Sunday morning outreach (written by Lauren Strickland): Today Chris and I took a group to do outreach in the community. We had plans on going to one neighborhood, but God had other plans. We wound up driving around and stopping to talk to people sitting on their porches.
We talked to several people on their porches and had just hopped back in the van to head to a different area when Chris and I saw a woman walking down the sidewalk. We pulled over and got out to introduce ourselves. The woman said that she was in her backyard listening to gospel music and saw us praying with her neighbors. She was glad we had stopped to also talk to her. We spent some time getting to know each other. We learned she had lived in Thomasville her whole life and had four grown children. She told us that she was excited for the day when she would have grandchildren because she wanted grandchildren to spoil. We asked if we could pray for her and she quickly dropped the things she had been holding and said “yes, I was hoping you would ask.” She shared that she loves Jesus, but has been battling an addiction with alcohol. She shared that she knew that the addiction wasn’t from the Lord and she wanted to be delivered. Mason offered to pray and she began to cry. As we began to leave I felt like God wanted me to ask if she would like a hug. I know there have been seasons in my life where I simply needed a hug and someone to remind me that I wasn’t alone. I asked if she would like a hug and she embraced me in her arms and said “thank you for coming back for me.” I shared with her that for some reason yesterday I had really struggled because sometimes life is hard and I felt alone, but God had used her to remind me that we aren’t alone in our struggles and he wanted her to know that he was the one that goes before her and that He wanted to walk through this battle with her. I thanked her for being vulnerable and sharing her story and promised that we would continue to pray for her.
The Walk Youth Group
Building 229