That's Why We Do This...

Today at Mission LTX we got to see God do what only God does - take dead things and make them alive. And I just had to share the story. So here it is:

One of our work projects this week is helping a family whose home has burned. The shell of the house is pretty stable and the family is wanting to rebuild around the walls, floor, etc that are left. But to do that there is literally TONS of demolition that needs to be done. So far this week we've torn out all the sheetrock in the walls and ceiling and scraped up burned carpet and tiles from the floors. It has been messy and hard and hot but our students have busted their tails in order to serve this family and be a blessing to them.

Our students and our youth ministry have become the talk of the neighborhood. People are amazed that our students would not only give up a week of their summer to work in our community for free, but that they would pay to do it in order to provide their own tools, resources, etc. And then when they see the work ethic of our students, they are really shocked. We demand A LOT out of our students. And that only intensifies when we are on a mission project. We believe that most students will give you exactly what you expect from them, so we expect big things from our youth. And they deliver.

So today one of the men from our church was driving his tractor down the street from the house, bringing it over to help us load some debri into a dumpster. As he drove by a house a man went into the street waving his arms to get his attention. The man lived in a home down the street from where we are working and he started asking Mark (the guy from our church) about why our students would do what they are doing. Basically, this led to Mark telling the guy how our youth want to show the love of God to others and this is one way they do it. That led to a presentation of the gospel. And that led to this man praying to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ right there on the spot.

I am constantly amazed at how God works. I am blown away at what he uses to draw people to himself. But I am SO PUMPED that he lets me be a part of it. And when God leads and you follow, be prepared to see incredible things. Because God is in the business of incredible and amazing. As I type this I am still blown away by this story. But I know one thing: That's why we do this...