Transformations
Volume
1
Welcome To Transformations
This is the first of what we trust will become a regular newsletter to friends in the GTA and outlying area. Our newsletter will serve to keep you better informed of the ministry of New Hope Outreach and the direction that is being given to this ministry by Danny and Alice Blackwell.
New Hope Outreach provides an avenue of ministry and opportunity for Christian witness. have a desire to learn how to share the love of Jesus with everyone in our communities.This is a ministry approve by the Eastern Ontario District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. We who serve on the Advisory Board are there because we are supportive of this ministry to some in society who have been overlooked by the churches. Prayer partners are desperately needed to hold up the hands of the ones who work with Danny on the streets of Toronto in the Gay Community.
Let me leave this gentle reminder that finances are needed to carry on this mission to the needy. Danny holds a secular job to help withthe expenses of the ministry. Please consider what the Lord wouldhave you do by way of regular offerings or a one time gift to help carry New Hope Outreach through the coming weeks and months.
" THEY COME & WE MUST GO "
By Danny Blackwell
The magnet is strong. It pulls them from Barrie, North Bay, Guelph, Fergus, London and a host of other places to the big city. These places for various reasons are no longer home so these prodigals pick up and head to the big city. Having gay tendencies and not encountering answers for their struggles, they give into a deceptive lifestyle as they come to Toronto.
These transplanted people get caught up in the gay scene where they find friendship and acceptance while at home, parents and spouses, cry because of their departure. Yet the Lord knows and brings many people across their paths. It may be the person who gives them a lift or serves them food. God cares and He is there whether the nights are filled with joy or sadness and He wants to reveal Himself.
I remember meeting Danielle (all names changed) who left a wife and two children because he could no longer handle the conflicting feelings and desires that made him crave to be a woman.
So they come and we must go to them with the love of Jesus. Danielle would meet me in the coffee shop in the gay community and we would talk.
One of the realities of inner city ministry is lack of trust. The people that we meet have been burned and put down and they don’t trust, especially the church, which for the most part has turned them away. How can we build trust?
In the book “How To Talk About Jesus Without Freaking Out”, the authors, Jim & Karen Covell /Victorya M. Rogers, point out that the best way to build trust is to listen to their stories and then share our similar stories so that we can eventually share Jesus’ stories.
As I listened to Danielle and as we shared ‘she’ took a Bible from me and comes to Cornerstone Urban Church’s community dinners and we are continuing to talk. When I look at Danielle I see a person whom Jesus loves and who is carrying a lot of pain. I look forward to the day Danielle meets Jesus.
The Lord longs to touch people in all of our communities and that includes the gay community with His love. This was made real to me as Michael asked me for $.25 cents and as I gave it the Lord spoke into my heart “You owe him more than that”. As you get to know someone, you will overcome fears and insecurities and by listening you will earn the right to share Jesus, for in time walls of mistrust are removed one brick at a time.
As a ministry, New Hope Outreach goes into their community, to their turf and as we build relationships we share Jesus and seek to see people set free. We are all part of a far greater team which God has called into place for such a time as this and we all must go as the Lord leads.
The Lord is bringing back our prodigals, the hurting and the abused and is opening doors in many communities and many places .The Lord longs to touch so many broken people and He will use you as a servant of restoration Jer. 30:17 “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”
Please pray for the ongoing ministry of New Hope Outreach and other ministries, like that New Direction for Life Ministries a part of Exodus International .
Exodus International is a great place to get information and support on this and related topics.
As you read Transformations, it is my prayer that you will be challenged and be blessed and that you will allow yourself to step out of your circle of friends and embrace the people that the Lord brings your way so that our communities can experience a transformation ,through Jesus
God Bless you