This past Friday we journeyed to Wisconsin with the purpose of coming alongside Horizon Christian Fellowship of LaCrosse, pastored by Matt Schroeder. At one of our gas stops on the drive up a group of us ran into McDonald’s to get some sweets and ended up meeting a man in his eighties who had a knee problem that was bothering him. He looked surprised when we asked if we could pray for him, but he said yes. After we prayed for him we got back in the van with our ice cream and cookies and continued on.
We arrived in LaCrosse around five, and immediately went to Horizon to connect with the people we would be spending the weekend with. They were excited to have us there and told us that, joined with the students from CCBCi, what we would be doing would be the largest outreach that LaCrosse had ever had. We felt so blessed to be a part of their ministry and have the opportunity to pour into their community.
Every Friday night Crossfire (A ministry for troubled and at risked youth) opens up its doors from seven thirty to eleven thirty for young people (ages 13 to 20) to hang out. It is a positive and safe environment where these young adults can have fun instead of being out on the streets. It wasn’t long after the doors opened up that the room was full of people playing pool, foosball or chatting with HSE and CCBCi students.
Through the night Kristin, Jonathan and Zak shared what God had done in their lives and how He had changed them. Brian felt such a strong conviction for these people to hear the Truth that he jumped up on the top of our luggage trailer outside and to share with everyone on the street the Gospel and how it had changed his life. It was completely quiet except for his voice, everyone stood still, listening to his words.
One girl spoke to Brian later that night after hearing what he said, and accepted the Lord. Not only that, one guy ran inside confessing and wanting to repent for the way he was living. It was an incredible moment and God used it to reach not only the kids, but later that night one of the groups heard a woman coming out of a bar talking about what he had said.
At midnight, five groups of students went out to have conversations with the locals. LaCrosse, Wisconsin has the most bars per capita in the United States, so the streets were flooded with people partying. One group spent the evening talking to several street musicians. They learned a lot about a young man named Kearen. Kearen is twenty-two and has been travelling the streets since he was seventeen. After talking for a while he opened up about his past, how he came from a toxic family environment. His family struggled with mental illness and there was always a lot of fighting. Once he got out and started traveling, he said he felt like he was healed from the wounds of his childhood—he described it as going from darkness to light. He expressed the kindness and good he saw through songs, of which he shared a few with us. Because of his openness with us we were able to point out how God had rescued him from the darkness he had been in and brought him to light. The groups headed back to the church around three a.m.
Saturday morning a group of fifteen or so HSE and CCBCi students and leaders walked to the Salvation Army to help out however they could. There were students all over talking with people, helping them to fill out papers so they could receive coats and warm clothes, praying with others, and generally just trying to be accurate expressions of the love of Jesus Christ. At one point we were able to pray with a women who had had complications during childbirth where her uterus wouldn’t stop bleeding. She was touched to have so people pray for her and genuinely care about her well being. It was also neat to see some of the kids we had seen the night before at Crossfire. We were able to continue building those relationships and pour into them.
That afternoon the students had free time to walk around town and many ended up having conversations with the people they encountered. We invited many of them to a free chili dinner to be held that night at Crossfire. It was super encouraging to see many of the people we had invited actually show up to the dinner and to continue those conversations.
The bar scene in LaCrosse is thriving, to say the least, so Saturday night we made about 300 burritos and obtained roughly eight gallons of Starbuck’s coffee to pass out downtown. We were able use the food to engage people in conversation and tell them about the love of Jesus.
Countless times we were asked, “Why are you doing this?” Our response was always “To share God’s love”, many people were surprised at this response and sought out conversation with us.
At one point we were told we were not allowed to be there because we didn’t have a sales permit, when we explained we weren’t selling anything, we were giving it out; we received a surprised “Oh… I guess you’re okay then.”
There was one instance where a young man talked with multiple HSE/CCBCi students about his belief that a “Just God” would not send people to hell.
Despite his multiple claims that he wasn’t trying to change our opinions, he wouldn’t let the conversation die. It was almost as if he wanted us to convince him of our points, and prove him wrong. Another encounter that lasted off and on for a couple of hours was a young man, who was a homosexual, talking to various members of our group. At one point when no one was really talking to him, a few students looked over and saw he was kneeling on the sidewalk, weeping, crying out “Forgive me Jesus”. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Surrounded by all of the bars and hurting people, it seemed an unlikely place for so many significant conversations to occur—this made them all the more sweeter. It was truly amazing to see God working in and through us. Here are the names of some of the people we talked to, please pray for: Matt, Brenton, Ashley, Kristen, Sam, Joshua, Jarrod, Jamie, Jake, Pasha, Kearen, Bobby, and anyone who may have seen us or overheard us talking.
Sunday we went to church at Horizon Christian Fellowship of LaCrosse, where HSE and CCBCi students lead worship and Diane was able to share a testimony of how God used her in a young woman’s life that weekend.
Afterwards we had lunch with some of the church body and then helped clean and pack up our things to head off. A big thank you to Matt and Molly Schroeder, Mark, Lee, and all the staffers at HCF LaCrosse for their kindness and hospitality.
On the way back to Indianapolis we stopped in the hometown of our brother Chris, Chicago. We ate dinner at a deep-dish pizza place and enjoyed a time of fellowship and new sites in the Windy City. As some were finishing their pizza and others just hanging out, Diane, Anna, Shannon, and Dinah struck up a conversation with the Hostess. Her name was Paola and she was from Guadalajara, Mexico. They talked about her family for a while and how they enjoyed living in Chicago. Eventually they asked her what she thought happens after we die. This led into talking about who Jesus is and what He did, she responded by saying I believe Jesus is alive and with us and not dead. The group then agreed saying, yes He is alive! And He wants to give us eternal life. Diane asked her if she would like to live forever with Jesus and led her in a prayer when she said yes. After this prayer, Paola, tearing up with her hand on her chest she said; “This feeling is so pretty.” The group was touched by her sincerity and faith. It was a very blessed weekend filled with love and the work of the Holy Spirit.
