New opportunity

God has opened the door to what will possibly be one of most significant ministries in our church planting. About a few weeks ago, God began to speak to both Jason and me individually.....long story short, when we came together to talk about ministry and about what we felt God was telling each other late one night, we found out that God was pretty much steering us both into the same direction. Things made sense and together, our thoughts clicked. Jason contacted the president of our home owner's association about a committee we are excited and eager to begin. A committee that welcomes new residents into our subdivision and meets the needs of neighbors in crisis (death in family, serious illness, etc) by providing appropriate services (babysitting, food, yardwork, emotional support, and others).

The HOA president was actually pretty excited about our request and said that the HOA would not only support our efforts but also provide funds for our service! Now, this is really significant in our ministry here in Allen. When we first moved here, we tried to do door-to-door surveys on neighborhood needs. We didnt' get too many responses, and we later found out that it's actually illegal here in Allen to go door-to-door! We could've actually been arrested had someone called the cops on us! Now with the HOA's blessing, we actually HAVE permission to go door-to-door! The great thing about this ministry opportunity is that we're actually gonna be helping out people who are truly in need as opposed to "guessing" who's in need. This is truly awesome and we're so hopeful and excited about this whole thing. The only concern is that we need to be very careful as we're ministering to neighbors. Since we're doing it in the name of the HOA, we can't talk about God or share the gospel openly....UNLESS people ask. So, we really have to practice much wisdom and discernment.

Early one morning, as I was thinking and praying about this ministry, suddenly, the chorus of a song by Audio Adrenaline came into mind: "I want to be your hands, I want to be your feet..." I remember hearing this long time ago, but honestly, I couldn't remember the words of the song besides what I just wrote. I couldn't get rid of those phrases either, so I decided to look up the lyrics of the song in the internet and this is what I found:

"An image flashed across my TV screen
Another broken heart comes into view
I saw the pain and I turned my back
Why can't I do the things I want to

I want to be Your hands
I want to be Your feet
I'll go where You send me
And yeah, I try, yeah, I try
To touch the world like You touched my life
And I'll find my way to be Your hands

I am willing yet I'm so afraid
You give me strength when I say

I've abandoned every selfish thought
I've surrendered every thing I've got
You can have everything I am
And perfect everything I'm not

I want to be Your hands
I want to be Your feet
I'll go where You send me
And yeah, I try, yeah, I try
To touch the world like You touched my life
And I'll find my way to be Your hands."

After reading the lyrics of the song, I knew it was God who had placed the song in my heart that morning. The words to the song were pretty much the words of my prayer that morning. It was evident to me what the name of our new ministry is to be called: "Hands and Feet".

Pray for us as we begin this new endeavor. We have already sent a mass email to the entire subdivision (270 households) about "Hands and Feet". Our prayer is that God would truly challenge the Christians in this community to be disatisfied with their normal Christian life. We pray that God would place a holy passion in the hearts of these Christians and raise up an army for Him to reach out and minister to the hurting and needy in this community. The HOA president warned us that we'd probably be going solo on our effort at the beginning, but we've already had 2 people email us within a couple of days of the mass email saying they'd like to join the committee. (And, we actually think they might be Christians). Praise the Lord.