Epiphany

The dictionary defines an epiphany in two ways:

1. A sudden realization: a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence

2. The appearance of God

Wade and I have the opportunity this weekend to help with something called Epiphany Ministries. If you have ever heard of or been on a Walk to Emmaus or Chrysalis weekend, this is similar, but adapted for a juvenile prison.

“Epiphany ministries is a short three-day course in Christianity that brings to incarcerated juveniles the message of God’s love, grace and forgiveness. It is an ecumenical (nondenominational) Christian ministry for young people who are in custody.”

We are very thankful for this opportunity to minister to a completely different group that normal and to get out of our comfort zones. We’re not totally sure of what to expect but we do know that God is going before us and with us, so let’s go!

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive, but my desire to share Christ’s love outweighs staying home and doing nothing. It’s  also a spiritual check for me…I mean I have to put aside stereotypes that I may have. I really have to mean that Jesus can forgive you NO MATTER WHAT and that He can make you a NEW CREATION! Sometimes just knowing those things in your head is easier than living them out and sharing them with those you know have done some “bad” stuff. But I do believe that Jesus offers forgiveness to everyone, no matter what! And I want to share the greatest news on earth with these boys…JESUS LOVES THEM and YOU!

We would ask for you to be praying for us this weekend. If you would commit to praying for us as some point during this weekend, would you please leave a comment on our blog or Facebook? In this setting we definitely need all the praying people we can get! We will be writing everyone’s names on strips of paper that are praying in order to form a HUGE paper chain as visual for the boys that people they don’t even know care about them and are praying for them. We are told this normally makes a really big impact on the boys.

We are praying for an epiphany in both senses of the word – that the boys will have a new understanding of Jesus’ love for them and that God will show up and move and work in all of our hearts.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to adding many names to our chain!