Unexpected Blessing

We have to tell you what happened last week. Our friend Jay West, an evangelist based in Omaha, kept telling us about his home church, Eagle's Nest. He told us how this multi-racial church in an inner-city neighborhood reaches out to the community, feeding the hungry and ministering to other needs. In fact, they have been so effective in this ministry that the crime rate in that neighborhood dropped enough to get the attention of the police department. The police chief came to the church to give them an award for their service, and the church presented the surprised police chief with a sizable check for bulletproof vests for the department! Jay went on to tell us how Eagle's Nest is a world missions-minded church. The lead pastor, James Hart, grew up in Brazil since his parents were missionaries there. Jay said we needed to meet Pastor Hart and so, at Jay's insistence, we set up a meeting.

We talked with Pastor Hart for about twenty minutes before their regular Wednesday night service. We enjoyed our short talk with him and could sense his love for God and his heart for missions. After our visit, we joined Jay and his wife for the church service. Following the praise and worship time, Pastor Hart came up and said that some special missionary guests were in the service, that he didn't know us well, but that he wanted us to enjoy the service. He called us forward, had two chairs brought up for us and asked people to come pray for us. As they prayed for us, we could feel the powerful presence of God. Then we noticed people, one at a time, slipping up in front of us and quickly returning to their seats. They were dropping money at our feet! We were totally amazed! Not only were we refreshed by the prayers of the people and the presence of God, but these amazing people gave to strangers they didn't know at all, toward a ministry they knew nothing about! Wow!

After the service, we were handed a large check. We had to return to Des Moines that night, but all the way home, we basked in the presence of God. God is good! Thank you, Jay West, Pastor Hart and Eagle's Nest!