Detroit/Dearborn Mission Trip 2002
Here we are,We left Maine Friday morning, bright and early. We made good time to New York, where we stopped at a hotel for the night. Since we had made good time, while we were driving through Canada we stopped to see Niagara Falls.
We arrived at the Wyatt's home, and took a moment to settle in and meet with the family: the pastor, Tim; his wife, Vriesyda (pronounced Versayda); their children: Tabitha 12, Josiah 10, Julia 8, and Timothy 6; and a lady that lived with them, Stacey.
They took us to an Arab restaurant where we ate so much good food I couldn't remember them all. Sunday we went to church with them, and after lunch Tim showed us around Detroit/Dearborn to get a feel of everything.
Monday we began prayer walking the gates. The Gates are places in the city of Dearborn where people enter; usually there's a sign that says "Welcome to Dearborn." There were thirteen of them. At each gate we prayed over and drove stakes into the ground. Each stake was annointed with oil and had scriptures written on it. We took turns praying and driving the stakes into the ground, claiming the land in the name of Jesus.
Tuesday we went to several federal buildings and prayed over them, including the courthouse, police station, and City Hall. We even went and walked the campus of the University of Michigan. Later, we went to the World Headquarters of Ford and prayed around the grounds. We then went into the building and prayed in there.
Someone on the trip (I believe Pastor John) said that one hour of spiritual work is equivalent to eight hours physical work. Boy was he right! By Wednesday we were exhausted, so we all decided that was the day to go to Cedar Point. We all had a blast, and were grateful for the break.
Thursday, we jumped back in. We went to the Harp and Bowl, a prayer meeting. God spoke to and through many people. It was awesome, and very encouraging. Tim then took us to several markets, where we learned more about their food and culture. We learned that Muslim is the people, Islam is the religion. They go all the way back to Abraham and Ishmael. Ishmael is father of the Arabs, while Isaac is the father of the Jews. Reading their story in Genesis explained a lot.
Friday we went prayer walking and picked up trash. There was a lot to pick up, and we had filled out bags quickly. After putting them in the dump, someone mentioned that they wanted to rest, so they went into a park and sat down. Before we knew it, the park was flooded with kids. We began talking and playing with them. Their favorite game was a marble one called Mancala. We had such a blast with the children that we came back the next day, with a bunch of things we had bought, such as watercolors for face painting. Josh made his own version of Mancala, which the children adored and played the entire time we were there. We managed to speak a little about Jesus, but not much. We know we planted a seed, though. It surprised them that Americans from Maine would travel all this way just to speak to them, just to play with them. We told them that we had come to tell them that we loved them, and that Jesus loves them, too. They believe that Jesus exists, but that he was just a prophet. It was hard to leave, but eventually we did. We drove to a mosque and prayer drove (it was raining) around it.
The Wyatts were so awesome. They were always patient with us, and so sweet, and just the thought of them opening up their homes, altering their lives for us touched us, so we decided to bless them. Throughout the trip we tried to help out watching the kids, washing dishes, or fixing up the place. Overall, we had an awesome time. We might not have seen anyone get saved, but a lot of seeds were planted, and a lot watered. We hope to go back again sometime, and maybe see what happened to those seeds.
Thank you all SO MUCH! We look forward to seeing you all in heaven, and pointing out everyone that is in there because YOU supported us!
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