From our friends ...

I marvel at the miracles God works in people when they give Him a chance! I also marvel at the way He responds to prayer in His time. Two cases in point are people I've known since the days at Rainbow Mission, where I ministered from summer of 2004 until the end of 2006.

Danilo, for example, first started coming ... actually, I can't remember when Danilo first started coming or how he became a part of the ministry, but I also can't remember when he wasn't part of the ministry, helping in the kitchen or cleaning up or whatever needed to be done. When Rainbow closed, he came with John and Amelia and me to another Mission, and then God moved us all over to Gospel Mission.

I remember that patience was not Danilo's strong suit when I first met him. Loyalty certainly was and has been: he was definitely ready to drop the gloves if anyone looked at me the wrong way or acted up in the services. But over these four or five years, I've seen him become more patient, calmer, more willing to decide that, if there's a dispute, it's really not the proverbial "hill to die on".

He's 56 years old, Nicaraguan, speaks five languages and has been through most of Europe and the Americas. Marched with the Sandinistas, although he's now disillusioned with Daniel Ortega -- and says much of the country is, too. Went through many years of high living that eventually caught up with him, and for the better part of three years was homeless. A couple of months ago, he finally found a place that is not only a consistent roof over his head, but is also outside the Downtown East Side.

Now, part of his own "ministry" is to counsel young Latinos who come to Vancouver, trying to convince them that "you don't want to end up like me".

Recently, he shared a prayer he's been saying daily for the past year or so.

God, I thank you for today. Guide my thoughts in a righteous way. Let such guidance be free of selfishness, self-pity, lack of honesty. Help me, Lord, in the name of Christ.
Lord, grant me perseverance, patience and tolerance toward people, places and things.
Lord, stimulate me to be loyal to You
Lord, grant me wisdom and intuitive ideas for a plentiful life in a spiritual place.
Bless my mother, forgive my father, help my sisters and brother and family as well as my daughter.
Above all, make me a good servant.

***

Kim is also someone who I first met at Rainbow Mission. He was one of the guys who'd show up near the end of the sermon, in time for the food. If he got there earlier, he'd sit at the back and look bored. Then, when he "migrated" over to Gospel Mission, he started moving closer to the front row. He started bring a Bible and following along. He started asking questions, and then started sharing insights he was getting. Finally, early in 2008, he came up after a service and asked if he might give the message some night. I told him, "by all means", and on the Saturday before Easter Sunday (the services I minister are on Saturday nights), Kim gave the message.

Being a cook by trade, he picked on a theme he knew well: salt. "Salt and Light" was the topic of the message, and it was very well researched and presented.

But not long after, for reasons only He knows (for now), God moved Kim in the general direction of away. He didn't come back, and while there were "sightings" of him -- usually at Union Gospel Mission -- he didn't set foot in our upper room for over a year.

Last week, I came out of the main office to start the service, and there he was. At least, it looked like him. I wasn't sure at first, because he had a new set of teeth that changed his facial features considerably. He'd been working on new trades -- in computers -- and had written up his insights from the Word. One of those, was his sermon on Salt and Light.

THE BODY
SALT the definition taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is as follows; salt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that is essential for animal life, but toxic to most land plants. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes.

Everyone here has used salt at one time or another on their food to bring out / or enhance the flavor of it. Salt itself is essential for life as we know it, and all of us had carvings for salty foods like potato chips or such! That’s because there is a salt balance imbalance within are body.

Just like natural salt we need and use on food, we need spiritual salt for our soul. I feel that salt in one sense is the fruit of the spirit, which can be found in Galatians 5: 22, 23 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance, We all need to feel love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith Meekness, and temperance directed towards us. I certainly feel better about myself if any one of these is directed towards me, never mind all of these. We all need at least one part of the fruit at any one! And if we don’t have fruit how can we enhance someone’s life just like salt is to the food? We are of no value to anyone.

Either way (salted or unsalted) we come in contact with people every day of our lives, and we impact their life one way or another!

The fruit of the spirit I believe is speaking of the Holy Spirit. And if you’re showing the fruit of the spirit, you’re showing God’s light through his spirit! The Holy Spirit is in you. The Trinity is God the creator, Jesus the redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the enabler.

When Jesus was speaking of ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works. And glorify your father which is in heaven.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works. And glorify your father which is in heaven.
I think that is what God spoke about when through Isaiah he said “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arose upon thee, and hid glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

I was living in the darkness of the world with drug, alcohol, and nicotine addiction. I had no money, raiding ashtrays for butts, and had to rely on free food places just to get a meal or go hungry. However, by praying to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit (the Blessed Trinity). I overcame each one at a time, one-step at a time, and one day at a time! Now I am walking in the light, told that I am looking better, I am definitely feeling better. Having the ability provide and care for myself. People who have known me before, and look at me now, have seen the difference!

(Foundation Scriptures: Matt. 5:13-16; Gal. 5:22; Isa. 60:1-3.)

We had been praying constantly for Kim to return, but left it to God to decide the "when" and the "where". He answered -- and big-time! -- and even as there have been things that have troubled us lately, looking at the things God has been doing in His people, and knowing that He has used us in various ways to help make that happen, can only encourage us.