Beautiful day of ministry

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun shined brightly in the backdrop of a deep blue sky and the temperature was a near perfect 75. But what was even more beautiful than the picturesque scene of sunshine, blue sky and blooming spring flowers was the ministry that took place during Love In Action's Adopt-A-Block.

The entire morning we prayed with people and handed out bread that is donated every week to us by the Atlanta Bread Company. We were also able to help a couple of elderly women.

One of the women needed some heavy bags of clothes taken to the road. The bags were in her back yard and were soaked after the most recent rains. She never could have moved them, so we were thankful to do it for her.

Then later in the morning we visited one of our favorite people in the neighborhood - Mrs. Smiley. She is a sweet 80-year-old widow who lives at the end of a street. Each week we pray with her and just talk. She enjoys our visits and always greets us with her infectious smile. She has the perfect name.

During our visit, she mentioned how much she loves the old hymn "Old Rugged Cross." George, one of our volunteers, started singing it, then Ms. Smiley joined in. I couldn't help but raise my hands in praise of Jesus as I could feel God's Holy Spirit moving on Ms. Smiley's front porch. It was a beautiful moment.

As we were leaving we noticed grass was overtaking her flower bed, so we told her we would return to clean it out for her. She was so happy. When we came back one of her daughters was there, and we all had a great time talking and singing. Yes, another song of praise was sung as her daughter sang an old hymn, then George sang "I can only imagine."

Before going to see Ms. Smiley, we stopped at a house across the street from her where three people were sitting outside in chairs, and two of them were drinking beer. They weren't drunk, but were kicking back a cold one. The woman lives at the house and the other one with a beer was a former work release inmate who attended our Celebrate Recovery when we were located on Montgomery Highway.

When he saw me, he put his beer down. He apologized and said he wished I hadn't seen him drinking that beer. I told him I wasn't there to condemn him, but to remind him that God loves him. We had a good talk, and then we all prayed. At the end of that prayer, tears flowed down his face. Another seed planted, and I pray it takes root and grows. He knows where we are located at now, so hopefully on nights he isn't working he will come to the ministry center.

The other young man there, who wasn't drinking, is a soldier in the U.S. Army. He has served in Afghanistan and is going back in August. What an honor it was to pray for one of our brave men who fights for our freedom. We thanked him for his service and he thanked us for the support.

Many other great moments took place on Saturday as God poured His spirit out on that community. What an honor and privilege to serve such a great and loving God.

Adopt-A-Block takes place every Saturday, beginning at 9:45 a.m. with prayer at the Love In Action Ministry Center.  The outreach lasts from 10 a.m. until noon. For those who can stay longer, we go back into the neighborhood and do projects like we did for Ms. Smiley.

It's all for the glory of God, and we praise Him for all of the opportunities He gives us to serve Him.

I invite you to join us. It is a life-changing outreach, and the more volunteers we have the more people we can reach.