Preach it!-- Chandy

During the summer months we have a very busy schedule, every day with the Rock Island kids is designated for a specific event or task. Mondays are movie day, Tuesdays are work projects, Wednesdays are hang outs and Thursday are bible study. Each of those days is special in it's own way, but there is nothing like Thursday bible studies. I will admit, there are some days when the atmosphere is a little quiet and intimidating, but last Thursday was not the case. The Holy Spirit was so evident from the first words of the bible study, "Why did God invent mosquitos?" to the last moment when 5 kids stood up to ask for prayer for things going on in their life. Let me explain a little more.

Most weeks we have a specific topic we talk about, but this last week we decided to do an open day for questions from the kids about God, the Bible and life in general. We handed out bibles to all the kids and challenged them to try to find answers to their questions in it. We started with a prayer and then opened up the floor for the kids to ask questions. The first question was from a small 10 year old, "why did God invent mosquitos if they don't do anything but bite you?" Luke, Ron and I look around at each other and grin, but before we have time to even blink, the same 10 year old is reading the story of creation right out of the bible. A little time goes by and a few questions.... and then we get to the meat... the good stuff. But first I have to go back a little bit.

You see, a few years ago we had a kid in the neighborhood who was an acquaintance... we'll call him Michael. He walked by a lot and hardly came in, I gave him a few rides places but kept my distance... his ankle bracelet issued by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections was quite a deterrent to anyone getting to know him too well. Fast forward to two weeks ago.. we hadn't seen or heard from Michael in about 3-4 years. In he walks to Rock Island with a big grin on his face. Last we saw of him he was a prepubescent teen standing about 5 feet tall and weighing less than a hundred pounds. Now he's a man well over 6 feet. He didn't tell us much about where he had been and what he had been up to, but he made a point to tell me many times that he specifically came to Rock Island to get his life straight and stay out of trouble. Now we can go back to last Thursday.

I watched Michael the entire bible study as kids asked questions and he didn't say much, then in a pause I hear a question, "how can you believe in God when you can't see him and don't know he is there?" Crickets... crickets... crickets..... I throw out a few vacation bible school answers but know it isn't satisfying his real desire to know.. Luke says some things.. Ron does.. John does... but they are just words to him. He wants to know how there can be a God when all his brothers and sisters are spread out in foster homes all over Oklahoma and he has spent the majority of his childhood and life in jail. Then I hear from a voice, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." The kid reading the verse is a new kid who I'll call Nate.. we hadn't seen this kid since last summer and heard that he had spent the past year in jail... but he just happened to show up for bible study that day. After he reads the verse he begins to testify... and I mean TESTIFY about God's presence in His life and how he knows God has been there through abuse, jail cells, etc. He has the bible in his hand, he is waving it and he is preaching. And every kid in Rock Island is silent... dead silent. They are soaking up his every word like a sponge. I was in the corner just boohooing like a baby as this 17 year old preached about what REAL love and grace are. After he finished we didn't have much to say... so we just opened an invitation to kids who needed prayer. 5 kids stood up.. and these weren't kids that were our regulars.. they were newer kids that were rough and didn't seem like they could be cracked. They then stood still as other Rock Island kids stood around, laid hands on them and prayed over them. It was powerful. It was good.. and I was blessed.

Sometimes it's not the words of a pastor, priest or preacher that change a life, it's the words of someone who thinks they are ordinary empowered by the Holy Spirit.