How Weimar Burned Down

Conviction of my need.
It's been with my since November
- And it hasn't gone away.

It's not just my need
- Other students have been convicted about my need as well.

Except they themselves are convicted about the need I have in their lives too.

Outreach. Ministry. An earnest desire to stop at nothing to do everything that God has placed on our hearts and in our reach to further the gospel commission.

It's not gone away.

The conviction has spread.

The campus of Weimar Institute is going to be burned down. The flame of the Spirit is taking hold.

We've been talking, we've been praying, we've been planning.

And we are doing!

Today's ministry was beautiful. A group of ten college students drove five minutes off campus to a nearby community. NEWSTART  singers sang through the neighborhood using the ministry of music to cheer the homes and hearts of people on a damp January afternoon. The response to well-known and loved hymns was extremely positive, with many smiles, kind words, and great contact with people.

And God divinely placed us out today to do this special ministry. At one house we sang for a young woman who was about 30. When we finished "How Great Thou Art", her lower lip trembled and she whipped a tear from her check as she chocked, "Thank you so much... my father just died". Her mother came to the door at this point, with emotion saying, "Your time is impeccable. My husband just died... This is my favorite song... Thank you so much". The time wasn't appropriate for another song or prayer, but we wished them our heartfelt condolences and said we would be praying. As we walked past this home half an hour later, the mother came walking out over her wet driveway in her stockinged feet to inquire who we were and where we came from. As we answered those questions, she told us to her we were angels, that she too was a Christian, and that her husband's funeral was the next morning. Her thankfulness of the cheer of Christian service could not be denied.

I walked away from this last encounter humbled to be a part of a blessing. The opportunity to follow up this contact in the near future with Weimar bread, a card, and an invitation to a health event is perfect. I can see the doors are opening, the opportunities unfolding.

It all starts with conviction. Through prayer ideas are unveiled. And through action the work begins.

The semester is new, the year is new. I'm making a NEWSTART to the way I view my life. Mission service to those around me is my focus. God blesses the efforts to share Christian love and kindness.  Through conviction God has impacted the hearts and lives of many people in the past. Conviction is the flame that carries out revolution. Here at Weimar we are beginning to sense with earnest need a revolution of the missionary spirit in our lives. I cannot be complacent any longer. Neither can many other young people. We want to tell the tale of how Weimar burned down by the empowering of the Holy Spirit to go change the world around us!

He is moving. He is empowering and equipping. Let us work for, as my life's motto is, there is much to do.