Thursday, June 6, 2002

O.K. Today has been a great spiritual victory. God has moved, worked, and won in mighty and miraculous ways.

We had a tough day of painting, serving meals in a homeless shelter, canvassing neighborhoods, doing yardwork, serving sno-cones, and singing. God worked in us and gave us many blessings, which we shared together during our devotional time tonight.

We heard stories of "little old ladies" whose houses we cleaned and landscaped. They were so appreciative and so glad to have the kids around. We heard about a divine appointment with a single mom in poverty, her car broken down beside the road, who some of our BIONICS were able to minister to. (And our girls made her 3 small children sno-cones, which made them very popular!)

There were so many "God-wins" today that i think we are all at least a little overwhelmed. And rest assured, you will hear many of the stories during our share time Sunday afternoon and in the days and weeks to come; the kids are excited about being used by God!

But one story bears repeating here in more detail. This story is, if not THE reason God sent us to OKC this summer, at least one of the reasons. And if it is only one of several major reasons, I sincerely question whether we can take more of His blessing than we got tonite!

Our kids served in various ways and various parts of OKC today, and you'll see in some of the pictures below. Our day culminated in a performance of our tour musical at the Baptist Mission Center in downtown OKC. We performed to a packed house of about 100 men and ladies, 95% of whom were homeless; the majority of them are unquestionably bound by an addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

The kids did an even more spectacular job than we've come to find is normal on this tour, and the audience we thought would be "rough around the edges" was possibly the warmest, most involved and responsive group we've worshipped with so far. These folks danced, sang, clapped, and encouraged our students for a solid hour. It was obvious in the faces of our singers as well as in the crowd's response that God was there and moving in a big way.

After the concert, a gentleman named Randall approached a couple of our sponsors and wound up talking with Randy J. He described himself as a very intelligent man, intellectual, knowledgable about religion. That was why he's always had a problem "making the leap" into a relationship with Christ. He is a crack addict, and because of that he cannot see his 2 children who are the age of our Priority students. He related that when he watched Priority sing, it was as if he were seeing his own kids up there. And one song in particular, "Shakles", spoke to him. Randall told Randy about his drug addiction, his background, and the fact that he just couldn't believe God could have any possible reason to care about a man like himself.

Randy shared with Randall for quite a while after the concert, reminding him of the stories of Paul and the theif on the cross. Randall was obviously hungry to talk about spiritual things, and he eventually prayed and received Jesus into his life. Randy told us that as he prayed, Randall's hands were clasped together so tightly that the track marks all over his arms from his crack addiction were bulging. He was just literally shaking with emotion and obvious agitation over this decision. But as he finished praying, he looked at Randy and said, "I can see light like I've never seen before." He literally felt lighter and could see the sun in a different way because of the peace Jesus had instantly brought into his life. Praise God!!!

Steve shared with us a verse tonight that he has been reading lately from Psalms that praises the Lord because He sets prisoners free and brings sight to the blind!!!

God has shown us today a huge glimpse of the "why" behind these last 9 months of tour preparation. As Kim was choosing music for this tour, she asked the students to pray for God's guidance in picking music. The musical we are doing came to her as a result. But what's more amazing is that the song "Shakles" that changed Randall's life was not one of the songs in our musical. Kim added it in and she and Steve rewrote the script to focus around Christ as our shackle-breaker. Needless to say, we are all pretty emotional about the way God has shown us His providence, even in the selections of music we are presenting.

Our Lord is mighty and great. And He and all the angels in Heaven are rejoicing tonight because Randall has come to know Christ! As are we. But we are also aware that Satan is trying his hardest right now, this very moment, to reclaim the hold he had on Randall's life only 5 hours ago. Priority and the BIONICS have committed to pray for Randall every day for the next three months. Would you please commit yourself to prayer for him as well? We are praying that he will become active in a church in this area and be delivered from his drug addiction through a miracle of healing. Thank you so very much.

Well, it's late and I'm afraid I've been rambling. But it's hard not to when you're crying out in praise to the King of kings! Below are some pictures of our (your) students in action. Enjoy them and know that we are enjoying these students immensely. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Doing work at the Grace Rescue Mission
They asked me not to tell, but...	Yes, Mom, we can do dishes!
	The residents there were very appreciative
The students did a great job painting and fixing up the Grace Rescue Mission
Come and get one!
	Brent met up with us today
Part of our day was sorting through clothing donations for the shelter downtown.	Some of us found some surprises.
And others found some favorite outfits...	Getting ready
Praying before the concert
With all that choreography, some prompters are very appreciated!	What a great presentation!!!
Steve with 2 of the ladies whose homes our group cleaned	This is Randall with Kimberly, a BIONIC