Hi Friends :)
I’m not sure if you’re aware of this phenomenon, but buckle up… I’m about to give you the inside scoop! So, most of us know that if you want to experience Buffalo culture at its truest, you will find yourself downtown, in Lafayette Square, on Thursday nights in the summer. All the life of the city is found right there, at Thursday at the Square, the free concert series hosting local and national bands. BUT did you know that if you travel slightly west, right around the corner from the show, you would find Main street to be just as alive? While the venue’s dynamic is a more mature (or at least, older) crowd, Main street is flooded with youth. They come down just to hang out, meet up with friends, and now, to experience the love of Christ.
That’s our deal, as Relevant Worship Ministries. We LOVE.
No strings attached. No personal goals.
Just love.
1 Corinthians 12:18 says “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” The coolest thing is to watch God manifest this verse in our ministry downtown. Because there is such a diverse array of young people that congregate there, it is awesome to see our team’s gifts and styles being implemented to connect with them. This past week was our first week back and this definitely reigned true, even amidst the rain :). While one of us lights up the city with her crazy bright outfits and fun handouts, another of us is building relationships over ice cream and jokes, while others are spittin’ rhymes that pour out the gospel. God will use anything for ministry for the willing heart.
We were expecting the traffic down Main street to be light this week, since it had been raining for hours and showed no sign of stopping. But we weren’t going to let that stop us from going down! We met at the Buffalo Christian Center and prayed for God’s favor and guidance, and then headed over. To our surprise, the street was already filling up! Our young friends are dedicated to their Thursday nights in the city. We reunited with so many of them that we met down there last year, and it was so exciting to catch up with them and see what’s going on in their lives! God gave us opportunities to pray for deliverance and healings, share our testimonies, hand out cool bracelets explaining a life found in Christ, and invite them over to Prima Pizza for a free pizza party. It was incredible to see how many of them were so excited to see those of us who were regulars last year, and how many asked if we were going over to Prima. Our ministry is becoming a regular part of their night. WE are becoming a regular part of their lives! God, you are so cool.
At Prima we had an approximate count of 70 KIDS join us!!! It was awesome. One of us shared his testimony, which was so relevant and perfect for the demographic we are reaching. He even paid for all the pizza! Seeing two guys (with styles very expressive and different from his own) come up to him on separate occasions afterwards to genuinely thank him for everything was the highlight of my night. I got a great opportunity to talk to two awesome high school seniors, who just couldn’t get over that we were doing “all of this” for them. They kept asking how we paid for it. To get to explain to them that we really want to just show them God’s heart for them, and that He always provides financially, was so cool. Everywhere you looked in the Pizza shop awesome conversations were going on… God was so glorified in that place. Even in the way the team cleaned up and did our best to bless the restaurant’s staff was a testimony.
This summer is going to be incredible. I cannot wait to see what unfolds. We have such a fun, diverse, authentic group of people serving with us this year, and we hope to gain even more! Several of us got together for the months prior to our outreach to study unChristian and pray for breakthrough at the Square, and we are expecting just that. God is giving us so much vision and hope for reaching the community with His message. When the sun is shining we are going to bring down bubbles and lemonade and crafts! Other ministries are joining forces with us, like our friends from Christ Records, who have really become like family to us. we're also partnering with The Buffalo Dream Center, who is incredibly effective at urban ministry, and we're training youth groups to come down for a week each, as a mission trip to the city!
If you have been serving with us, you’re amazing. Keep it up and allow God to stretch you out of your comfort zone this summer! And if you have not yet experienced the wonder that is Thursday at the Square ministry, get your butt down there! You do not want to miss out on the blessing God has for you… He is going to BLOW OUR MINDS this summer! PTL.
LOVE!
Chrissy