The REAL Reason I'm Not Going to Africa Anytime Soon

Actually, "Reason" should be plural.

Samantha
Eleni
Ian
Kali
Gabby
Bridget
Stevo
Josh
Bryn
Spike
Kyle
Asia

And on and on it goes. You think that's a lot to remember? How about when they come practically running up to you, like Samantha did last night, saying, "I bet you don't remember me!" or when you remember one name (Desirae) but not the other (Julianna) because you haven't seen either of them for nearly one full year?

Then there are all the other people you meet, like Blakely, Pam, Matt, Cody, Taylor, Brie, and Pam's mother and sister. Yes, God has a work for me here at home, and yesterday was chock full of confirmations. Actually, my entire stay has been filled with confirmations that this is God's plan for me right now. If I ever make it to Africa, I know that I will not regret the time that I spend in faithfulness watering these seeds. This is still only a partial list of the people I have met at the Rock, and doesn't include the people I meet at flag football in Coquina Key, on the buses I ride, in the restaurants I've been to, or in the preschool where I now work. And these are only the unbelievers.

Yes, financially, things are tight for me. In fact, people have been donating living space for me since I've been back. But the different places I've been (Clearwater, Seminole, NE St Pete, and now NW St Pete) have opened up many divine appointments for me that I never could have otherwise had. My heart is breaking with grief as I review the people and situations I have seen over the past month: Broken families, breaking families, drug addictions, demonic involvement, drunkenness (even in the youth), homelessness--but still in pursuit of beer, which is expensive enough to keep one homeless, willful fornication--even when professing to be Christian and confronted with Scripture. Satan really has a grip on this town. So I'm here to fight.

We have the Super Bowl coming up and are trying to make some arrangements to get our people down to the sites of interest. This will make a great impact on people all over the world, but I am praying for a huge impact here at home. Swindlers love events like this, because people's idolatry of this game opens them up to all kinds of scams, and they will be coming in by the hordes. Also, the swindlers in this town will be converging on unsuspecting tourists, begging and pleading for their money for various reasons. Left out in the cold will be those who actually need help. This is wrong.

So please pray for our Super Bowl Outreach as we team up with believers from all over the country, especially those who are partnering with The Lost Cause Ministries for an evangelism boot camp of sorts to reach the lost who come here. We need all the prayer that we can get. Pray not only for our words to be seasoned with salt, but that our actions will be guided by the Holy Spirit to actually help those who need it and to put the swindlers in their place--repentance.