Love Action

At the beginning of DTS we were informed that we were going to have to do a project called a "Love Action". Basically, we had to put our love in action to someone in the Denver area. I struggled with what to do for a long while. I finally had the idea to put together little care packages for some homeless people in downtown Denver. It came down to the day I was supposed to go do it, and everything kept falling through. I wasn't very happy about it. God kept talking to me about how simple His love is. I finally decided to write four letters and give them to whoever God led me to along with a McDonald's gift card. I went down to downtown Denver with three other girls. We just walked around waiting for the Spirit to guide us. None of us really had any idea of what we were supposed to do. As we were walking, this young woman approached us and asked if we supported Planned Parenthood. She was trying to get us to give a donation, because she worked for them or something. We started talking to her, and she told us that she was having a pretty bad day. She had been out in the dreary weather for several hours and things were not looking too bright. She asked us what we were doing and we told her about YWAM, and how we were out doing a project. We talked to her a little longer and she began to cry. She said that we were so refreshing, and that we had made her day. She told us that she didn't even work for Planned Parenthood. She worked for this other organization, and they had randomly decided to put her with Planned Parenthood that day. She told us that she was having a hard time in college, because there weren't any people to support her. She was super discouraged. God was so awesome to come and encourage her the way He did. Her spirit was so much lighter when we left. It was awesome!

We kept walking after that knowing that God was doing something crazy. We saw this woman sitting up against a wall by a bus stop. She had her eyes closed and was talking and making strange movements. I wanted to give her one of my letters, so I went up to her. I said, "excuse me, ma'am", and without opening her eyes she shouted,"NO!" I backed away, and went back to my group. We decided to go stand up against the wall next to her. She started asking for a dollar. One of the other girls gave her some money, and then I went and gave her the letter. We asked if we could pray for her and she said YES! She even wanted to hold our hands while we prayed. It was awesome to see God totally turn that situation around. I gave another letter to this man playing a harp, he didn't want to talk to us, so I don't know what happened. I also left one on this bench that I know a lot of homeless people use. Two of the girls in my group started talking to this man that they had met the previous day. He was staying at one of the local shelters, and it happened to be his birthday. We decided to take him to dinner. It was so awesome getting to hear his story! He just wanted someone to talk to him and to listen. At the end I gave him one of the letters. It was a really cool experience. On our way out of the restaurant we ran into this man who was asking for change. He said that he needed to get to Boulder to see his daughter who was in the care of two women there. One of the girls gave him a five dollar bill. He started weeping. Apparently he needed five dollars so he could clean himself up before he saw his daughter. Then he asked us to pray for him. It was so beautiful! He actually started praying when we were finished! He kept telling God how much he loved Him. It was amazing! We stared our time having no idea what was going to happen, and God met us where we were at! God Moved in mighty ways! God will use us if we are willing!

God really used this experience to show me the simplicity of His love. He just wants His children to know how much He loves them. I think I finally get it. It's all about love. When you talk to people with the sole intention of seeing them saved so that they won't go to hell, you miss the whole point. When you talk to people to share God's love, and to see their lives completely transformed by the love of Jesus, you succeed. Jesus came to this Earth to share the love that the Father has for us. He did come to save us, but He also came to show us how unconditional His love is. He came to show us that His love has no strings attached. It's pure. It unconditional. It's radiant. It perfect. It's love...