Seeking that which is lost...

This is an email that Miss Alliece sent to Pastor DeLynn...it's a nutshell of what we've been doing lately:

It has been a week and I don’t know where to begin with this story of 19 year old Julia* —I have taken in so much info day by day…

The first time she heard about HPC she was 14 walking from Prairieville on Airline Highway headed for Walker. She had taken acid, swallowed lighter fluid and was bleeding all over from her cutting herself. A guy pulled over and she got in the car—said he would take her to Walker—she knew what that would mean—a trade off—her body for a ride—then she thought what if I die—what if I care? But the scene changed when he began talking to her---he said—I don’t know who you are or what you are going through—but me and my wife—we have been through some stuff---and I just wanna tell you about this church---healing place church—don’t ever forget that name---don’t ever forget that God cares about you…

Then there was a Chick Night and you gave out pink princess mugs….Julia smiled as she told me this story and said she still has her princess mug—she loves it..in my mind—I am wondering how she kept up with this mug----all these places…hospitals, streets, St Louis, New York, Las Vegas, Mexico, L.A., Houston, and Lake Charles….and then I am telling myself to remember to tell DeLynn every ounce of extras that you squeeze into the budget to pay for these gifts is worth it..a pink princess mug? She has held on to it in the midst of being shuffled around the country in the porn industry.

Last Monday night Julia drove by hpc and saw cars and wondered was this another one of those women nights—she continued to drive and turned around at the Acadian exit to come back to check it out..she just didn’t know if she wanted to live anymore…she says its kind of a blur—you talking—and then you started talking about weight—she said she’s never heard anybody get that real from the stage—like a Pastors wife sharing and being real---in front of a crowd—like maybe once a year out of town—but you gotta see everybody tomorrow—it fascinated her—yet she was so relieved that somebody was willing to get on the stage and get real and tell women let it go….about the real things in life..the undoings in life…she went to the alter. Angie Bush prayed with her…then took her to Rachel Hamen..Rachel came and got me…I was so excited because I wanted to get to her at the alter—she had that look—had been sitting on my row—but I couldn’t get to her.

The next day I met her at Starbucks---I asked her did she want out—like really out of the Porn Industry—she said yes---I said then “its on”…. Called the FBI—a guy I have been working with through the human trafficking task force—he connected us with Houston---we met them on Thursday and dropped off the car at the airport—did the rescue and got outta town…the “industry” is sending out threats to her by calling her friends who don’t even know her lifestyle…they track her through her phone and the car—so we got rid of the phone too..we are working on a plan to get her into a program for human trafficking victims/sex trade industry---in the meantime she is at a place we call the Vault—[the place you can’t get in]…keypads, alarms, paul charbonnet and paul trahan with their guns, and of course Donna.

This all began when she was 12 years old….thank God for Healing Place Church, pink princess mugs, and an honest pastor’s wife speaking freely from the stage…. Thank God for Brother Wayne who taught his daughters they are princesses and now you have handed it down to this broken girl who is beginning to see a glimmer that just maybe she can wear a Tierra too…
Thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful place to Do the ministry, not just talk about it….yep reaching the world by serving one….

How cool is it that Jesus commissions us to seek that which is lost? I love my church!!! All glory to God!

* names have been changed

Awesome Weekend, Awesome God!!!

I can't even tell you how good God is. I have had an amazing, exhausting, miracle-filled weekend and I just have to tell you about it.
It started on Friday morning with Thrive, our weekly community support group. My good friend Kim Braud came and shared her story with the women while her husband Adam spoke for a few minutes to the men. Kim and Adam are two of my favorite people; real, dedicated to God and to each other, genuine... the kind of people I like to be around. I was sitting in the sanctuary listening to Kim and watching the women. Some were nodding, some were crying but most were simply locked in. Kim had opened her heart to show them her scars, and in return their hearts were being opened. God was moving and they were getting set free. It was so cool.
I should probably mention that we had a visiting team in from Church of the Highlands; a great group of men and women who drove half the night after working all day to come and serve along side us at the Dream Center. They got in Friday morning about 2:30am and left Sunday after church. We worked them like Hebrew slaves the entire time and I didn't hear one complaint. That's a sign of great hearts and great leadership. I don't know they're pastor but he must be pretty cool to have people like them in his church.
Friday night a bunch of us piled into the van to do Midnight Outreach. We had a bit of a mix up with our roses so we ended up doing our route backwards. We started on northside and worked our way back to Highland. Can I tell ya...northside was hopping!!! We went to Top 10 Social Club, kind of a local hot spot located on Choctaw, and met a bunch of cool people. One guy told us about his experience with Hurricane Gustav...he has sleep apnea and counts on a machine to keep him breathing throughout the night. Since he didn't know when his power was going out he spent most of the storm sitting up in his chair, facing the door with a gun in his hand. Can't be too careful when the lights go out. Fortunately, he made it through and had a big grin Friday night. He told Alliece that he was coming to church on Sunday with his 15 kids. I didn't see him today so I guess something came up. Hopefully next time he really will come.
Bennie's Bar was busier than I've ever seen it. After handing out roses to the ladies and candy to the guys we were ready to load up; well, most of us were ready. Franco had to finish his dance with some woman who insisted that he dance with her...I gotta tell ya, he had more moves than I woulda given him credit for. Good times and Jesus!
By the time we got back over to Highland side Kittens was too crowded to go in. We took the girls from Church of the Highlands into Southern Comforts and it blew their mind. They couldn't believe how appreciative the dancers were...how they thanked us, hugged our necks and told us they loved Healing Place Church. It was fine. We headed back to Highland in time to drop the team off with JP for Bar Outreach.
Saturday morning I had the privilege of attending our Kingdom Builders breakfast. It was awesome! Lee Domingue gave an incredible message...I wanted to write a check for $1.2 million on the way out the door. (I was short about $1.2 million so I couldn't write the check, but I believe that's only temporary). I love being part of a church that is not afraid to talk about money. I believe that's why we will change the world and bring Christ to the nations.
Saturday afternoon I took the team to Walker to help one of our volunteers with some hurricane-related yard work. Mostly we went just to spend time with him and stand with him. His daughter is currently in ICU after attempting suicide. Kinda puts things into perspective...
Sunday morning we had a great service at BRDC. A video message from Pastor Dino rocked the house and about 15 people got saved. How cool is that? We started service 3 or 4 months ago and today we had 255 in church. That's just God.
I'm sure I left out some cool stuff that happened this weekend, but that's what I can think of for now. If you haven't already started praying about our upcoming fast than give it some thought. Check out Pastor Dino's blog to get the scoop on 40:SAP. It's gonna be awesome...I can't wait to see what God is gonna do.
Be blessed, be bold and serve Him! All glory to God.