We lost one.

Today we found out that Logan, one of the young ladies who had been coming to the outreach since the very beginning died. She ODed two days ago. She got what she thought was Xanax but it turned out to be fentanyl and killed her. Logan was one of the ones that had been coming since the very beginning over a year ago, she was one of “ours”, one of  the ones that stood out to us as “God wants you to minister to this one”. 

Over the last 15 months we have met a lot of people out on the corner. Some come once and you never see them again, some come more often and you try speak and minister to them as best you can. But some of them, some of them, for reasons only God knows, are special. Not because we pick them but because God makes them stand out to us. And Logan was one of them.

When she first started coming, she was so excited for us to be there, she truly appreciated what “we” were doing. She  would come and she would have her meal and then she would go and get some friends and bring them back and then once she got them back, she would go and get some more people and bring them back to us, but over the course of the year the enemy drug her away more and more. She ended up in the hospital back in January because of an OD and should’ve dead from that but God gave her a full recovery, and she stayed clean for a while. But going back to the same area, the same friends, the same circumstances makes it extremely difficult to stay clean. 

Logan told me a few times that she prayed to Jesus a lot and today, her mother also told me that Logan prayed to Jesus a lot. Her mother asked me if I thought Logan was in heaven and I could not answer one way or another. 

I know that it is possible to have salvation but still struggle heavily with sin. 

I know that it is possible to have salvation but because you were never taught how to live out that salvation, to everyone else you look completely unsaved. Melissa and I lived a large portion of our lives that way.

I know that it is possible to have salvation but because the lies of the enemy have been so loud for so long that it is hard to believe truth. The truth that Jesus loves you, the truth that God wants you, the truth that you can never be too dirty, too broken, too far gone, too guilty or too worthless to turn back to God.

What I don’t know is if Logan ever accepted salvation, I don’t know she had a relationship with Jesus. I know she knew “about” Him, but I don’t know if Jesus knew her.

I hope that Logan had salvation and was still just struggling in her sin. I hope that she had a relationship with Jesus but just hadn’t been taught how to live that out fully. I hope that she belonged to the Lord but just hadn’t yet gained the freedom from the enemy’s lies.

That is my prayer, that Logan had salvation. But I probably will not know for sure this side of heaven 

I am thankful that God gave encouragement in what was one of the hardest days since this ministry began. We were encouraged by the several people, many of which we had not met before, who were believers seeking prayer, encouragement and councel

We were encouraged by several people, again many of which we had not met before, who were, with the help of Christ, winning the battle against addiction. They told us of how many day or weeks or months they had been clean, seeking prayer to keep going, to keep fighting and to keep winning.

The day ended with a very encouraging 45 minute conversation with a couple that showed up right as we were packing up. They were looking for truth in the muddied waters of religion and culture. They asked good, well thought out questions and listened carefully to our answers. They asked followup questions and expressed the views that they had been taught, not getting angry or arguing as we gently but firmly gave correction where needed. They just took it all in. They kind of reminded me of Melissa and I when we were first being drawn back to the Lord after a lifetime of false beliefs.

As they seemed satisfied, if not a little overwhelmed with the answers that they had received. We finished up by praying with them and giving them Melissa’s and my contact info, making sure that they knew that we truly wanted them to call us to continue the conversation and answer more questions when they were ready.

Please pray that God will use Logan’s death to change lives on the streets of Southeast. Pray for Jennifer, Logan’s mom. She says that she has no one left and not much reason to go on living.

Please pray for the team, as I know that for the four of us on the corner today, and most likely others, the news of Logan’s death hit hard. Pray that God gives us the means to up our game in southeast, through the power and authority of Christ taking the battle to the enemy more and more, reaching over the fence and pulling souls out of the fire for God’s glory.

As always, we thank you for your prayers and support

Much Love 

Derek, Melissa, Alex and all of the “Rest For Your Soul” team.

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