“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
– Jesus Christ
(Luke 10:1-3)
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Here’s one of our stories on the power of village faith…
It is July 21. Ed and I pay our bill at an El Salvadoran restaurant and begin walking through the Village. We are looking for opportunities to meet new people and “be Christ” to those who presently lack the joys and purpose of a Jesus-centered life.
Even though this should be easy by now (we’ve done this in other settings through the years), we each comment on how much easier it is for our social-butterfly-wives to engage new people. All the more reason to be doing this together, we conclude. The truth is, sometimes I chicken out by myself. But the power of even just two Jesus-followers doing the Cross-life together has proven to be utterly amazing. Today is no exception.
As we approach an intersection, a car comes to a near-halt in front of us. Inside two heavily tattooed young men with shaved heads and angry faces are staring and looking us over. One of them shouts the name of their gang at us. Right away we realize this is not the name of our hood’s gang, but a gang from a nearby community. Ed and I say nothing. They pick up their speed and pass through the intersection.
“Did they just shout a gang name at us?” It happened so fast we have to check with each other to make sure we heard correctly.
“Yeah, I think they did.” Quickly, I think to myself, they are here to stir up trouble! Were they looking for a reason to get out of their car, do something to us, or just scare us? Who else will they shout at in my neighborhood? Right away I’m remembering the drive-by shooting on our street back in April, and the blood on my hands as I prayed with the victim. Please, God, don’t let anything happen today!
After walking a little farther, we hear the sound of the car going in reverse. Instinctively, Ed turns around to find that same car has returned to the intersection, made a turn, and now, with tires squealing, is speeding in our direction! We pick up the pace and turn into a drive way to get out of site, our hearts pounding. As the car races by us we feel the intimidation tactic taking its full effect in us.
After a couple of deep breaths behind our apartment building, we listen and observe the silence (the car is gone). But what do we do now? Should we continue with our plans or go inside and call it a day? Are we going to live by fear, or let God’s complete love cast out all fear? On a different day changing our plans might have been the best thing to do. On this day we return to the streets asking for God’s continued protection as we look for precious souls in the harvest field…
As it turns out no one in Virgil Village was harmed that day to our knowledge. And God arranged two special encounters for us, which I’ve already written about on July 21. They were pure God-moments. We couldn’t have foreseen or orchestrated them.
As Ed reflected on the timing, he said it is interesting those gangsters showed up to intimidate us at the very moment we got up our nerve to be Christ to our community.
I am reminded of the power of doing our village walks together. Either one of us might have given up after the gang intimidation, had we been alone. Or, in the encounters that followed, we might not have been so daring with God’s missing ones. Ed helped me to depend on God’s Spirit that day. He helped me to be upfront about whose I am and why I’m here in our conversations with others. In general I find it easier to depend on God’s Spirit, to be bold for the sake of others, to be wise to the nuances of the street, and to be effective at representing Christ when I am in a group of two or three than when I go solo. Especially when I’m with way-of-life-missionaries like Ed and our wives.
Thank you Lord, for keeping us safe that day, for providing us spiritual friends to journey with, and for keeping us on mission with you! Amen.