Today was an exhausting day. Stacy and I did have fellowship with Phillip Major, the pastor of Gateway Downtown, and a future church planter named David Vanhall. The first half of the day we spent prayer-walking downtown and having coffee with those two guys. We had some great conversations!
However, the exhausting part of the day was My and Stacy's prayer-walk down West 58th. Once again, we came face to face with great darkness and oppression. Immediately after getting off the train, we saw a man lying unresponsive on the ground, possibly overdosed or passed out drunk. All we could do was tell some nearby police officers and pray. Walking down Loraine Ave towards West Side Market (on West 25th and Loraine), we continued to see the darkness and brokenness of the area. The single mothers and kids signaled shattered families. Closed down businesses and buildings sorely in need of repair highlighted extreme poverty. A few scattered drunks reminded us of that community's hopelessness, and the lack of evangelical churches hinted of deep spiritual darkness. Stacy and I walked and prayed, scouting out chances to develop a gospel-presence and making contact with a couple of local businesses.
I had one conversation that was particularly chilling. Once we reached the bus depot at West Side Market, I spoke to an older man who was sitting on a bench. I told him that my friend and I were out praying for the community, and I offered to give him a free copy of John's gospel. His response took me completely off guard.
"My grandmother communicated with the spirits. My mother did too." My first thought: 'What have I gotten myself into?"
He went on to tell me that the spirits came to him sometimes and touched him, making him either cold or hot. They would tell him things about the future, even though he would 'throw them off' when they would touch him. Needless to say, the conversation was odd. There was nothing in the training manual about that! (In fact, there isn't a training manual at all. In urban ministry, not much is predictable.)
Not all of that conversation was spiritual in nature, and some other things the man said made me wonder if I was dealing with a mentally ill person. Either way, he seemed confident about his interactions with the spirits, and I clearly sensed that these spirits were not of the Lord. All I had on me was a copy of the gospel of John, so we talked about the Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth. I also wanted to see if he would admit that Jesus is King and Lord. Oddly, he didn't deny that or affirm it, merely agreeing that 'Jesus was above' him.
What do I make of this conversation? I don't know. At times it gave me chills down my spine. Several times I made sure to affirm Jesus as King and the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit as truth. I offered to pray for the man, but he declined. Most of all, the encounter opened my eyes to the reality of spiritual warfare in that community. Jesus, however, is Lord of all, and the gospel is the power of salvation. I think Stacy and I realized the biggest need in that community: it needs a faithful gospel presence. Please pray for us as we brainstorm how to connect the right people (brothers and sisters who will be there much more than our mere 7 weeks) to the right places and how to most effectively sow gospel seeds on the West Side.
Today's Prayer Place: West 58th Street and Loraine Ave, Cleveland, OH.
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