Meet Them Where They Are

Good morning! I pray this day finds you blessed! I’ve been meaning to write about our Colorado trip for quite some time now, just had to make the time. God truly moved in our hearts. He spoke to us.

Why did God choose new names for some people? The Bible doesn’t give us His reasons, but perhaps it was to let them know they were destined for a new mission in life. The new name was a way to let them in on the divine plan and also to assure them that God’s plan would be fulfilled in them. He gave us new names in Colorado. When God changed a person’s name and gave them a new name, it was usually to establish a new identity. God changed Abram’s "high father" name to Abraham "father of multitude" (Genesis 17:5) and his wife’s name from Sarai “my princess,” to Sarah “mother of nations” (Genesis 17:15).

We were definitely given a new mission. The same, but new. God gave Vaughn a vision 4 years ago. A vision of a recovery mission. In Colorado, God taught us that we’re not try to change someone so that they can find God; we’re supposed to take God to them where they ARE! No matter where they are. God loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). He didn’t say, “Kaci, I love you and I want to help you, but you have to be what I want you to be first.” No, He said, “I love you and I will be faithful to complete a good work in you (Phil. 1:6).”

God rescued Vaughn and I from the depths of addiction. We believe that He saved us so that we can bring His Word to others in the same situation. We have found a building in Borger that would be a great place to start, if that's what God has planned.

Pastor Lee in Colorado taught us that when God gives you a vision, you then begin to pray for laborers. People who have skills or resources that you don’t that God will bring to make the vision come to fruition. Luke 10:2 says, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”

We don’t know who these laborers are, but we pray that you will join us in praying for God to send them.

The vision is simply this: Meeting God's people where they are and sharing His love with them. We don't know exactly what God is doing right now, but we do know that God says if we love Him, we will feed His sheep (John 21:17).

For those of you who have not heard about the trip, let me tell you a little bit about it:

My boss has a brother who is a Pastor in Colorado. He runs a center in Glenwood Springs, is building a center in New Castle, and is planting house churches along the I-70 Corridor in Colorado.

Jud has been talking to me for a while about possibly Vaughn and I going to help Pastor Lee work on the building a little in New Castle. Then Vaughn spoke at Celebrate Recovery. I was listening to his testimony online at work and Jud asked for a copy. He sent that to Pastor Lee, and the ball started rolling. Pastor Lee asked us to come and speak at the center.

Here’s how the center there works: The guys call it the “Drop In”. In the morning the center opens about 8am. A wonderful lady named Carolyn runs Feed My Sheep. The guys come in and eat breakfast, pack a lunch and can do a little laundry. (Carolyn was a long time social worker who found God and realized her calling to “Feed the Sheep”, so that’s what she does. She just feeds the guys – and a few ladies – and leaves the teaching and preaching to Pastor Lee and his staff.) The guys all pitch in with the chores before the center closes. The center closes for the afternoon and reopens in the evening for prayer time, dinner and showers. Then the center closes and most of the men camp out in different places around town. In the winter, the program pays over $20,000 to rent a few hotel rooms for 3 months so that the guys can come in out of the cold and sleep. They empty out these hotel rooms and turn them into dorms for these men that have no other place to go. The thing is, they don’t just feed and clothe these guys, they lead them to the Lord.

Tony & Terry, they were alcoholics, now they help run the Glenwood Center. Luke, still struggles but he helped us at the New Castle center all week. Michael, Michael has the will to be a soldier for the Lord and now he has the chance. Pastor Lee and Tony are going to help him grow closer to God. So many guys, I can’t possibly name them all, they come to the centers for physical AND spiritual food. There are so many guys who have found God there. They are so many guys who know God because Pastor Lee takes Him to them where they are!

I thank God for these guys, for what they are doing for God in Colorado and for the things they taught me in a week. We thought we were going to help with some sheetrock. Boy, God sure did have some different plans, He changed the way we think, changed the way we live, He gave us new identities, He gave us new names.

Please keep us in prayer, please keep Pastor Lee and all the guys at the centers in your prayers, and please, please, if you need prayer, do not hesitate to let me know.