This Friday night, our good friend Michael Villoria (Illusionist) will be having a show called “Illusions with a Message” in downtown, Indianapolis at Horizon Central. We’ve had the opportunity to see him perform live at the Pastor’s conference last August where he incorporated Biblical truths with slight of hand illusions into his show. So with days before his show, we went to Horizon Central (The building has been around since 1901) to check out the church (It has its very own boxing ring in it!) and then into the community to talk to people and invite them to the illusionist show.
It’s an impoverished and depressed area in general. Most women who answered the door had black eyes, cuts or bruises. There was even a lady, Angela, who ran out of the house with a big knot on the side of her head from her daughter who had just hit her. Jeff met Al with a broken hand who was buying vodka because he couldn’t afford pain medicine. Jeff shared the gospel with him, prayed for him and gave him a book of John. He was really thankful and said “I’m close to surrendering to Jesus. I will treasure this book”.
Al expressed that he felt a lot better after Jeff prayed for him and knew that God has not given up on him. Trevor and Anna talked to Barbara. Her husband and two sons have passed away. They got to minister to her and pray for her. Monique, Alan, CJ and Lee met 16 year old, Sierra, who was depressed and has bipolar disorder. Her boyfriend, Stephen, was recently jumped by a motorcycle gang. He was shot and hospitalized for a cracked skull with 18 stitches, collapsed lung and 4 broken ribs. Sierra was sharing about some other friends of hers who have been sexually assaulted and killed by the same local biker gang. Monique prayed for Sierra and Alan prayed for Stephen and they both got teary eyed. They were extremely receptive to everything and so appreciative. This town really needs the love of Jesus. We are excited to continue reaching out to the people here.
Here’s a student testimony of the time we spent downtown…
“My group was street witnessing in a low-income area. I was roaming the streets with Trevor, Anna, Joe and Wayman. We ran into two guys. We asked how their day was going and asked them if they’d like prayer. One said he didn’t need any prayer, but the other (Mason) explained that he was sixteen and being accused of harassing someone in his family. People were threatening to kill him and people were following him. As we were talking, his friend was telling him not to commit suicide and encouraging him to keep going. Wayman explained to him that he should read Psalms because David was in a similar situation.
We found out Mason does believe in God and used to attend Horizon Central. We encouraged him to start going back and be in fellowship. They both need prayer. We said, “If God is for us, who can stand against us?” and reminded them that God will protect them and take care of them if they rely on Him. Before we left, Wayman asked if we could pray for them and asked Mason if he would lead the prayer. Mason asked for forgiveness, protection, and guidance. We noticed he didn’t smile much, but at the end of the talk, we noticed his countenance had changed. We could tell we were appointed to meet him today!”
-Ezekiel Pugal, on street witnessing.
