Dear Friends
Thank you for your prayers for the Caleb Center ministry and expansion. Thank you to all who responded.
Several weeks ago, on a workday at the Maryvale Church along with retired couples from Michigan who travel in RVs and do volunteer work in churches across the nation, we planted some young trees in the front of the fellowship hall – the trunks were the diameter of my finger. A couple of nights later one of the RVers heard loud cursing and screaming and in searching to determine the source, discovered a man in the church parking lot throwing rocks and yelling …. perhaps due to drugs or mental illness or enraged over something. The next day we discovered the young trees just planted had been snapped off …. broken. So as best as we could we bound up the wound trees and we hope with nurture and care they will survive.
In a similar manner, we see many lives who have also been assaulted in their youth – like a young tree snapped … who need extra nurture and care to survive and thrive. So, the Caleb Center in conjunction with Maryvale Church seek to embrace those who have been wounded and broken. In many ways we are in a war zone where the enemy has mugged young lives.
“For still our ancient foe, Doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.” *
As I was driving out of the church parking lot after the workday a young lady came running up to my car, crying and in distress asking for a ride to “43rd and McDowell” – which is about 10 min drive. So, I said yes ….
And as she got into the car, I said to myself, “this is a very dumb thing to do Dan, what are you thinking – you do not know her, and she does not know you. You are in your grubby work clothes and you do not look like a pastor. This is not the era of freely giving rides to anybody who asks – especially a young lady in distress.”
But she was in the car and so I just jumped right in asking her if I could pray for her. (I wanted to set the conversation immediately on God.) She said yes and after a brief prayer, she blurted that she had been drug free for 4 days and could hardly take it anymore. She had tried to pray but was at the end. She said she had tried so hard to be clean and just needed to get to a friend’s house who could help her. Arriving to her destination she wanted to be dropped off at the corner – I then realized (you probably are already ahead of me) she was going to her dealer’s house. I said to myself, “Dan you did not help her at all – you should have thought before you gave her a ride.” But what was done was done and so I prayed for her ….
Two weeks later I got a call from L, “Pastor, about two weeks ago did you give a young lady a ride who was crying and in a mess?” I had forgotten about it and after he jogged my memory with a few other details, “Yes I did,” I responded. “Pastor, that was my sister, D. She was detoxing at my house and ran … I didn’t know where she went. have been praying for her for two weeks and she is at my house today and told me about a man giving her a ride who prayed with her. She found a recovery house that helped her detox and did a complete medical evaluation on her – they got her on some meds that she needed, and she is going into a long-term recovery program. Thank you, pastor. Do you want to talk to her?” I did talk to her and invited her to our church Bible Study.
(Apparently, the Spirit prompted me to say yes to giving her a ride before my rational mind said no …. I confess that I am not always so open to the Spirits promptings. I pray to be more so.)
That night she came to the Wednesday night Bible Study and testified to God’s saving hand. In sharing her story, we heard that her life had been snapped and damaged at a young age – just like our trees.
Will you join me in prayer for D who has made a great start? However, after the 6-month recovery program she will need to be embraced into a discipleship family and nurtured to a full new life in Christ. So many times, people make a great turn around only to graduate back to the streets.
Caleb Center desires to embrace more like D who, after a recovery program, will need safe housing and discipleship in a non-institutional setting. Please pray for more houses as well as for urban missionaries who will give the care to those being set free.
“And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him” …. Christ’s kingdom is forever!!! *
Thank you for praying and helping us to be here to rescue those who are perishing.
Pastor Dan
Caleb Center director
P.S. the trees are starting to show new growth and L called to say his sister is in rehab and is no longer talking “crazy”. He said she sounds sane and growing in Christ. PTL!
*Song: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Martin Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages. The words are a paraphrase of Psalm 46.