Continuing the story of how we started a church in the low-income housing projects.
A few months later, Tony (my husband) and I happened to be driving along Oltorf. We had some time to spare.
"Let's prayer walk Springfield," Tony suggested.
So we parked the car well away from the housing project and walked past the "Loitering is forbidden" sign at the entrance. We prayed as we walked. Suddenly, there a huge downpour. The heavens just opened.
There was no way we could make it back to the car without getting drenched, so we ran for shelter
under a balcony where there were two middle-aged Hispanic ladies sitting in lawn chairs. As we chatted with them, they asked what we were doing there.
"We're praying for this neighborhood," we said.
It turned out that the two ladies were sisters. They were born Catholic, would die Catholic, but had no intention of ever going into a church again because of some perceived wrong from 20 years previously. Yet they were both aware that there was a God somewhere because one of their kids had been "healed by an angel."
As the rain died down, we asked them, "Would you like it if we came round occasionally to pray for the needs of your family and of the neighborhood?"
They jumped at the idea, and Rosa, our person of peace said, "You come to my house," and pointed out the relevant apartment.
And so every few days, we would drop by for 10 minutes or so to pray for the many needs of Rosa and her family. And God began to answer these prayers. Rosa's main need was financial. She had applied for a disability allowance two years previously, but had heard nothing. Within two weeks of our praying, the checks started arriving and Rosa knew this was God answering her prayer.
Have you ever seen God answer the prayers of a non-believer? I'd love to hear your story.
The story to be continued!