RAW 'Join the Adventure'...accounts of treasure hunting fun ;)

Last weekend I went to a church event called RAW (Real and Wild).
I've just been sitting here thinking back to some of the amazing times we had, on the streets, partaking in something we call 'Treasure Hunting!'.

To begin with, we got into small groups and prayed for words of knowledge or pictures from God about people we were going to meet that afternoon. Then we headed out onto the streets...
The first person we saw was a lady with metallic straps on her sandals. This had been one of the pictures we had. Sadly, we missed the opportunity to talk to her, and carried on... we spoke to and prayed for some guys whose Dad had cancer, and prayed for healing for him. One of the words of knowledge had been that we would meet someone who had just found out a family member had cancer.
Following this, we were feeling gutted we hadn't spoken to the lady we first saw, so we agreed together as a team that we would meet her again.
We started to head to our next destination (we had had some fairly specific pictures of places in Leicester)... we walked around the corner and into the next street and saw a lady by herself... so as a team we approached her and started to talk to her. Mid way through chatting with her, I looked down and noticed the lady we were talking to was the same one we had a picture of (her sandals), and who we had previously missed! I think one by one in the group we started to realise, and all felt really excited by the fact God had led us to her again, as we agreed! We had an amazing time of talking with and praying for this lady... it turned out she'd been searching for a while, even that day she had been talking about Jesus with a relative of hers!! She was totally blown away by the fact that God had given us a picture related to her, and she was really appreciative of the prayer and time we took to chat to her!
After chatting to her, we all felt encouraged and inspired to continue seeking out the words of knowledge... and we met a few more of the words/pictures and had some good times of praying with people and exchanging details.
It was overall an amazing time, and we all felt pretty blown away by the results... God is so faithful!

The next day, we were sent out to do some free healing! Again, some amazing God happenings...
Firstly, we met a lad who was on roller-skates, and we asked him if he needed any healing. The reason we asked was he was another of the words we had on the Friday, and God had said he needed healing in his ankle. Anyway, he proceeded to tell us he had hurt his ankle that morning, and would appreciate some prayer for that. So we prayed for him. We then noticed his friend had a rash on his leg, and believe it or not, another of the pictures we had had on the Friday was of a lad with a rash on his leg! Again, we prayed!
We then met another guy we had had a word for, with an antelope on his t-shirt (pretty unusual)! However, he didn't want prayer... I'm sure it got him thinking though- we saw him walking off down the street inspecting his T-shirt with his friends!

Overall, an amazing couple of days of evangelism... seeing God's heart for people, and being able to impart just a little bit of His love and heart for them was amazing...  our God is an awesome God!

Here is love

Here is love,

Love that reigns

Love that is real,

Love that is true.

This love,

I will never understand.

It frees, it changes,

It trusts, it hopes,

It doesn’t rely

On being loved back,

But loves all the same.

Here is love,

Love that is consistent

No matter what we do

Or who we are

This love is the same.

The same for you

As it is for me

The same for a prisoner

As it is for a child.

This love is real

This love is true.

This love is selfless

It doesn’t need you

But it loves you.

It doesn’t want approval

Or acceptance

But it is secure.

This love won’t hurt you

Won’t turn its back,

No matter what you do,

Or who you are.

This love, so hard to understand,

So hard to accept.

So undeserved, so free.

Lord, that we would learn to love,

A little like you do,

The world would be a better place,

If only we loved as you do.

This love is real

This love is true

This love is unconditional.

Something I've been learning about lately, God really really loves us, wow! 

Hearts on Fire!

Only that which is put on the alter can be burnt

Jesus we give You our lives, without fear,

Holding nothing back, knowing that nothing will remain intact,

Simply trusting You, allowing You to draw near.

‘For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16.25’

God Equips...

This is similar to what the wisdom picture was...
 in a battle but equipped with God's armour!

The sword of the spirit;

The word of You God, the truth.

The shield of faith,

believing for the best.

Love hopes all things;

In You we trust.

The truth has set us free

Your grace we receive.

You are so faithful, Lord

You equip us to do

All you call us to do.

No time for looking back!

Further on, deeper in

More souls to win for You.

Searching after more of You,

Seeking You in all we do.

Because, You are worth it all,

You are worth the cost.

You are worth the pain,

For other souls to gain.

You have called us, so,

We will follow You.

Through good and bad, we stand

Covenanted whatever may pass.

Wrote this one about a month ago, following a wisdom picture I had in a meeting, about being equipped with the sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith. God is good.

Going through the motions...

You're spinning around,

you're switching between up and down,

you're unsure of everything,

that once was so certain.

You realise again,

that your first love is drained,

from the core of your being,

other things have its taken place.

You long for what you felt,

the passion that used to fuel,

the desires that have ran dry,

for God to be at the core again.

It's the motions they say,

the passing from day to day,

the normality, the robotic familiarity,

taking away from the reality.

The reality of why you're here,

the freeing from the fear,

that you once knew inside,

the things God has done in your life.

But, it isn't the end of hope,

no, it's only just the beginning.

God is always waiting for you,

to turn your heart once again to Him.

To find the passion that once drove,

the vision that filled your being.

The hope that you found in God,

the trust that once said, my life is Yours.

I wrote this one after a time of wondering what the point was in everything I was doing with my life- 'You' was actually I... thankfully I came through this phase and found vision again! :)

Freedom

There can be
an end.
An end to the cycle
that is all they know.

There can be
a hope.
A new hope in their lives
something new and fresh.

There can be
a change.
A change that comes from God
exciting, renewing.

They can be
set free!
Free from the sin and chains
that darken their lives.

We can be
a light.
Shining in the darkness
showing a better way.

God will be
lifted high.
The victory is His
these souls will surely be won!

I wrote this one about the people I live on an estate with, it's quite a rough estate, and I found this longing, hope and passion inside for the chains to be broken in their lives. Something I've learnt is that the results we want to see aren't always instant, BUT I still believe that the love we show them now will have a lasting effect, and I believe God will be faithful in bringing them through.

Love

Eyes to see is what

You are giving to me.

A heart that cares

and a love that dares.

Eyes that would cry

a soul that would die,

to the selfish desires

for a heart set on fire.

A love for the lost,
willing to pay the cost  
of the hurt and pain,  
for these souls to gain.

Your will to be done,  

hearts for You to be won.

A people daring to be

set apart, only for Thee!