JanuarY 2011 UpDate: Ocala, FL Outreach

There is a completely different world out in the woods that most people don’t realize. They call them Rainbow Gatherings. Many young adults travel down south from up north during the winter months because temperatures are much more tolerable there. They flock together because they want to find family amongst each other. It’s a mixture of young, homeless traveler and present-day hippies. Some of them live from “gathering” to gathering. Others have a home that they sometimes go back to. They even have their own rules set up while in the woods. Everyone must provide their own “bliss-ware”, otherwise known as you must provide your own eating utensils….keep them on you at all times because you never know where you might be getting your food for that day…maybe at one of the kitchens, maybe at someone else’s campsite that brought food in. They also don’t know when they’ll be able to wash their clothes next, but they also don’t have many clothes because they must travel lightly. Wearing the same thing over and over again is the norm. Looking dirty is expected. No showers available…not much of anything. The hottest commodity is having clean socks---clean socks are always wanted…and dental floss…it seems that dental floss is the product of choice to sew up holes and tears in clothing. Some had tents, some just slept out in the open, some had tarps. They all kind of look out for each other, trading items, giving things away, helping set up camps. They treat each other like family—most of the time. They also have different “camps”. We were known as JESUS CAMP. Despite the name, we were really looked up to and respected. So many said they felt a peace around our campfire that they didn’t feel anywhere else. There was also a camp called Front Gate…they acted as the protectors, checking who came in and keeping out people they don’t want there. But, they also are the camp with the alcohol. It’s funny because most people there didn’t want alcohol near their camp….you could go to certain spots if you wanted it, but it was an unspoken rule that alcohol was not wanted around just any camp…they had seen too many fights and disruption---they really did talk like hippies…wanting peace, love, and everyone to get along.

There were a lot of kids who had a church/Biblical background and knew scripture really well—several of them were even pastor’s kids…so many of them had been hurt by the church or by “religion” in some way and were very skeptical of being of followers of Jesus. Some of them agreed with Jesus but couldn’t get past some of the other things in the Bible---some just had bad experiences in the church. We came into the woods to show Jesus’ love. Not just love for love’s sake, but to love as Jesus loved. We set up a KITCHEN where we could serve meals to large groups of people…the JESUS KITCHEn that we went in with has been doing this for many years. It’s a great way to connect with people—and we were highly respected as well. We also set up a PRAYER TENT—equipped with Bibles, hanging candles in the trees, papers to write prayers on and clip in the trees, sheets, to create a little privacy, and prayer times with others and for others. As we stayed in the woods we prayed together as a group 3 times daily, morning, midday, and evening. It was a chance for our group to pray together, but also to invite others in to pray with us, and also to pray for others that wanted prayer. We also read scripture aloud together. It also brought up opportunities to share more about Jesus with others as well as creating a safe place for others to ask questions about Jesus and what we believe. We also made a large puzzle mural-a community mural that everyone could contribute to. We also brought extra socks, toiletries, hats, gloves, scarves, and Bibles to give away. People kept showing up and we had lots of conversations about Jesus through the week, prayed for so many as well as having a BAPTISM at the end of the week! We ran into a girl that we had prayed for 2 years ago in the woods—no one had seen her since then, but it just so happened that our campsite was set up right next to hers! After she had received prayer last year, she explained that she kept running into other “Jesus People” and accepted Christ into her life a few months after that….she had still been living the same lifestyle, but kept coming around to help out around our campsite. We were able to pray with her some more throughout the week and asked if she would like to be baptized now that she had a new life in Christ!...She said yes, so we dug a hole in the ground, placed a tarp in it, filled it with water, and !voila! we had a baptismal! It was one of the most beautiful nights I had ever been part of. She was sharing her testimony around an orange-glowing campfire as many sets eyes and ears were intently listening to her story. It was so incredible because she had such an amazing story to tell and there were so many there listening that either didn’t know God or were at least trying to run away from God in the middle of the woods…but God found them in the woods—so many of them needed to hear her story-so many needed to hear that God is real and that He longs for a personal relationship with them. It was also the most celebrated baptism I’ve been to—there were so many people there—some watching from afar, others gathered as close as they could to the baptismal pit. There were probably around 100 people there that night. She was then able to return home with a group to be part of discipleship training in Chicago.

God also taught me through some of the people in the woods—through the many conversations and just watching some of the lifestyles of the people out there, I realized how important it is that I share with people the love of Jesus. It is not enough to just do good and nice things for people…If it were so, there would be no difference between followers of Christ and people like we met in the woods, people just wanting to form a peaceful environment, but lacking reason for doing what they do. I am learning that I can’t hold back the reason why I like to serve people—I need to speak up more and not be afraid to say why I do what I do. I was also very humbled because some of the people we met had nothing and yet they were so willing to give away what little they had. It challenged me so much because so many of them didn’t even know God…

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See how much more should I be willing to serve others in the name of Christ?