How does God lead 2 Mormon Missionaries to my Church?

In Life Group, we have been discussing the importance of having compassion and meeting the needs of “widows and orphans” as described in James 1:27, as well as anyone else that fits the profile of being in need. I’ve just come to realize how much I fall short in doing this for people in need. I am living a far too complacent life of being a me-pleaser, when I should be breaking out of my “christian bubble” to be actively pursuing the needs in our community.

Here is one way that God really used my brokenness to show His amazing power and faithfulness in my life this past weekend. I was heading down Baker when I saw 2 mormons clearly talking to someone at the bus stop. I didn’t want to miss getting to church on time, but something inside me pushed me to the brink of pulling a u-turn on baker to see what was transpiring with the mormons and the mysterious benchwarmer. As I pulled up, I made the mistake of being too distracted by adrenaline to even pray for God to move in that moment. I walked up to the 3 people there and interrupted the conversation they were having like I was there to save the day. I don’t recommend following my example in how I approached these guys, but I pray you would learn from my shortfalls when you’re faced with a similar situation.

It turned out that this benchwarmer was a homeless man sipping from a 40. I asked Tom if he wanted to come to church with me, without even thinking to invite the mormons. All of a sudden, one of the mormons asked, “Can we come?” I was in great shock at this, because I have never before been able to get mormons to come to church with me, but I told them “absolutely”. They asked, “Are you sure it’s alright?”. I reassured them that it would be great if they came. They were more excited than Tom, but nevertheless, we all piled into my suv after they locked up their bikes of course, and we headed to rockharbor’s 7pm service.

Fast forward to after the service, as we walked out mid-way through the worship because they had to get back home, they mentioned that they really enjoyed it and wanted to come back again some time. Tom and I ended up going to Islands for a couple hours and I just listened to his many stories and struggles. So what could I leave you with, as I continue to ponder what transpired for me…I saw a miracle that night demonstrating God’s power in spite of my failings. I became a willing participant in God’s story, where he surprised me and blessed me beyond comprehension because I made a proactive decision to step out and engage these people. I engaged the culture around me and God showed up! Think of all the divine appointments around us where we can be ministers of the Gospel and cling to what Paul said in 1 Cor 2:3 “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

***Please pray for Gonzalez and Niu from Tonga, who have been mormon missionaries for over a year now.

Please pray for Tom, who’s 60 and has been living on the streets of Orange County since 1994, a vietnam vet who’s been through a lot of pain and doesn’t see a lot of hope for his future.***