Super Size Serve

This weekend we had over 50 volunteers come out for Serve Saturday. There were families, couples, life groups and individuals; all whose only desire was to show the love of Christ to people in our community. I love HPCers.

We had planned to do a couple of different things: JP’s crew was going to do a free carwash at Albertson’s and Alliece’s team was going to hand out flyers downtown about our upcoming WOW Jam. With the temperature hovering around 38 degrees it was decided that everyone would head down to the Dream Center to blitz the community with flyers. Splitting up into four teams we headed into the north Baton Rouge area, hoping to bring a little light into an oftentimes dark place.

We had some local volunteers join us again. One of our volunteers picked them up and brought them over to meet up with us at Odell. Shaquille, DJ and and Tar were back, and they brought Melvin along to help out. All these boys are 8 or 9 years old and live in the 35th Street area. Their lives do not usually include Christian adults who choose to be around them. It was interesting (and heart-breaking) to watch.

After covering several blocks and talking to dozens of people we loaded up to go back to the Dream Center. Three of the boys were riding with us in the back of the pick-up truck. I was curious to know what they knew about Jesus, so I asked them. One of them knew that He was the Son of God and died on a cross; the other two just shrugged. Natalie had one of them sitting on her lap, so she started explaining that not only was He the Son of God, but that the reason He died on the cross was for our sins. The boy shook his head and said, “No, that was Martin Luther King.” He wasn’t being smart; that’s just what he believed. This was the same child who had claimed to know Jesus. Like I said, heartbreaking to watch.

I am always amazed at God’s mercy and wisdom. In His wisdom He directed Healing Place Church to plant an outreach center four blocks away from these kids. It will be through demonstrating God’s mercy that they will be drawn to us so we can direct them to Him. It is such a privilege to be able to serve Him: to bring His love to a community that so desperately needs His saving grace, to bring hope to the hopeless, and to introduce these kids to their true Savior. Thank You Father for allowing us to be a part of this. All glory to God!