Excuse me miss...

Tuesday afternooon, I got out of my car and headed down Lemmon St. to talk to some of my kids who were playing basketball, when all of a sudden I heard "Undercovers" and the people on that street fled, like it was their job! At first I was a little confused as to what exactly was going on, and then I heard, "Excuse me miss, rumor on the street is your an undercover police officer, you're always hanging around here, so what exactly is it that you're looking for?" I looked at this kid like he had three heads and replied, "Me undercover and then laughed, and quickly explained that I worked at that church (and pointed over to Charm City)." He didn't believe me at first and I felt like I had to convince him I wasn't lying. As I walked across the street to my office, I laughed out loud to myself and thought me undercover yeah right :)! I wasn't sure if I should be honored that they thought I held such a high title or scared that they didn't believe me that I wasn't.

Tuesday evening we met for prayer, just as we do every Tuesday night and then we hit the streets for visitation and prayer, we walked over to Hollins St. and pastor Mike embarked on a group of kids who've got my heart, I love these kids, I don't really know them other than I know that they are the young hustlers on the corner. A few of them used to hustle against the church, but I think they got tired of me making conversation with them and inviting them to Metro Kidz because it hasn't been happening as frequently. But these particular kids are the ones who act so tough when you tell them about Metro Kidz and invite them. One kid even went so far as to rip up the paper Pastor Mike gave him with the church information on it and using a few choice words to express his anger with being looked at, let alone talked too. This particular child steals my heart every time he walks past the church, I just want to run after him and tell him how much we love him and his buddies, how they should come and hang out with us and find something that so much more fulfilling than the lifestyle they currently lead, I can only pray that one day God will send me the words to say to them, to share His love with them.

At the end of those nights, I always come home on an emotional high, I love being out in our neighborhood, meeting our neighbors and making them aware of whats going, sharing Gods love and allowing his presence to be felt. I love the opportunity to pray with people who are some what leery of us in the beginning, but end up talking to us for a lot longer than they actually expected. On this particular night we had the opportunity to pray with a few people who had sincere requests and really need God to intervene in their life.

The kids were wound for sound last night, nights like that we seriously have to walk away and ask God why, why he's put us there. Nights like that we sometimes find it hard to love the kids who are walking all over us and disrespecting us, but God reminds us of the Grace and Mercy He has on us and that makes it easier to have that Grace and Mercy on the kids. I have to do three home visits on Monday, none of which I am excited about, these three girls will have to be out for a week and have to apologize to one our volunteers, I can only hope that they'll be able to put their pride aside, understand that they are in the wrong and apologize.

On a more positive note, Tucker Hibbs (www.tuckerhibbs.com) visited us last night from Pennsylvania, we met him via Tally Wilgis (www.tallywilgis.com) who paid us a visit a few months ago. Tucker is planning to bring a team down this summer the weekend of the block party, they will be staying with us the entire weekend at the church :)! I was so excited to meet him, and when he left was even more excited to be able to serve alongside him and his team this summer. He is so excited, so on fire for Jesus and so full of energy. God is really blessing us with some amazing partners...I pray that their experiences serving with us in the city, will be just as exciting and rewarding for them as it for us.

So to close out here are a few prayers requests:

Pastor Mike, 10 a.m. Friday morning he has an important meeting about finances for the church, we're still praying for a miracle so that we can secure our building and continuing to reach our neighborhood.

For N.P. I'm still have dreams about him and last night he was kind of in a mood and left in a tizzy. I just pray for protection over him.

For N.C. she is 20 and has two children age 1 and 3 and I know she got herself into this situation, but I know it's hard for her, I pray for love from an older Christian woman to be a good example in her life, I pray for guidance and wisdom on how to raise her children and for protection for her family.

Thanks friends!