We just returned from Iowa where we had a week of incredible ministry. Chris and I led a team of 9. Six were a group guys who were leaders from Gateway Church in California. And the other three were from Edinbrook Church here in Brooklyn Park.

We were able to work on four different houses. Emptying a basement and finishing gutting on the first one. The second one we mucked out (took all of the womens things from the house). The third house we mucked and completely gutted. The fourth we began gutting and passed the torch onto a new group to finish.

Those were the houses, now let me tell you about the people.

The first house was a middle aged man, on disability. He was a chain smoker who watched us work. That was who we saw with our human eyes. I think God sees a lonely man who is longing for someone to listen. A man Who once was introduced to Him, the Truth but has walked far away. We prayed with Him. I can’t wait to see what God was doing by putting us at His house.

The second house, was a woman who had rented the same house for 18 years. We only mucked it because she wasn’t the owner. Her stuff was everywhere, and it looked like junk. The basement was gross, she wanted a garbage can full of glass. She new she could bleach the glass items and use them again. The team finally found it giving her hope I think. I got to pray with her, after I finished, she had tears and so did I. She said that ever since she was a little girl her Jesus had been with her, and she knew He was there now. What a sweet woman. She is waiting for a FEMA Trailer. She is also on disability.

The third house had "You loot, I shoot" The guy was a nice guy, and thanked us many times.

House number 4 belonged to a new buyer. He had just purchased the house for 10,000 dollars. He said that that was all he had. He was gutting it all by himself. The old owners were around helping us a little too. They supplied us with Pizza the last day, they were Christians. The Pastor from CA prayed with the new home owner who isn’t "religious" I wonder what he thinks of a bunch Christians coming and giving Him a completely gutted house ready for him to start over. Something that would have taken Him months to do by himself.

These are just four of the people we encountered. I didn’t even mention, neighbors, family members, and the Ameri Corp workers who are non-believers that we worked with all week. They said we were the hardest working group they had ever seen. Only by God’s strength.

There is a song by Brandon Heath that has just come out recently. The Chorus goes like this:

Give me your eyes for just one second Give me your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me your love for humanity Give me your arms for the broken hearted The ones that are far beyond my reach Give me your heart for the once forgotten Give me your eyes so I can see

I encourage you to listen to the song, if its not your style, check out the words.

Praise the Lord for all Has done. Thank you Holy Father for revealing yourself last week. Continue to be glorified in our lives and in Cedar Rapids. Give us your eyes Lord, give us your eyes.

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