From: Muriel Luedeman
Dear, Restoration Saints, near and far,
July 2018, the Temple Lot Prayer Group met the stark reality that many of the homeless people coming to us daily were Restoration men and women. Seeing their tears and hearing their voices cry out in fear for their lives on the streets of Independence was totally unacceptable. They didn’t want a meal; they wanted out. All we had to offer was prayer. Jesus’ pain and sadness over this matter was deeply convicting. I began to pray and search for concrete answers. The Holy Spirit showed me that the year before, He provided knowledge of one workable solution, and the name of a ministry, TEAM JESUS, I could work with. Wonderful provision to make a start.
Two years later, the awful fact is that still we don't know the names, and how many homeless Beloveds we see all over town who are our own Restoration sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Their condition is grave. We, the church, must repent for being caught off guard by meth, cocaine, alcohol, and sex dealing and doing little to rid us of them. The conditions are dyer for our church and community. In 2018 the number of homeless camps grew from 12 to 48. We all see homeless Beloveds with their backpacks and minibikes roaming the streets, lingering in QuikTrips, lined up at Lunch Partners. The marks of a hard life lies in their faces, aged beyond their actual years. They resist any efforts to preach Jesus to them, some even get angry and combative. Some are mentally ill. We find ourselves at a loss to know how to restore them to Christ and the Kingdom. We avoid them. Most of us in the Restoration are ill equipped to reclaim them, for we haven't experienced that life. We can only give them a meal, a blanket, or take a bit of time to listen, and pray. Only those who have walked in their shoes can relate and be effective agents of change for them. The truth is we can't do much without personal experience and the help of the Holy Spirit.
The wonderful news is that God has provided such a coalition of people and ministries who KNOW what to do and how to reach our Beloveds. God is truly moving in our midst! In the past two years, dedicated, expert Christian believers outside the Restoration have aligned themselves with Restoration ministries in a blessed alliance inspired by LDS President Dennis Cato to meet this great need! Pastors Billy and Cheri Tharp of God's Love Ministries, and Pastors Brian and Yvonne Carline with TEAM JESUS, KC are Jesus redeemed and now helping our Restoration dropouts and all others to reclaim their lives. Billy, who once tormented our police and community with drug dealing, and causing mischief, was transformed and has been grooming one Restoration man for over three years to ready him for a new life in Christ and the Kingdom. The man has work now, was given a car for Christmas, and is looking for an apartment or room to rent, or a trailer to buy, to bring him up where he wants and needs to be. I put out a request in his behalf. The Restoration has nothing to offer this Restoration son so far. Hillcrest Ministries with their transitional housing program has the answer for him, but they are full and waitlisting people.
I reach out to the Restoration church to come together and creatively address this matter with prayer and action. God has provided all the funds, resources, generous, skilled saints, and power necessary to get started developing more transitional housing and do many other Kingdom building things for the City of Our God.
Here are ways to move out in this work:
Pray individually and collectively for the Holy Spirit to show what He wants done.
Pray for the release of funds held by the Saints and their branches for this work.
Tour the Unity Center and volunteer in whatever way the Holy Spirit moves you.
Make regular monthly ongoing financial contributions to the Unity Center of Independence, to complete temporary housing for women and children caught in sex trafficking and redemptive services for the Beloveds. (The Unity Center of Independence, PO BOX 521141, Independence, MO, 64052)
Investigate and replicate existing ministries like Hillcrest Ministries Transitional Housing, and Eden Village in Springfield, MO., who have a track record of success in this area.
Meet and let creative juices flow between saints, individually and branches corporately, to pool existing skills and resources, to develop viable housing solutions.
Pass the results along to the IIAW Initiative at the monthly meeting, the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Unity Center, 803 W. 23rd Street.
Prayer walk your neighborhood, identify and meet needs as you can, and hand out information on the Unity Center for those beyond your capacity.
This job is far bigger than the Restoration. It will take every Saint, and every church branch getting involved with other individuals and ministries around us, who have been doing all they can to serve in this arena. We, all, must join with all Christian fellowships to conquer this enemy going after our children's souls. We are all better together than we are alone, making the wrongs right.
Out of the daily prayer group last week, Kathy Adams stated, “When God’s people come to fully “see” and understand their purpose and calling, the Kingdom and Zion will come very quickly.” Bob Dickson, newly elected pastor for Living Hope, confirmed the same in his sermon December 27th, “When the Saints give their hearts over to the Father and commit to doing His will, there is nothing we can’t accomplish, and nothing can stop us.” I firmly believe that! When we come together in desire, prayer, fasting, and commitment, there is nothing God won’t do for, in, and through us, nothing we can't accomplish, and it WILL happen very quickly. That is what I saw God do in and through me, in the prayer group, with the Tharps and the Carlines, and with the Independence Is Alive and Well Initiative. I posted recently the amazing things that have happened in less than two years at the Unity Center. A man and wife ministry in Springfield took only two years to develop Eden Village, a tiny house park for the homeless so they would have a safe, well supervised place to sleep at night and call home.
We pray for revival, but God is waiting for us to "see" the part we will and must play to create the environment for revival to come forth. Whether or not you have a passion or vision for this kind of ministry, everyone will have a part to play in it. PRAY earnestly that God's people respond in force, so that Independence lives up to the title, “Zion, City of the Most High God”.
Let the winter a year from now, 2021-22, find us with a better offering for our homeless Beloveds - Prayer, food, clothing, warm shelter, jobs and a Kingdom purpose of their own.
Praise God for His richest blessings to all of us, for all we have done and all we are about to do. Let 2021 be a year of amazing, jaw dropping miracles!
Muriel Luedeman
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