Prayer for Mardis Gras Outreach

Hello! If you will, could you all please keep Arielle (my 18yr. daughter) and my husband Dan in prayer as they fly down to New Orleans today. They will be taking the gospel to the streets this weekend, along with about 200 others and Pastor Troy Bohn, who heads this up. Pastor Troy is the one who they worked with during Hurricane Katrina.

I am trusting that the Lord will keep them safe and for hearts to be turned toward Christ.

They will be returning before Tuesday - which is the worst of the days- I am thankful for that (for Arielle's sake :-))

I wanted to try and put an awesome video on here with an interview with Pastor Troy and their outreach to Mardis Gras, but couldn't figure out how. I have it on my blog if anyone would like to see it. I posted it today (under the Happy Birthday, Lois! :-)).

You will just want to turn my music off on my Sonific player over to the left of the video.

www.xanga.com/Heismystronghold

Thank you so much ahead of time for any prayers!

edit: O, I forgot to mention that my husband is taking 3 of his employees with him so that they might have a chance to share the gospel. Two of them I know for sure have never experienced anything like this (very conservative religious backgrounds). Please pray for these 3 men too- that the Lord will use this opportunity to change their lives as well :)

In His love, Chanin

[i]" What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture,and go after the one which was lost, until he finds it? " ( Luke 15:4 )[/i]

-:-

I've been talking to Arielle and Dan the last couple of days and things are going good. It's been a struggle for sure, for everyone there. They have only been getting about 41/2 to 5 1/2 hours of sleep each night (getting in at about 2:00am) Sleeping in sleeping bags in a recreational building (lots of guys snoring! :) There are only 3 showers for the 150 people. But there has been some awesome things the Lord is doing. The temperatures are a little chilly down there this year so that is a great thing because it keeps the people who are down there partying, a little more covered up- if you know what I mean.

Each night they go out to Bourbon St. and witness to the people across from the clubs, and all over the streets. Each night it gets a little more crowded and a little more wild. Tonight will be Arielle, Dan and his employees last night- thankfully! I can't imagine how bad it will be by Tuesday night. Arielle said it reminds her so much of Sodom and Gomorah. But they have been praying for the Lord to give them a compassion for the people- a broken heart that weeps for them.

Yesterday afternoon they all went to one of the worst housing projects in the city. Drug dealers live and work there. Last week there was even a policeman murdered there. They went with music and bibles and prayers- all the children came out to hear what they had to say- and an ex- gang leader gave his testimony. They all got to pray with people and share the gospel.

I will share one amazing story that Dan told me this morning- on Friday night there was a small goup of Army guys in civilian clothes who were down there to party. A few guys from the ministiry team kept trying to talk to them but they didn't want anything to do with the gospel. The next day while they were at the housing project- out came one of the army guys dressed in his clothes from the night before. He had no idea how he had gotten there, but woke up in one of the abandonded building in the projects. When he woke up he didn't know where he was and all of his money was gone. When Arielle and Dan and all the Raven Ministry people arrived and began speaking on loud speaker- that army guy looked out and was SO thankful to see these people!!!!! He went straight to them and gave his life to Jesus because he knew with out a shadow of a doubt that the Lord had orchestrated that whole thing. He was so thankful to be alive and to be 'found' by the ministry team!

Another story- the first night at the end of the night- a young guy, about 22 walked right up to Dan and Arielle and said "I think I've found the Promised Land". Dan asked him why he said this and the guy replied that he had been watching all the ministry team people talking to people on the street and started to feel very guilty. He needed someone to talk to and he said he didn't know what he was doing there, he felt so guilty and terrible for being there. Dan and Arielle got to talk with him and pray with him.

Tonight they will go out again and tonight it will be worse than last night. Please, if you have a chance, keep Arielle and Dan and his 3 employees (Mike, Jason and Jeff) in prayer. They said it is really tough. Many people are yelling at them and swearing at them, many are so drunk. Dan consistantly prays with the group for the Lord to keep their eyes shielded from temptation, to keep them protected, for hearts to be open. Arielle mentioned to me that she has no idea why the Lord has kept His anger from falling on this country after everything she has seen. It has been a real eye-opener for her!

Even amidst all of the debauchery going on- there are still many hungry hearts who need someone to talk to- who need healing and someone to guide them to repentance. God is still working among those people!

I know each one of them will come away from this experience with a renewed sense of God's mercy on people and this country. We don't deserve it, do we!? But He is slow to anger-

[i]"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity." Joel 2:13 [/i]

Thanks again for your prayers!

In His love, Chanin

great to hear, thanks

I just found out that the army guy who they 'discovered' at the housing projects is now staying with the ministry team for the rest of his stay there in New Orleans- sharing his testimony!

Chanin,

I live in Baton Rouge, which is about an hour away from New Orleans. People come from all over to participate in the wickedness that your daughter has observed. As Mardi Gras begins to approach, people start telling their stories about previous Mardi Gras “adventures” and it’s almost more than one can bear. The comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah is not exaggerated.

I thank God for this team of people and pray for His protection over them.

Danielle

Dan and Arielle will be home tonight. They said that last night was the BEST night yet so far! God did so many wonderful things! The whole group of them gathered in a circle and sat right in the middle of Bourbon Street to pray some powerful prayers- and after that people just came to them! They couldn't talk to enough people! It seems to me that many people were probably pretty sick of their sin after a couple of days.

Arielle did say that people did throw beer at her and some girls threw their beads at her. So they had some people hating them and some wanting to talk to them. I guess she has a little taste of what Jesus went through- the sufferings of Christ. Still, Arielle said it was so awesome!

They are sad to be coming home (even though I am excited for them to be home) but the rest of the group is staying through Tuesday and today at 3:00pm is when all the ministries that are down there for this same type of outreach will gather together and worship and pray together- over 1000 of them. Dan is really sorry to miss this!

Thank you so much for your prayers for them all! They said that last night you could just feel the spirit of God was with them. It was powerful! Dan was so proud of Arielle- she was just talking to a ton of people, one after the other and praying with them continuously. I am eager to have them at home and hear all that God did. The 3 guys Dan took with him will probably never be the same

I am also excited for Arielle because I know how sensative she is to evil. There were so many voo doo shops and witchcraft stores, practicing witches and witchdoctors, tarot card readers, etc... that was what she had the hardest time with - sensing that spiritual battle. But she didn't let fear stop her or intimidate her. Praise the Lord!

May any seeds that were planted produce a harvest, may any lives that were surrendered to the Lord grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Praying that the Lord brings just the right people along side of these people after this weekend to disciple them and care for them.

In His love, Chanin