I can’t explain the burden that God has put on my heart for these people He has us ministering to, but I am fighting back tears as I type this. My heart is continuously breaking for these drug addicts and prostitutes, the lowest of the low, the least of these. They live a life without hope and many of them know it but they are so afraid to change.
Some are afraid of leaving their “friends” behind. (I say this sarcastically because they are constantly robbing and attacking each other.)
Some have been on the streets for decades, starting in their early teens and don’t know any other way of life.
Some are afraid of the physical pain that comes during detox. (I have been told that it is immense.)
Some are afraid because they don’t know where they would go or what they would do once they got clean.
And some are afraid of what others will do to them if they try to leave this life.
I have met a few ladies that are afraid of retaliation on themselves or family members because their “handlers” don’t want to lose a source of revenue.
I believe that many of these broken but beautiful souls truly want off drugs and off the streets but fear is a bastard and so is Satan.
One young lady that I have talked with a few times and was talking to today wants a change in her life so bad but she is terrified of retaliation from others, on herself and her husband, who is currently in jail. (I’m guessing that she is a prostitute.) She told me that she has seen them beat and kill people or their friends/family members for trying to leave. She asked me if I was afraid of them. I was honest with her and said that because of Jesus, I don’t fear what people can do to me. And that if I was afraid of the gangs or the dealers or the pimps, that I wouldn’t be out there every week because my goal, through the power of Jesus, is to put them all out of business.
Melissa and I both knew from the very beginning that we were meant to be on the front lines, reaching across the fence and pulling people out of the fire. Not exactly a position that boasts of comfort and safety. But that is completely fine with us. Comfort leads to complacency and complacency leads to compromise. I have seen far to many Spirit filled believers, from lead pastors all the way down to pew warmers, get to a place that is just a little too comfortable and over time they become complacent.
And soon after complacency comes compromise.
Ending up in a place of willful compromise to the things of God…. That’s a far more scary place to be than facing dealers and pimps.
Jesus said go, “Go”. Not to sit there in comfort, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Matthew 28:19a, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”, Mark 16:15.
Jesus focused on the church “people” not the church building.
When and where are you going?
If for some reason you can’t go, are you sending (supporting)?
And if you can’t send, are you praying?
You should be doing at least one of these things.
Comfortable, safe, easy: none of which are words Jesus used when He described what life would be like following Him. And if you use these words to describe your life following the Lord, I have to tell you, you aren’t doing it right.
While Jesus didn’t say a life of following Him would be comfortable, safe or easy, He did say it would be well worth it.
As always, we love you and may God bless you.
Buchanans in the Wild
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