by guest blogger Becky Simon
"If you were at 1st service on April 1st,
you heard Kesa Robinson’s testimony about her Kingdom Assignment. I will give a recap for those who did not
hear. Kesa shared how God grew her $100
to meet the needs of the Church Under the
Bridge. The Church Under the Bridge (CUB) is exactly what it says, a church
that meets under the Broadway Bridge on the Little Rock side. The church meets rain, shine, sleet or snow
every Sunday, and it has been doing so for almost 17 years. It is a church for the homeless.
Last year during Be
the Church Sunday many Cornerstonians lives were changed after serving
there. Through that service, many have
continued to minister by giving of their time, donating food items and serving
lunch. Cornerstone is now known at the CUB,
as the 5th Sunday Church.
In other words, if there is a month that has a 5th Sunday; we
donate and prepare the food for 80-125 homeless brothers and sisters. Kesa is one of the faithful volunteers.
She testified that when Barry gave her the $100 she didn’t
think that God was calling her to share it with the CUB. She was already serving there and thought
that God may want her to share His gift elsewhere. So she prayed, listened and waited and it
turned out that God did have plans for her to share with the CUB.
This is where my testimony begins. As I was preparing for the 5th
Sunday of January for the CUB, I was busy collecting food items, menu planning
and seeing to logistics. However, God
laid it on my heart to that I needed to collect blankets, scarves, socks and
care packages for my homeless friends. I
called Brother Joe, the pastor at the CUB and asked him how many people they
would be serving. He said due to the
cold, he expected around 80! Okay, so we
needed 80: 80 blankets, 80 scarves, 80 pairs of sock and 80 care packages – No
PROB!
Well, friends, you came through in a big way. I was overwhelmed with the generosity of my
Cornerstone family. Each Sunday, the
number of items steadily increased: 40, 50, 60 etc. Then, things tapered off. Suddenly, the donations slowed and finally
they stopped. It was at this point that
I realized how MUCH I was asking for.
Funny, I was just being obedient.
I didn’t even take into account that 80 was a LOT of scarves until I was
stuck at 40. I didn’t bat an eyelash
that 80 was a lot of blankets until the numbers halted at 68. I felt certain that I was being obedient to
God. I was sure that I was supposed to
collect these items.
So, I trusted. This
rainbows and lollipops girl believed that somehow God would take care of
it. I didn’t know how, but I was sure
that He would. Perhaps that 5
th
Sunday would be cold then less folks would come, whatever the case, I knew that
God would provide. He would meet the
need. Right?
A few nights before the 5th Sunday, I woke up in a
panic. I started to wonder what we would
do. How would we handle it if there
weren’t enough? What if we had to turn a
family away? Would I be able to look
into someone’s face and say, “Sorry, you’ll have to be cold tonight, we ran
out?” At that moment I felt God urging
me to pray. I had been reading the book 1000 Gifts and in the book the author
talks about giving thanks.
She talks about being thankful for
everything,
FOR all circumstances, no matter what. The word that she talks a lot about is
eucharisteo. It's Greek and it
means thanksgiving and the roots charis (grace) and chara (joy)! Another thing that she emphasizes is that
“eucharisteo (giving thanks)
always precedes the miracle.”
I knew why God woke me up. He wanted me to pray. He wanted me to give thanks. He wanted me to acknowledge HIM! So, I got up and I prayed over the blankets
that I did have. I hugged them and
prayed that the brother or sister that received the blanket would know that
they are wrapped in His love. I prayed
that as they covered themselves that they would believe that they are covered
by grace. I prayed that when they felt hungry
they would also hunger for Him and when they were thirsty they would be thirsty
for Living Water.
Then, through tears I thanked God
for the lack of blankets, I praised Him for the not enough. I thanked Him for my dependence and for His
sufficiency. It was one of the most
precious times of prayer I have ever experienced. And then, I wrote one last email, asking for
donations. I needed 40 scarves and 22
blankets.
The next morning, I received the
email from Kesa. She had raised enough
money to fill EVERY need, to almost the penny.
Every homeless person received a scarf, blanket, socks and a care
package. In fact, our volunteers brought
more supplies that day, so there wasn’t just enough, there was EXTRA. We were able to donate some!! It was like the loaves and fishes. I was overwhelmed by how He provided. Thank you Kesa for listening, Barry for
challenging, Cornerstone for giving and GOD for meeting all our needs!!
“Eucharisteo
always precedes the miracle!” "
Thanks for sharing this amazing work of God Becky! 2 Cor 9:8 (NIV84)
"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Who else has a Kingdom Assignment follow-up testimony? Leave it as a comment to this post and share!