From Wayne Haddock
It was a cold Saturday morning and only a few turned out. We met in an empty parking lot in the middle of one of the highest crime neighborhoods in Virginia. The believers that gathered were from an intercity church and Regent University. We met to walk and pray for that particular community.
As I walked, I noticed broken glass was everywhere. Broken bottle after bottle littered the small yards and street. My first thought was to organize a cleanup day to remove this so that children could play without fear of injury. Then as I prayed, God brought a deeper understanding to me.
If most people were aware of broken glass in their front yard, they would pick it up and then it would be safe. The broken glass that lay in this neighborhood stayed there because the residents too were broken and felt discarded. They thought that working on improving their lot in life to bring about any change was hopeless. Just as the glass would return time and time again without any lasting change, efforts to change themselves had also failed time after time.
That morning within three blocks, we walked by three places where a police officer and friends or relatives of members of this small church had been murdered. Hopelessness tears apart the fabric of the human soul.
The opportunities to serve this area far exceed that of myself or of any one organization. We are trusting God to burden many individuals and organizations to commit to bringing the love of God to the individuals in this neighborhood one relationship at a time. This Saturday was part of His answer.
Our prayer: "Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's." - II Chronicles 20:15b
Prayer Requests
- For God to burden His people to move toward the battle for the hopeless in the intercity.
- For sensitivity to His Spirit to see the doors that He opens and not be overwhelmed by the vastness of the need.
- For the His provision to bring health and healing to these and other under resourced neighbors.
- For God to bring a spirit of repentance to those with hope that look aside as our neighbors are living in desperate need of hope.
- For the Gospel to take root and transform this neighborhood resulting in it spreading like wildfire throughout the state, nation and world.
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