ATOR Paradise, Day 2

 

Prayer Requests

 

• Please pray for Clyda who just accepted the Lord this morning. She lost her house in the fire and she escaped with her 3 dogs and lives in the hotel.
• Pray for Mallory’s knees arthritic pain that kept her from sufficient sleep.
• Dave’s ankle/inner calf area is swollen, please pray. Dave is also having foot pain in the right foot.
• Prayer please for Joan’s headache and  for Saturday and what the Lord wants her to speak on and worship.
• Stephanie’s legs are better, but her left knee is sore and she is having digestive issues.
• Jurgen wants prayer for his in-laws. They need new caregiver. Please pray for God to provide the right caregiver by Friday.
• Joan asks prayer for her friend’s child, Easton, who is having side effects from seizure meds and doctors say he will die in the next 24 hours. He is under a year old.

 

 

Daily News & Testimonies

Raul: On our way to give roses to a dental office we encountered a bank teller and he wanted a rose. So he walked us into Wells Fargo and we ended up giving roses to the entire bank.

Earlier today, at the food pantry, I was speaking the love of Christ to one man and this other man, who seemed very broken and hurting, was looking at my cross necklace. He was saying he did a lot of bad things. And I said, “There’s forgiveness as you confess your sins.”

And he started saying, “I have done a lot of bad. I just need my soul expunged.”

And so I said “Let’s go to a quieter place.” And I shared my testimony with him and it turned out he is also an alcoholic. I led him through a prayer of confession and repentance, and he received the Lord and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He felt a lifting of his burden from his heart. And his eyes were very clear after that.

Joan: At the pantry there was a man sitting on a chair by himself. He looked like he was in pain. He received the rose with gratitude and began to share how hard it’s been. He told me how he fell off a roof and broke his back during construction. After listening and sharing with him, he was willing for me to pray for him. I prayed for his back so he could work again. I asked if he was sensing anything—and he smiled and laughed and said, “I feel better already.” And he shared about his wife who is only in her 40s and has 5 months to live because of cancer. So we also prayed for her, believing God has a good future for them. And I encouraged him to keep his eyes looking to the Father who loves him—and to share with his wife the same.

 

 

In a hotel we visited a lady from Peru, who has lived in Paradise for 20 years. Only 5 houses in her neighborhood were standing after the fire, and hers was one of them. Her business was also spared, she only lost 13 units, but the office didn’t have any damage and she was very thankful. She was blessed that we had come to Paradise and received prayer and was encouraged by it, and she promised to come with all her workers on Saturday to the conference. She was full of gratitude for surviving the fire.

Gary: I spoke to a guy who has lived in Paradise his whole life. He lives with his wife and they have moved into a trailer. He didn’t have insurance, but he says many people are still waiting for their insurance. He received FEMA funds and help from a lot of other organizations, and he has 100 pairs of socks and $5,000 in gift cards. He got the money from FEMA and they said he should save it for buying a house.

 

 

A lot of his friends spent their FEMA money on trucks and new Harleys, but he is waiting until he can find a house and move out of the trailer park. He loves God and is grateful for the blessing. He feels like he and his wife are actually better off than before the fire. Another guy I spoke with also lived in Paradise his whole life, but is now living in Oroville. It’s very dangerous. He has a much younger wife and several kids, and his wife has cancer. Please pray for Randy and his wife.

Jurgen: Stephanie and I met a couple, Katie and Corey, and gave them a rose. They were very happy and touched. And they started sharing how God protected them through the fire. Everything burned except their house. As we were sharing with each other the presence of the Lord was there, so we prayed for Katie’s rheumatism and Stephanie had some words of encouragement as we prayed. We shared and hugged, and we started praying again. This went on several times. Church was happening in the parking lot of the Holiday Market.

I gave a lady in a truck a rose, which she gladly received. I told her that God loves her very much and that I am glad she is alive. She seemed to be touched. We walked away. Later, I looked through the window and saw her reading the card and tears running down her face.

 

 

At the church food pantry I started talking to Jim. He told me his mom died in the fire. I started to cry and Jesus led me to grieve with him and I put my arm around him. The Lord was amazing!

Randy: I loved running into Heinke yesterday. She used to go to my church. It was great having a little visit with her. I had called her before I left but didn’t hear back, so to spontaneously run into her the first day we went out with roses was a blessing. And then today I was here and saw Pam, who was with me on the ATOR trip to Poland. We talked about her loss of everything except her house. And then the house got rained in because of damage to the roof. She still has not received compensation from the insurance company.

 

 

Yara: Yesterday while we were in the Save Mart parking lot I was taking pictures of the team and realized that almost every group was praying for someone. So many people were ministered to in that parking lot. I think of the ATOR projects that I have a part of this is the most ministry I have seen happen out on the streets. And it was a real blessing to see and be a part of it.

I gave a rose to a man exiting his truck. He seemed a little winded. I asked if I could give him a rose and he asked why and I told him. He was very blessed by the rose. I felt like God told me to pray for him. So I asked if it was ok if I prayed for him. And he said, “Yes, Please!” He was struggling with asthma symptoms and so we prayed God would touch and heal him from that. When he bought his groceries he came back to the truck and did not get in right away. He stayed outside for awhile. Sally was playing worship music very close by. I would like to think he was hearing it.

 

 

Today we went to the food pantry at the church. I got to go and see how their food pantry works and noticed that the ladies who worked the ministry were so kind to the people who came through. One lady was at the fridge getting some milk out for another person as he was talking about his day, and she just put her hand on his back and began praying for him right there on the spot. It wasn’t just about giving food, it was also about ministering to the people.

 

 

Mallory: We were in the foyer giving out roses and I saw this lady. Her name was Rachel. She had a little boy and girl with her. She was sitting up against the wall, past the coffee area. I offered her a rose and told her, “God loves you.” And I could see how she turned her head to the side as if trying to resist the love of God. I said, “You are not invisible. God loves you. What is your name?” And I also asked what her two beautiful kids’ names were. The little boy’s name was Ben and the little girl’s name was Lily.

I asked if they lost their home because they looked like they were struggling financially. She said yes. I asked if she was in a place now, and she said I am with my boyfriend, and they go from place to place. I asked, “May I pray for you?” She said, “No.” And then I said, “Tell me what’s going on.” And then she opened up to me and started pouring out her heart. I could see there was so much emotion she started crying. I said, “All of that deserves to be brought before God.”

 

 

I asked if I could put my hand on her shoulder and asked if her children, Ben and Lily, could agree with me in prayer. So I started praying for all the stuff she had mentioned and she started weeping. And Lily was just staring at her mom, seeing all this emotion. I asked Rachel after we finished if I could hug her. I hugged her, and then Lily grabbed us both and hugged us both and then Ben in back of Lily was hugging us all. It was so precious! And then she went into the pantry.

 

 

Sally: Tony is the woman I bought the roses from. She owns Fuller’s Flowers in Paradise, but her store is no more since the fire. It was her father’s store. Now she does the flowers out of her house. Hers is the only home on the block that is still standing. Tony brought the second delivery of roses to the church about 1PM and I got out my checkbook to pay her. The Lord put it on my heart to pay her more—so I did.

And she was looking at my necklace quite intently. It’s a Jewish Star of David with a dove in the center. Tony said, “Your necklace is beautiful.” I looked at her. She told me her necklace was lost in the fire. And I absolutely knew what I needed to do. As I slowly took off my necklace I said, “God wants to restore.”

 

 

As I put it around her neck I asked, “Do you know why we came, Tony?” She didn’t know. I told her that we came to help bring hope back to Paradise. To show God’s love for the people here. And then I prayed for her. I know the Lord is wooing Tony’s heart. Please keep her in prayer. She will be back on Thursday with more roses.

Dave: This morning Sally shared a word she received from Lura (a previous team member) for me and Stephanie:

“Just now I have been praying for Stephanie and David and the pain in their legs. The Lord had me come against the spirit of infirmity. And he showed that they are specifically called to walk the land and declare God’s Word over the land to cleanse and heal. You said in one of your devotional that there is spilled blood on the land and their prayers and declarations are their purpose to walk. The specific word I got for them both is – “When you have done all you can do, Stand, STAND AND PRAY”. I will continue to declare God’s protection and healing over them and I am asking Him to give them scripture to declare as they walk.

 

After hearing this word it bore witness to my spirit. Later on in the day when we were passing out roses at the food pantry, Sally felt led to tell me to share that word with Stephanie and see if we would like to go and walk around this large church. After sharing it with Stephanie I asked her if she would like to do this and when. She said, “Right now.”

So we chose a starting point and began to prayer-walk around the church. The amazing thing was scriptures did come to us as we prayed. One of them was about Elijah’s offering and how the fire came down and licked up the whole offering, even the water that was poured onto it. We prayed that the fire of God would lick up all of it and burn up all the atrocities done on that land, all the past sins and whatever was done on that ground would be removed.

At the end a specific scripture I got was Nehemiah 4:17 “Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.”

We prayed that the Christian leaders in Paradise would build a foundation on Christ, and that they would work with one hand and carry a weapon with the other. And then me and Stephanie made it all the way around to where we began, and we rejoiced that we could do it in the strength God gave us.”

 

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Not much one can add to these stories. We’ll be back tomorrow and through Sunday with more inspiring tales of the Paradise recovery and redemption. Please remember to leave a few encouraging words in the comments section just below. May God bless each of you for you unceasing prayers aimed at the A Tour Of Roses Team Members and their Kingdom work this week.

 

ATOR Itinerary

 

2/5 – Wednesday

7AM – Devotions – Dave-Worship/Raul-Devotions
8AM – Breakfast
9AM – Clean and prepare roses/Shopping for gift bags
11AM – Worship & Give out roses/flyers in town
1PM – Lunch @ First Baptist
2PM – Worship & Give out roses/flyers in town
4PM – Assemble gift bags for conference
6PM – Dinner
7PM – Something Beautiful Meeting
8PM – Prayer Time

2/6 – Thursday

7AM – Devotions – Sam-Worship/Jurgen-Devotions
8AM – Breakfast
9AM – Clean and prepare roses
11AM – Worship & Give out roses/flyers in town
1PM – Lunch
2PM – Free time
6PM – Dinner
7PM – Something Beautiful Meeting
8PM – Prayer time

2/7 – Friday

7AM – Devotions –Worship – Sally/Devotions – Stephanie
8AM – Breakfast
9AM – Drive to First Baptist & set up for conference in Fellowship Hall
Noon – Lunch
2PM – Finish preparations
6PM – Dinner
8PM – Prayer

2/8 – Saturday

6AM – Devotions – Worship – Dave/Devotions – Gary
7AM – Breakfast
8AM – Registration for Something Beautiful Conference @ First Baptist Church in Paradise
9AM – Welcome/Conference
5PM – Clean-up and set-up for Sunday
7PM – Dinner
8PM – Debrief

2/9 – Sunday

7AM – Devotions – Worship – Joan/Devotions – Mallory
8AM – Breakfast
9AM – Pack
10AM – First Baptist Church
11AM – Sally Klein O’Connor & Friends presentation @ First Baptist Church in Paradise
1PM – Lunch
3PM – Drive home to Southern CA

2/10 – Monday

Joan departs Sacramento Airport @ 12:45PM on Delta Airlines Flight# 3654 and arrives in LAX @ 2:20PM. Departs LAX @ 3:50 on Delta Flight #1005 and arrives @ St. Paul, MN @ 8:49PM. Departs St. Paul @10:41PM on Flight #2650 and arrives in Winnipeg @ 12:15AM, Tuesday 2/11. Mallory departs LAX on Delta @ 1:50PM and arrives back in Phoenix @ 4:22PM

2/11 – Tuesday

Jurgen flies out from Sacramento @ 12:20PM