gutter love...

Since I've been here, I've had MANY interesting nights in the West End. Before we go out at night, we meet up in our center in the chapel for some worship and prayer time. After about 30 minutes half of us go out in pairs while the other half of us stays in the chapel to pray. After an hour we switch, and we continue that pattern of breathing in and breathing out, until about 4:00 or 5:00 am.

When I head out into the West End, I like to just walk and pray, and ask God to lead me to whoever he wants me to talk to or help. It's amazing how many times people will just walk up to me. Sometimes they want to say thank you because someone from 24-7 Ibiza has helped them out. Or they may have heard about what we do, and they're curious. Whatever the reason, suddenly I find myself in the midst of a conversation, and before I know it I'm being asked why I do what I do. I love that question. It's probably the number one thing I get asked out here. My answer is pretty simple. I'm here because I want to show people that God loves them no matter where they're at. Even if you're drunk and passed out in the gutter, God is still reaching out to them. When most people are in that state, they're a embarrassed, and they think they're the furthest thing from God's mind. It really is quite a mental picture if you stop and think about it. God (through me) is reaching down to pull them out of their mess. One night in the prayer room I was praying and was just reminded that God doesn't wait for us to get cleaned up. He comes to find us when we're still in the middle of our mess. He finds us where we're at, and the most wonderful thing is that no matter what state we're in, he sees beauty in us...do you really get that?! Even when we've messed up and we look around and find ourselves in a situation that is the complete opposite of what God would desire for us...God looks down and sees the possibility and potential. He hasn't given up on us, He still loves us, and desires to know us, and for us to know him... How cool is that?!