HELP WANTED!

    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.   

(Exodus 1:8)

 

 

I wonder how Moses felt about this commission? Too small?  Too insignificant?  Was he over- whelmed and afraid?  I think so.  He spends quite a bit of time arguing with God about it.  (See Exodus 4).  The story of the Exodus has spoken to me a lot this year because I have been on a similar journey.  If you have kept up with my blogs then you know God has been calling me away from "tending sheep in the wilderness" (aka- Personal Training) and into a new call.  A call to minister the Word of God to the Homeless and Impoverished of Downtown Amarillo.  Like Moses I argued with God about my qualifications and my "calling"  but the cry of the people became too great:

 

"The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob".

(Exodus 2:23&24)

 

 Finally I gave Him my surrender.

 

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

(Isaiah 6:8)

 

As of January 1st I am no longer taking new training clients in order that I can step fully into what the Lord is inviting me to do.  This year I have had the opportunity to share the Isaiah Challenge with multiple Churches and Outreaches.  I have been able to preach the gospel to the poor (literally!).  In December I was invited to be a part of a new program at the 2-1-1 Resource Center Downtown.  I teach a Biblically Based self-worth class to the homeless and impoverished.  I have been given opportunity to help bring in a Christian Addiction Recovery program with other faith programs on the horizon!  God has done many provision miracles and sent other laborers into His vineyard to help with the work of Isaiah 61.

 

"the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,"

(Isaiah 61:1)

 

This call is to Christ and His Church. If this passage has ever burned within you then this is a HELP WANTED call!  I have many open doors and am praying the Lord to send forth laborers into His vineyard.  Roman and I are expanding NMI-Network (the itinerate ministry we have had for the past four years) to include this work of God's Spirit to the poor.  Over the past several months we have had several meals and "fellowships" to get to know the people being ministered to.  Special gifts such as Valentine Candy and Prayer Beads are part of how the Lord has led us to show His extravagant love to those society calls the "least of these" but He calls "the greatest in the Kingdom".  If you would be interested in helping in any way with this work please contact us! (E-mail challenge@angelaasbill.com)   All ministries need financial support (we are non-profit and tax deductible) but they also need MUCH prayer.  Another need I have is for those who would like to be a part of serving the people, giving a testimony, organizing an outreach, etc.  We are not going Downtown to offer physical bread (though that is a part of it) we are going to offer the TRUE BREAD WHICH COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN! 

 

This is a new and scary venture for me but:

 

Where He leads me, I will follow!

 

 

(My 2nd self-worth class.  First class 9 attended.  2nd class we increased to 22 people!)

oceans

There is a popular Christian song out right now called Oceans.  I admit to being a little old school with worship music.  I LOVE songs by Keith Green and to listen to the old time Hymns, but the song Oceans has spoken to me a lot over the past year.  Here are some of the lyrics:

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

This year my life took an odd turn.  You may have noticed that my blogs turned from trainer/wellness stuff to Isaiah Challenge/act like a disciple stuff.  Last January instead of the normal client increase I see at the beginning of a New Year I lost six of my long time clients all at once.  Then in June I was told my services were not longer needed at the gym I was training at!  (No further explanation given).  I FERVENTLY began to ask God to bring me more clients and show me what to do with my “Wellness-Ministry”. . .Did you know that we can pray AMISS when we ask God to bless our plans instead of seeking for His?

James 4:3- 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Well, instead of God opening up more training opportunities He began to open up opportunities to share about the Isaiah Challenge.  (See that blog if your lost).  He also began to lead me to Downtown Amarillo.  I began to ask the Spirit to show me how to pray for God’s desires to be made known.

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

My husband and I both began to hear the same thing.  Training was closing and ministry to those that Matthew 25 calls the “least of these” was opening.  Instead of walking into a gym (my comfort zone) God began to lead me into my “OCEANS”.  (The place my feet thought they could never wander).  He began to change my selfish nature (IN PROCESS!) and put a compassion in me for what I saw in Downtown Amarillo Texas.  At the end of this year I was asked to teach Self-Worth classes at the United Way 2-1-1 day shelter to the homeless and those in dire poverty.  If you read my blog (Challenged to blast my comfort zone) then you know in September I was afraid to even park near a homeless man! (Sprit lead me where my trust is without borders).  I accepted the offer IF I COULD TEACH FROM SCRIPTURE.  This “secular” institution gave me permission to teach as I saw fit. . .and to bring in more studies and classes as I felt led.  (Let me walk upon the water, wherever You would call me)  They have also allowed me to bring in other Christian ministers to offer Biblically Based Addiction Programs!

In this experience God has given me so great a love for the people I have met that one of them has become “adopted” into our family.  He has been more of a blessing to us than we could ever be to him.  (and My faith has been made stronger in the presence of my Savior).

I prayed for more clients.  God gave me more family.  I prayed for opportunities to teach the middle class about health.  God gave me a chance to feed the hungry.  I asked God for a better gym to work at.  God gave me an homeless man to call “brother”. 

And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep

Below is a clip of me sharing this journey at WTAMU Wesley.  If you are struggling to step into deeper oceans perhaps God will use it to speak to you and give you courage to leave the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaRgpixzYWI