Well, my first semester of college is over half way done. I have really enjoyed my time here so far. My classes are awesome and I am learning so much about missions and how to study the bible in context and with correct hermeneutics. It's crazy to see how often we misinterpret Scripture and I'm really learning the value of taking time to study the word.
Every Saturday I go to this outreach called Trinity Works. We have a short teaching, then we spend about an hour in the prayer room seeking the Lord, and then we go out on the streets of the U of M campus and do evangelism. It's really awesome!
Last Saturday I participated in an event called King's Banquet that was put on by Trinity Works. The idea of this event came from the Scripture found in Matthew 22 about the parable of the Wedding Feast.
“Then he said to his servants,‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests." Matthew 22:8-10
For the past several weeks we have been handing out invitations to this event during our weekly outreach. The banquet was geared toward "the least of these" in the Twin Cities area. We invited the homeless,the lonely,and the broken (or anyone else God put on our hearts). The morning of the banquet several hundred volunteers hit the streets of downtown Minneapolis. We evangelized and handed out more invitations(people couldn't get in without one). We also gathered in an open area in the city and worshiped together. It was ridiculously beautiful and it felt so good to worship together as a body in public.
After evangelizing we went back to the room where the banquet was being held and prepared for our guests to start arriving. The banquet hall looked SO beautiful and extravagant. We had about three believers at every table so that everyone would have someone to talk to about Jesus. I was sitting at a table near the entrance of the room so I was able to see the expressions on the guests faces as they walked into the hall. I have to say that was my favorite part. Their countenance's were filled with awe and delight. It was beautiful. We had a time of worship before the meal. Everyone was dancing and many had tears streaming down their faces as Jesus was impacting them through song. We then got to fellowship with everyone at our table over a beautifully prepared meal. After dinner was over there were several powerful testimonies and the Gospel was preached. Finally, we washed the feet of the guests our table. What a beautiful and humbling experience that was. So many people were impacted through that simple act. At the end of the night each guest was presented with a Bible, information on different churches, and some other practical items.
In the end, we had about 400 volunteers and 600 guests packed in the banquet hall. Over eighty people committed their lives to Jesus and about 26 healings were reported! God loves His kids so much and He delights in healing and giving good gifts! It's wonderful to see people getting their lives transformed by the love of the Father, but even more importantly Jesus was able to embrace eighty of His beloved children whom He's been longing for. The is what life and missions and evangelism is all about. It's about giving Jesus the reward of His sufferings. In loving others we are loving Jesus. In washing people's feet, we are washing our Savior's. It's all about Him and glory be to to His name for the marvelous wonders He did last Saturday.
"O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods..."
Psalm 95:1-3
He is worthy of it all!
