A SHELTERED LIFE

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I couldn't agree more with what my pal Carole Turner wrote at her blog, THE WARDROBE AND THE WHITE TREE, a couple of days ago:

"Mom, there's Stacy" Evangeline said to me as we passed the intersection of Winborne and Victoria in north Baton Rouge on our way to church last Sunday morning. Stacy is a prostitute we have reached out to on occasion. We have invited her to come get some free clothes, breakfast and coffee at the BRDC cafe. Gave her a card with the hot-line information on it, Asked her if she wanted to go to church with us, and one time tried to get her some help for a bruised face she had just gotten from a john.

Knowing the first names of a few prostitutes is part my 13 year old daughters life. She works with the homeless, befriends gang bangers, teen prostitutes, girls who have no parents and had their sister sold to the guy down the street. She helps with small kids who have lost parents to gun violence, kids without enough to eat, no electricity at home, no running water.

When Megan [my niece] first moved in with us, after a few weeks she said,"Gosh Aunt Carole! We have to do something with church everyday" I didn't quite understand what she meant cuz' we only attend church on Sundays. BUT then she started naming everything: I have BRDC band practice on Monday nights, Tuesday afternoon we go to Hip Hop dance class at BRDC, Wednesday they go to Epic Student Ministries, Thursday morning is Homeless breakfast, and on Friday's we sometime help at the BRDC cafe, and do Saturday outreach when we can, not to mention sports, which is at our Highland Campus, and Midnight Outreach that Dean and I go on. So after thinking about all that, I realized she was right. It is almost everyday that we are doing something "with" church.

And then I felt so grateful for the life I get to live and the life my kids get to live. Being the church, with the church, wow, We are living the dream and I never take that for granted. Our family is called to do what we do. God placed us at Healing Place Church because we are all supposed to be here, at the Dream Center, reaching out to prostitutes, homeless people, drug dealers, pimps, and all people that society deem undesirable.

Sometime people express concern that my kids are being too exposed to the darker side of life. But it's usually people who allow their kids to watch garbage on TV, waste their life online or enable them to become lost in the popularity game at their high school. I would say THAT is the darker side of life. I would rather shelter my kids from the things that steal our souls and numb us to the needs of others then to keep them from the God given gift we have of serving the ones society pretends aren't real.

I dream that one day Evangeline will be running her dream of a free lunch counter that only employs homeless people, where she daily greets the outcast of society. And I am glad Megan is here, not being sheltered, her mom is very glad of it too, who knows what this time is doing in her heart.

Thank you Jesus that my family doesn't lead a sheltered life. YOU are our shelter. We take rest, comfort and protection there.

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To read more of Carole's writings on parenting, adoption, ministry, human trafficking, homeschool, and 80's HAIR BANDS, visit her blog: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/

I Am Done With... Looking Away

I can read of you and I feel something.
I even cry when I see you thin and hungry.
I judge you when you hold a sign, when you smell, or look ugly.
I drive by you walking in the rain.
I see you sleeping on the street again.
When I touch you, I want to weep.
When you are locked away and your babies we keep.
I visit your home where you sell yourself away.
I give you groceries and your child a book.
I don't know your life or the abuse you took.
But I can't look away anymore.
I can't leave even with a wide open door.
So what am I to do? You are now really a "You".
I see your face when I pray, when I look at my children.
I see your face again, again and again.
I read of you and I feel something.
I look at you and I see you.
I look at you and I see Jesus.

By Carole Turner
http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/

STRIP CLUB ADVENTURES

I don't know about you, but those ladies up above don't look like the type that would be found frequenting strip clubs. But then again, looks can be deceiving.

THE FIRST TIME I WALKED INTO A STRIP CLUB

By Carole Turner, Baton Rouge

Sometimes I get to answer the question "what is midnight outreach?" I love talking about it because I think it is one of the most amazing outreaches I get to be a part of. What's even cooler is I get to do it once a month.

Midnight outreach is to strip clubs, and the streets of north Baton Rouge. We go into the strip clubs (only ladies go into the clubs, men stay outside and talk to the bouncers and give them Chocolate) and we give every lady in the club a rose. Tied onto the rose with pretty ribbon is a business card from Healing Place Church which reads "We hope this small gift brightens your day. It is a simple way to say God loves you - no strings attached. Let us know if we can help you." also on the card is the church web site address, map to the church, service times and church phone numbers.

The managers and owners of these strip clubs know what these cards say, they know we are from a church, Aliece (the leader of Midnight outreach) tells them who we are when she talks to them about coming into the clubs. They know we just want to be nice to the ladies, give them a rose and treat them like a daughter of the king, not a piece of meat. The patrons know who we are, we have on bright red shirts that say "HPC" on the front and "SERVE" on the back. We drive up in a big shuttle that has "Healing Place Church" on the side of it. So, for some supernatural reason, they let us come in and give a rose to every dancer, bar maid, and female patron there. We don't give roses to any men, even if they ask for one to give a lady, we simply tell them we can only give them to the ladies ourselves.

About twice a year the team gets to go into the dancers dressing rooms and decorate them, like at Christmas and Valentines Day. Some of these girls get no gifts on these holidays, they are alone and they love that we give them gifts and treat them with dignity especially around the holidays.

I had wanted to go on Midnight Outreach for awhile before I actually did. Dean was afraid for me to go. Then he agreed to let me go as long as Summer went with me, within a few months Dean started driving the shuttle for every midnight outreach.

The first time I walked into a strip club I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew that first night that we were doing something completely unexpected in the spirit world. I mean, where is one sure fire place the devil knows he is safe from THE love of Jesus? Here are men treating a woman like a piece of meat, getting their kicks off of looking at a mostly naked girl completely torn down in her self worth to the point that she thinks all she can do for a living is take her clothes off for money. Girls so addicted to drugs that they feel they have to strip to get the money they need? When you walk in you can literally feel the darkness separating. The LOVE of Jesus does that. It's like the Devil is confused by the angels that surround us. The bewilderment on the faces of the male patrons, The dancers who look shocked and puzzled by this free rose handed to her by a smiling, unintimidated face of love. The smile we give, the eye contact and the lack of fear, is all God reaching out to show love to someone living in hell.

After we go to the two local strip clubs we then head down to north Baton Rouge. We go to two different inner city night clubs and the Alamo Hotel to hand out roses and chocolates but here we also give out fliers for the Baton Rouge Dream Center church services. After that we hit the streets. I love the streets cuz' we get to pray with people, talk to them, give them information about the church, the ladies roses and the guys chocolate.

We have had the privilege of praying with many prostitutes, drug dealers, crack heads, gang bangers, children, homeless people and just normal lost souls out late at night. And some of them have come to church, gotten saved and attend regularly.

You can click HERE to read all of my past post about Midnight Outreach. And HERE to read about our Midnight outreach on Bourbon Street in New Orleans last February.

After only a year and a half of being a part of midnight outreach, we are becoming a constant in their lives, they are seeing that we are committed to showing them the love of Jesus, not condemn them or preach at them but love them and offer a place they can come for real hope.

I can't think of anything more fulfilling in life then knowing I am walking into hell on earth to spread the love of Jesus.

THAT is midnight outreach.

THE DAY AFTER "THE DAY AFTER"

My interent pal Carole wrote this on her blog. I thought she made some very good points and gave Christians especially somethings to ponder:

Our new President is a 47 yr old bi-racial man, who was abandoned by his Africa father as a baby and raised by his white Grandmother. Amazing and Historical.

I pray his life experience, his work in the Senate and as a community organizer in the inner cities of Chicago, help him lead this country. I pray he seeks God daily, ask Jesus, "how would you have me act?" and approaches all decisions with humility and wisdom. Bless him Lord.

I'm so sad about how some Christians are acting today. Really, crazy fear talk is rampant. Will we step up and be gracious or will we take the easy road? God is telling his people to be salt, be light, be full of grace and mercy.

John McCain said it all so well. In his concession speech he praised Obama and spoke of this historic time in our history. Why is it Christian's cant see it the way McCain does? McCain, the guy that lost the race is acting way more Christ like then most Christians are today.

I understand why many are upset. Issues like Abortion and the fear of socialism caused many to feel a McCain loss would be devastating to America. But the truth is, if you don’t want more abortions then open a Women’s crisis center in the inner city, reach out to an unwed mother. You don’t like socialism giving your money to the poor, then give to a charity, or better yet start a soup kitchen, Job training program, work transportation route. Stop complaining and crying about Obama being president and get busy actually being the church.

Nationally, four out of every ten adults is a born again Christian...here in the south, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana had the highest percentages of Born again Christians, all over 50%.
Barna research study-2005

So this says that we have more then enough man power in the church to get the job done that Jesus laid out in Matthew 25. The problem is people like to be born again when it comes to morality and voting against stuff but not when it comes to acting like Jesus did in loving your enemies, feeding the hungry, etc. That's too hard, voting and complaining is easy.

So I want to encourage you with this;

Your vote is nothing compared to your life.

Walk in grace and mercy and may we all love President Obama as Christ does. May we be a true representation of the love of Jesus to our president and to the world.

Peace out!

To see Carole's original post follow this link: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/2008/11/day-after.html

To read her follow-up post, go here: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/2008/11/day-after-posting-day-after.html

THE WARDROBE and the WHITE TREE...A NEW FAVORITE
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Just the other day I made a pleasant discovery...another blogging mom who is passionate about so many of the same things that I'm passionate about. I found her blog, The Wardrobe and the White Tree , after reading her article at Wrecked for the Ordinary, a great online magazine.

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So if Jesus, Africa, orphans, adoption, homeschooling, homelessness, social justice, parenting, books, Tolkien or C.S. Lewis are things that you are also passionate about, then Carole Turner might just be someone you'd like to get to know a little bit better. I know I do!

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P.S. She's also got an appreciation for some superbly, sophisticated humor...NOT!

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P.S.P.S. Uh...to clarify...not that she's not funny, but the humor, is, um, not really, well....you gotta check it out for yourself. The Mother's Day video had me hooting!

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