he came in and was actually supposed to be somewhere else...haha, well God has His OWN plan of where we're SUPPOSED to be...

As we prayed for Him God began confirming visions and direction to this pastor and imparting and equipping him with faith. After we prayed, he shared with us that a year and a half ago he began a church called Beautiful Temple on 9 mile road. God has recently revived his heart and the hearts of the congregation to the essentiality of PRAYER in EVERY ministry....so where was he led today?? The House of Prayer. You're hilarious and amazing, God.

Next Friday afternoon, we are sending a team to pray and prophesy over his church. God, You are SO good.

In just three weeks, God has completely erupted into this House. We have asked Him to come and dwell...He has done so. We have asked Him to bring us the poor and needy, the sick and suffering, the lonely and broken...He has brought them RIGHT THRU OUR DOORS. We have asked Him for His prophets and He has delivered.

Jesus said, "You did not chose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go a bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you." (John 15:16)

Oh Father, consume us with zeal for Your house.