Last night Jeremy and I visited "The Mission" Church in Piketon Ohio. We had been invited to come by the pastors wife after Jeremy connected with her on Facebook.
The first thing you notice when you walk into "The Mission" is that there is such a diverse age of people from young to old. And the Teens greeted us and welcomed us as we came through the front door. When the service began and the worship team got into place to start playing, the entire worship team we saw was comprised of Teens! Teens who have a heart to worship God through their talents. It brought tears to my eyes to see this because when I was a teenager at 15 playing drums for churches in the Ross County area, I was the only one my age playing any instrument for the church I attended. At times I felt very secluded from those my age and felt more of a connection with the older generations that I played music with. To see these young people playing Music for God blessed me beyond words.
After the praise and worship was over Pastor Michael Higgins brought the message for the evening. He shared how we as the church need to get back to basics and really start reading the gospels of the new testament and remember how Jesus lived and start living like Jesus did. Stop depending on the Government to help the people in need, and getting out in the streets to reach the drug addicts, homeless, the sick and poor. Pastor Mike also shared about some of the ministry outreach the church is doing to help the community of Piketon, Waverly, Lucasville, and Portsmouth Ohio. One of the most poignant things he said was, If you aren't serious about coming to this church and don't have a heart to get out there and help the community then don't come to this church! He also said that when you choose to give your life to Jesus and desire to live as Jesus did, you will be spiritually attacked like you have never before. Pastor Mike Higgins then shared about how many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are persecuted through out the world just for believing in Jesus. He also shared a bit of his testimony how he had been a musician in a band, had everything he wanted but got caught up in drugs, drinking etc. Until one day God got a hold of his life and changed him forever.
Just before Pastor Mike Higgins closed the service he asked if there was anyone sick and needed prayer and anointing for healing. Many came forward to be prayed for and I was one of them. After nearly 2 years of fighting with the STAPH/MRSA Sores that keep coming back every 2-4 months and my stomach problems both which doctors have told me that they can do nothing to heal me. I felt lead to have this church pray for me. Young and old came forward to be prayed for some from physical ailments, some from emotional, mental and the Holy Spirit showed up. I felt a love from the people of this little mission church I had not felt in a long time after being sick for the past month and being shut in at home not able to go attend a church, and that love was the love of Christ!
After the service was over we introduced ourselves to Pastor Mike Higgins and his wife. They were so happy we had come to visit and for the next 2 hours we sat with Mike talking, sharing about our ministry and how we have been looking for a church that does the kind of outreach he is doing to try and help the drug addicts, homeless and the at risk youth of the community. Mike also shared with us of the work he and the church have been doing and how they came to found "The Mission".
At the end of the night Mike invited us to come back to his church on Sunday to see how they reach out to the youth of the community and really make their Sunday morning service for the youth and after, they feed them a hot meal before they send them home. Because many of the children come from homes where the parents sell their food stamps to buy drugs and so the children are hungry. And it's not just the children there are adults that are struggling to make ends meet and giving them a hot meal helps them as well.
So tomorrow we will be heading back to Piketon Ohio to fellowship with the people of "The Mission" and continue to pray that God guide and direct us to the church he wants us to go. So that we may be a helping hand in the body of Christ.
We ask you to pray for "The Mission" church in Piketon Ohio as they continue to reach out to the community and share the Love of Christ.
