God is a Wild Man! - Chisholm Harvest pt 2

God is a wild man. Doing whatever he pleases. Moving in the most radical and unexpected ways. Just when you think things have settled down and you understand what he is doing...Boom! Bang! Zing! I find myself dazzled, amazed and scratching my head at how marvelous he really is. 

Today was one of those days. Many of you may know about our prayers for God to "send out workers into his harvest field" (Matt 9:38 & Luke 10:2). That prayer and other promptings have rattled our "normal life" and challenged us to begin dreaming of ways to get involved in a nearby neighborhood called Chisholm. If you feel out of the loop, look back on an older blog linked here The Harvest is Plentiful - Chisholm (also check out the Brown House video).

This morning we were to meet with the owner of the first house (the white house) and her former real estate agent. The owner had purchased the formally foreclosed house in October but hadn't moved in. Wilma had purchased the home for $13,000 but didn't have the money to do the necessary renovations to make the house livable. She had also "went in a little bit over her head" with buying such a "large and expensive" house.

I've known all of this for the past couple of weeks and was amazed that God looked to be providing a great house for us to use for ministry and the opportunity to help this woman to be freed from financial bondage. In other words, I thought I had already opened all of my presents, but God had another huge one in store. It turns out that I know the woman who owns the home, well sort of. She lives in a shack on the way to our hunting land in Union Springs, AL.

One of my first trip to the land 6 or 7 years ago, I noticed a lady coming out of the building that looked as if it could fall down at any moment. I was amazed that someone actually lived there. I asked my father-in-law if he knew the lady and he did. He used to stop by her house years ago to give her fish from our pond or squirrels they had shot while hunting. My heart went out to this lady. She looked to be alone. And her home looked to be without heat, AC, water, or electricity. I began praying for the woman often.

Every time I went by her house, I would look to see if she was outside. I asked some of her neighbors about her. They told me, "She won't talk to us and she won't let you help her." I decided to bake her a fudge pie. One day I finally got up the courage to take it to her. Unfortunately, I discovered the neighbors were right. She came out with a short stick and told me that "she didn't need anything" and "wishes that people would leave her alone". I told her, "I owned property close by and I was trying to be a good neighbor." She replied, "You might be a good person, I don't know, but I don't trust anyone, leave me alone." So I did what she asked. I left with my pie. But what she said stuck with me, "I don't trust anyone." I began to wonder what had happened to her? Why is she so reluctant to trust? Had she been abused? Taken advantage of? I was heartbroken for this woman. I began to pray more.

This morning as she showed me her home, I wondered, Lord are we supposed to buy this house or help Wilma move in? After she had finished showing me around, we walked outside when she asked, "Well what are you going to do?" I replied, "Well, first off we're going to come mow this grass. Regardless of who owns this house it needs to be cut. They'll fine the owner. As far as buying it goes, I'm not sure. I would like to come back tomorrow with a builder friend of mine to allow him to inspect the house. Do you mind loaning the key to the real estate lady so we can get in? I realize it's difficult for you to get here." Then she did the most amazing thing. She handed me the key to her house. She trusted me with her most valuable possession. She trusted me. The guy she had chased off her porch with a stick only weeks prior! Then I told her, "I want you to know, if you want to live here, I'll do my best to make this house livable for you and help you move in. But if you want to go somewhere else we'll help you get that house ready for you. Just let me know." She thanked me and left.

About 30 minutes later, the real estate agent called me and said, "Wilma has found a couple of houses a block over that she likes, she wants you guys to look at them to see what you think." WOW! Now she's asking our opinion on what house she should purchase. Amazing!

God, what are you doing? Could this be the first "member" of this church? Could she be a person of peace? I'm amazed at what's going on. Thank you, Lord, for letting me enjoy this.

The new schedule is as follows:

1.      Mow grass at house

2.      Allow Doug Durden to look at it

3.      Decide if we want to buy \ Wilma wants to sell?

4.      Get money from The Way?

5.      Begin Sidewalk Sunday School – continue through summer

6.      Help Wilma with her house (get church involved) - top priority! 

7.      Work on our house get it ready to move in

8.      June\July Do we have money for another house to move students in? Does it look like it could happen?

9.      September begin tutoring in the Chisholm Community Center
    
      we also need to figure out what, how, and when to share with the church. How do we get them involved?
      Put local Mission Vision Team Together
      Become a 5013c "The Way"? to be able to handle taxes and donations.

      This is going to be fun!