Have you ever done LSD? We have!

Have you ever done LSD? We have! Now I bet you are wondering where this is going, but before you get too upset let me break it down for you.

L.isten to God's voice
S.ee where God is leading you
D.o whatever God is asking you

Some people call this a Random Acts of Kindness. To begin this activity Paul (our project leader), asked us to quiet our minds, bodies and spirits for five minutes as we listened to God. After the five minutes we wrote down whatever popped in our heads. He encouraged us to write down everything, no matter how crazy the image or words might be.

Caroline got the words green, stripes, cigarette, Paul, and olive oil.  Melissa got the letter “A” and fire hydrant.  Victoria got roses blooming, red, green, and apples.  Darlene got the words Ann, yellow, brown truck, and wash.  Jacob got children and song.  And for our group, Paul got red and thought it might have somethhing to do with a fire engine. Right away Paul confirmed for us red.

So we set out.  As we drove we saw red lights and red signs, so we turned this way and that way. We saw fire hydrants which were painted green and yellow, so we kept following the bread crumbs. Our group started to talk about how cool it was because two of us got “green” and another got “yellow” and another got “fire hydrant.” Then someone chimed in, "it took five of us to get green and yellow fire hydrants!" As we drove through town we turned this way and that way as the team shouted "go this way" or "go that way." We followed red things, fire hydrants, and blooming red roses.

When our driver (Darlene) looked in her rearview mirror she realized the car was only going 5 miles per hour, so needless to say there were a few cars following us.  She decided to pull over into a parking lot so the other cars could pass. Right in front of us was a sign that said “Child Care Center,” so we all looked at each other and discussed if we should bring them some of our toys. You see, we had a bunch of extra toys, stuffed animals, and games in the car leftover from our time with the Boys & Girls Club that morning, but we never had a chance to distribute.

As we got out of the car, we looked around and saw many red rose bushes which were blooming along the front of the building. We also saw some wash hanging on a line near by. So we apprehensively went to the back of the car and put together a bag of things we thought day care kids might like. We walked in, wondering if what we were doing was the right thing. Melissa explained to the secretary that we were from Wisconsin and on a mission trip and out doing random acts of kindness and ended up there with some toys to donate. The secretary called the director out and Melissa repeated the story. Then we heard that they were the headquarters for several non-profit child care centers in Morristown which were for disabled children and low income children.

The director said they’d love our donations! Our hearts melted. We just knew we were in the right place at the right time!!! God led us here to give some blessings and love to disabled and poor children.  We said to wait, that we would come back with more. So we went out to the car and got more stuff for the preschoolers and infants. The director looked as shocked as us and thanked us for the kindness. Wow – that was easy!!! We listened and God led us! And, we got to bless some people and some kids!! And all that was in the first ten minutes of our journey! Wow! Now what would we do with the rest of our time???

So we continued on following red things and the green and yellow fire hydrants. Then we saw two big red Coke machines and a woman sitting by them smoking a cigarette. There were also 5 children with her. We were bold now and jumped out and explained our mission and asked if she needed anything. She said no. So we asked if we could pray for her. She said yes. Then we asked her name and she said, “Delilah!”

Wow – last night we heard how a group from our team were doing their Random Acts of Kindness yesterday when they ran into a homeless woman named Delilah with 5 children. Her smallest was a baby. When they asked if they could do anything for her, one of her children had said to get his mama a stroller for the baby. So they ended up doing that.

Well, here we were with Delilah again! Even she could see that God was trying to talk to her. She told us how she thinks one of her children asked Jesus to be his savior the night before. So we opened the back of the car and let the kids pick some stuffed animals and toys and bubbles and gave them a big bag of jelly beans (which were supposed to be for a game at the Boys & Girls Club). I brought out an Evangecube. I asked Jacob if he would share it with the kids. That was cool watching God stretch him as he explained the gospel to children. We prayed with Delilah and her kids and went on our way. Again, we knew God led us to her. (Later on Darlene was Deliah again at MATS. The kids were still eating the jelly beans. In fact, they told us how they had been with other children that day and had shared the jelly beans with them.)

 

We continued our journey following green and yellow fire hydrants until we saw a brown rusty truck, just like the image that God placed in Darlene's head. We debated whether we were to go to the house with the truck or to the house across the street from the truck which had a red truck in the yard and some wash on the railing. We decided to go to the brown truck house first. Victoria, our 9 year old, asked if she could talk to whoever opened the door. Now Victoria seems rather shy most of the time, but here she was wanting to talk to some unknown person! She had really been getting into this whole thing and was so excited and talkative in the car. So she walked right up to the door and knocked. An older man came to the door and she explained about our mission trip and asked if we could do anything for him. He said no and invited us to Bible school at his church. He was a Christian and we blessed him and went across the street.

 

I knocked on the door and started talking to a mom feeding a baby. We saw several children running around.  She was Mexican and didn’t understand well what I was saying. We explained again, but she said she didn’t have anything for us to do. So we went to the car and got some toys and stuffed animals for her kids and her nephews whom she was babysitting at the time. Her mother-in-law was also there. Then we asked if we could pray for them and they said yes. So we prayed for them and for the baby who was sick. They smiled a lot and seemed blessed by our visit. Her name was Rosa.

 

Then we decided to buy some cookies for some firemen since fire hydrant and fire engine were on our list. Melissa found a fire station on her smart phone. We saw a fruit stand and decided to buy some fruit for the firemen. We got a watermelon. Later on we realized we were at a big apple stand. Then we saw Walgreens and decided to walk there to find some cookies.

As were walking, we ran into Dustin whom Melissa and I had met at the Oasis Coffee Shop the day before. Dustin was one of the homeless guys there. We told him we were out doing Random Acts of Kindness. Then he said he had one for us. He was with his friend and she was worried because she couldn’t make her rent. So we asked if we could pray for her. So right there on a busy street, we laid hands on her and prayed for her. We asked how much she was short and Melissa and Victoria gave her the $40. Her name was Hannah. We said look, the name “Ann” and the letter “A” are in the name hANNAh!  And to top it off, she was wearing a stripped shirt! That was really cool because we had taken things into our own hands and had set out to buy cookies for firemen. But God had us on the right sidewalk at the right time to run into Dustin and Hannah. This was NOT on our agenda, but it was certainly on God’s agenda!

 

We went into Walgreens and got some cookies for the fireman. And Victoria insisted on spending her own money to pay for the cookies! We drove to the fire station and explained our mission to the Captain and the firemen there. They graciously accepted our cookies and thanked us for the blessing. Then the captain took us on a tour of the fire station. That was really neat to see! God blessed us with that! Through talking to the Captain, it seemed as if he was also a Christian.

 

We headed back for the Ranch. However, before we got there Darlene asked the group if they’d like to see Douglas Dam. They wanted to so we started heading that way. Before we got there, Melissa was talking about making dinner the night before and was talking about olive oil. We realized that was also on our list. When we got to the dam overlook, we saw a motorcycle and a guy sitting up there. So Jacob and I went over to talk to him… wondering if the “olive oil” led us to him. His name was Brian, and he was a local and gave us lots good info about the dam and reservoir and the power plant. He said the water level was up to about 100 feet, but in winter it would go down to about 50 feet. We talked a good amount. Then before we got ready to leave, I thought that we need to ask him about Jesus. Now I am an evangelist, but mostly with kids and mostly in groups. I don’t do a lot of one-on-one evangelism, especially with adult strangers. So this was a stretch for me, but God gave me the step to take and I took it. I said, “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” He said he did and he blessed us on our mission work. It felt good!

 

We so enjoyed this afternnoon. It was very cool to watch God leading us and to watch all of us being stretched by God. We watched everyone step out in faith and be bold for God!!! Everyone saw God and got to experience Him in new ways! We got to see everyone grow in faith and in God and be the body of Christ!!! And it was really cool to see how God had a place for the things we brought down here. 

 

2 Corinthians 9:7-11 

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.