Word on the Street

by Charlie Sparkman

“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know.
In paths they do not know I will guide them.” ~ Isaiah 42:16

Our persevering prayer is for laborers and leaders to emerge from the 1.6 million people who live and work in the 8 major cities of Tidewater, Virginia (Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg).

“Only someone who has experienced the transforming power of the Spirit can be used to help bring transformation to people, neighborhoods, cities, and nations. … To be a lifetime laborer does not take arriving, it just takes a willingness to be among the lost and broken and to live like Jesus among them.” ~ Alan Andrews

Mike and Kim fit this description of a laborer. They mentor and equip African American young adults through Urban Discovery Ministries. Their work of faith – transforming inner city evangelism. This past year they joined our Metro network.

Mike with four young adults from the Urban Community Church of Norfolk joined seven Jamaican young men in a ministry trip to the village of Skibo, Jamaica.

Here are Mike’s words:

“The course of the evening changed direction when Shamaul confessed to me his addiction to marijuana and asked for help. Two days before, Shamaul and his baby’s mother had given their lives to Christ. Like we had done for some addicts in Norfolk’s inner city, I put a chair in the center of the room for Shamaul. Gathering around, we all placed hands on him and took turns praying. We soon began singing praise songs and hymns while being led mostly by the Jamaican young men as they raised their voices.

“A few quoted scriptures. I did not pray out loud but called out to God silently for Shamaul, asking the Holy Spirit what to do or say. I confessed that I did not know what to ask except for God to also cleanse me because my own heart was not prepared for this intercession. After a while, I helped Shamaul to his feet but he stood limp and motionless and we continued on. I suddenly became spiritually aware that the forces of darkness were moving to retake Shamaul. It seemed like everything spiritual about me reacted and wanted to prevent them. My muscles flexed and tears flowed as I vigorously mouthed passionate prayers and cried out in resistance. Then everyone became calm. With my arm around Shamaul, I admonished the Jamaicans to minister to him after our team’s return to the States. I asked out loud, ‘Has the Holy Spirit dismissed us?’ One of our young team members said, ‘That’s a good question!’

“The focus of our prayers shifted from praying for Shamaul to praying against the forces of evil in Skibo, Jamaica. I focused on Skibo and could picture its bridge. It crossed a river beside the village bar, where we had ministered the night before. I sensed that the forces of evil had been displaced from there but they were ready at this moment to retake this location. God was restraining their intended assault and was including us in His warfare by giving us grace to pray against them. The spiritual warfare praying continued while I was bent over weeping. I sensed the forces of darkness attacking, and I felt a great spiritual surge with me … so much so that as I resisted the enemy’s onslaught I had to cry out with a voice distorted by weeping. With eyes closed I listened to Valerie as she vehemently presented our case to the Heavenly father as she prayed against the evil forces. My desire for this spiritual conflict intensified as we prayed. After sixteen years of seeing spiritual defeat there, I wanted victory and my contempt for the enemy and all his destruction intensified. For a while I prayed under orders to hold a line of defense by staying in this place that I envisioned in Skibo. I could not leave there in my heart and my mind and I heard Valerie faithfully praying with me the entire time.

“Later, I testified how this same unexpected experience had occurred with me 16 years before during my prayer for the salvation of men in Skibo. In an earlier message to the church in Skibo I had boldly stated that I would prepare a message for men and I would ask God to bring them to hear it. No men came and so I again found myself weeping as I prayed calling on God to raise up men from Skibo to declare the Gospel in this village, in Jamaica and throughout the world.”

Prayer Requests:

• Pray with Mike and Kim for the men of Skibo, Jamaica.
• Mike and Kim are assisting a church plant in the East End of Newport News EENN. Pray for fathers from EENN to glorify their Father in heaven through anointed and intervening prayer for their neighbors and community. “The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.” (1 Samuel 2:7-8)
• The African American Congress on Discipleship, March 4-6, 2010 will be held in Norfolk, Virginia. The timing is God’s and the opportunity is ours. Conley White, Ed Haywood, and Rich Berry are our primary point men on this event. The vision is to bring spiritual resources and support to the African American communities here in Tidewater. Pray 2 Corinthians 8:5 “not as we expected … but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then unto us by His will.”

Donate to the Tidewater Metro Area.

by Steve Haynes

Recently, a group of men asked me to start an accountability group meeting with them early (and I mean early) Wednesday mornings to help keep each of us on track. We were reviewing a very familiar scripture one day, one that I’ve read many times before. But this time, it brought some new thoughts to our minds.

The verse is Zephaniah 3:17 (New Living Translation) – For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

Two thoughts swept over me and they keep coming back again and again

The first was from the section “With his love, He will calm all your fears.” What causes us to fear God? In a recent survey of 1500 “born again” type Christians, the number one thing that caused them to fear God was the chance that at somepoint, God was going to get His heavenly baseball bat and when they least expect it . . . WHAM! He will bring up those past sins, expose and use them against them.

I love living in Florida. Most people come here to vacation, relax and play in the gulf waters. Any day one can see hundreds of people at the beach playing in the water and having fun. I try to participate. But, I have this fear of sharks. So when I lose sight of my toes in the water, I stop. Just the thought of a shark being close by, waiting to devour me is enough to scare me from not going further in the water. It takes all the fun out of the water games, because I am constantly looking around just waiting for the attack. God is silent and is satisfied in His love for me. God never makes any mention of my past, present or future sins, or even recalls them to His memory. He doesn’t want me to live from day to day in fear that He is out to get me. His loves me so much, that His desire is for me to have an abundant life.

Secondly; He exults us with song. He sings songs? Yes, God sings songs about me. Wow! My mind immediately went to the movie Lion King. At the beginning of the movie, Simba (the lion cub) is newly born and the jungle is full of anticipation as they wait to get a glimpse of him. So, Rafiki (the smart baboon) with pride in his eyes lifts Simba in the air for the entire kingdom to see. And the jungle explodes with spontaneous song about Simba. God is so proud of us as His sons and daughters. He wants the world to see us as He sees us. So He takes us up in His arms, exults us in the air, and sings happy songs about us.