Geoff and Jill News

Report on Summer Outreaches: Kansas Tour & West Coast Tour

October 7, 2008

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What an amazing, all-knowing God we serve!! Nothing escapes His attention!! Not only does He know and understand the mysteries of creation, not only can He discern the thoughts and intents of the heart of a man, but He is also an expert Fisherman! He knows what side of the boat the "fish" are on. In both of our last two tours - an outreach to Kansas (May 18 - June 4) and to the West Coast - Oregon and Washington (July 18 - August 4) - He demonstrated to us once again His ability to get us where we were to be and to connect us with the individuals he had in mind for us to minister to - to get us where the fish were. It was humbling, exhilarating and absolutely mind-boggling!

Perfect timing in Kansas

One such example occurred during our trip to Kansas. A month or two before we arrived, Jill had spoken with the activities director of a Senior's Home who scheduled us to give a concert for the residents on Memorial Day, as well as a Friday night ice cream social for the community.

However, unbeknown to any of us, only one week before we arrived for the concerts, an elderly woman who resided in one of their independent living apartments was tragically raped and murdered. Needless to say, the other residents were still very much in shock and horror, as were the entire staff and administration. Upon learning of this ourselves, we were overcome with a deep sense of responsibility and an overwhelming desire to be used by God to help bring healing and comfort to this incredibly difficult situation.

In our family prayer time before beginning the concert, we begged God to fill our mouths, our smiles, our hearts and actions with His healing touch. We believe He answered that prayer for it turned out to be one of those extra special times - where the sense of God's Presence was so tangible through every song, and Scripture and word.

As we read from Psalm 91 ("He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge." Vs. 4) and, among other worship songs, sang "Be Still, My Soul" ("The Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change, He faithful will remain."), tears flowed freely, as did the healing balm of the Holy Spirit.

And over the next week, we had several opportunities to share and pray with residents, staff members and administration. At every step of the way, it was crystal clear to us that this was not an accidental meeting but a specifically designed appointment from God.

Relationship Restored

Another incredibly obvious "God-appointment" occurred during one of our Sunday morning services. We had the sermon portion of the service and Geoff felt led to preach about forgiveness in relationships. Recently, the Lord had been speaking to him personally about some of his own relationships.

Very specifically, the Lord had deeply convicted him from the Scripture in Matthew 18 to let people "off the hook" - learning to transfer his focus from his own hurt to the value of the relationship at risk, and the degree to which we ourselves have been forgiven by Christ. Geoff shared from his heart and God moved powerfully among the congregation that morning.

In fact, after the service the pastor shared with Geoff, through tears, that he believed the message was directly from the Lord for several individuals in his congregation.

How shocked and blessed we were to hear afterward that at the potluck lunch following the service, two individuals in the church who had not spoken to each other in over 4 years were talking and eating together! NO MISTAKES! NO ACCIDENTS!