Love Thy Neighbor

by allan
Click through the pics to see the day of loving our neighbors
"Not by our mouth but by our actions… that is what the church of God is.”
These were the words declared by the African pastor as he emphatically concluded a powerful message about loving the poor and going out and DOING SOMETHING! You could feel the Holy Spirit pull the people together in the service. Surely we will meet during the week and create a committee to figure out next steps, I thought. But he continued and stepped towards the ecstatic congregation.
“This week we are going to fast as a church for a week. We are going to cry out to the Lord to come and help us be His church. And on Saturday we are going to go out. We are going to go to widows taking care of orphans, the elderly, and the people dying in their beds. Those people whose bedrooms have become prison cells. We are going to bring hope… to confirm the whistle has not blown. To say, you are still in the game. God is not done with you and you are not alone. We will bring food, we will clean, we will sing & pray. We will invite the neighbors to come pray with us so that they will see these people are not rubbish. They will see they are valuable.

You see we are in a culture of selfishness. But as children of God we say that it is time for us to live for each other. Love is not love until it is put into practice. There is no love until we obey. Love one another.”

So the church fasted all week and met every evening for prayer, worship and a message. Hungry for God we prayed. The words passion, fervency, urgency and dependence make sense when applied to how this church cries out to the Lord. No wonder it is called The Powerhouse Church!

Saturday rolled around and we went out loaded up with staple food, we went from house to house, praying worshiping and loving on hurting people.
Throughout my life of ministry, during church events I often stop and ponder… what does God think of this? What do you think of us right now Lord? …this time, beyond a shadow of a doubt I know that God was well pleased with his church on this day. It was almost like I could feel Him smile.

I know every church is different but it just seems so uncomplicated here. People just do it. They read it in the Bible and they do it. No questions, no stalling meetings, no talk,talk,talk, no excuses.
It’s refreshing. We have so much to learn.

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

More coming soon. We love you guys.