Today was our last day at Horizon Indianapolis.

It is bitter-sweet as many of us are excited to see our families but are sad to leave the family we have met here. This morning, we had a blow out breakfast with the Bible college students and some of the Horizon staff.  Pastor Bill gave us some encouraging words and prayed for safe travels. We hugged our newly formed family and said our good-byes. After we packed up, it was time to head out.

First stop, was at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky where we spent a few hours roaming around the museum grounds.  A must see if you’re ever in the area.

Second stop, Calvary Chapel Tristate in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Michael Villoria joined us for his final show here and then will be flying home to Hawaii with his lovely wife, Debbie.

Please keep us all in prayer as we embark on the 40+ hour drive back to San Diego and as the Villorias travel back to Hawaii. Pray that we have divine appointments in our travels and that we continue to be accurate expressions of the love of Jesus Christ. Some of us are still fighting sickness so please pray that we are healed before we head out and please continue to pray for all of friends here in Indianapolis.

Team One  ::  From left to right  ::  Anna, Alan, Shannon, Caity, Lee, Monique, CJ, Trevor, Ezekiel, and Joe (not pictured  ::  Amy and Jay)

Team Two  ::  From left to right  ::  Mike Dianne, Stossi, Jonathan, Jayson, Lawrence (back) Kristin, Andrew (bottom) Dinna, Tabitha, Chris, Felipe, Absalom, and Brian

 CCBCi  ::  HSE  ::  Michael & Debbi Villoria

This morning we went to Horizon Central to do an outreach at Sense Academy (A charter school). The school is located across the street from the Horizon Central campus. Because the school is a public school, Michael Villoria was not able to share the gospel message; instead he worked in biblical morals and values. At the end of the show, however, flyers for the full show, with the gospel message, that evening were handed out to the kids.

After finishing up there, HSE returned to the CCBCi campus and had lunch. We spent the rest of our afternoon packing and cleaning.

Then we headed to the show for our final outreach at Horizon Central. It was awesome to see how many people showed up, one of the girls who had accepted Christ earlier this week came and was able to hang out with the person who led her to the Lord.  Michael performed his show and presented the opportunity for people in the crowd to receive Christ and many accepted the Lord.  Praise God!

Today we did a lunch outreach at Circle Center mall downtown. Michael Villoria did table illusions and HSE split into small groups and shared the gospel with people we were sitting next to.  As Michael did table illusions, he was able to draw a young man’s attention.  Absalom started to speak to him in spanish and found out his name was Gerardo.

Michael did an illusion where he took the Gerardo’s $1.00 bill and turned it into a $100.00 bill.  Amazed at the illusion, Gerardo started to talk to Absalom about the illusion.  Absalom explained how in the world’s eyes, Gerardo may be a $1.00 bill.  BUT, in God’s eyes, he’s worth far more than $100.00.  Absalom told him that hat God loves him and Gerardo thanked him and went on his way.

A couple minutes later, Gerardo came back and started to talk to Absalom again… within minutes of Absalom sharing the Gospel, Gerardo accepted the Lord as his Lord and Personal Savior.  Praise God, we have another brother in heaven!

Along the same time, several groups went to Panera Bread inside the mall. Stossi, Ezekiel and Shannon met a guy named Julian from Paris, France. He said that he was raised Catholic, but his beliefs lined up with relativism. Basically, he believed all truth is relative to a person and situation. Stossi wrote a poem in response to this conversation:

How will they know what love is after man has misrepresented?

Centuries later, it only gets worse;

Deceit has only become better versed.

How will they know what love is when Your church continues to ruin it?

No one can be perfect, or once again,

Is that just relative?

You are love; of this I’m absolutely certain.

Wondrous truth, please consume this place where Your truth has been disgraced.

Lies replace the power that I know is in Your name.

Please consume the relativism with Your absolute truth.

My God, my God, He is love.

My love, my love, He sent His son,

And I have failed a thousand times to love the way He does.

They all failed just like me,

But it doesn’t change why Jesus bore the wrath of God

Out of love on that tree.

I won’t stop telling of Your love.

I won’t stop laboring for Your truth.

I will be here at Your feet.

Please use my life to usher the lost and blind

Here to rest with You in the shadow of Your wings.

My God, my God, my God is love.

My love, my love, my love sent His son

To live, to die, to pay the price

For all that was reserved for me on that tree beside the murderer and the thief.

Consume the lost with Your truth,

Show me how to love like You and pick up my cross,

Then they will know You are love and see how You are so wondrous!

Nothing we can say or do can change the truth that is in You.

You are absolute.

Yes, Jesus, You are absolute.

Every knee will bow, every tongue confess,

You are beauty, You are love, You are glorious.

 After lunch, we had individual reflection time. Jeff asked us to ponder two questions:

• ‘What has God taught you about yourself on practicum?’
• ‘How will this impact my life when I return home to San Diego?’.

Then, we broke into men’s and women’s groups and shared with one another. Andrew, Kristin’s eight-year-old son, participated too without us knowing. We found his response written on a journal sheet: “God tot me: God tot me how to lisin to people that need help.”

That evening, the HSE women went to an illusionist show with Michael Villoria at Sheltering Wings, a battered women and children’s shelter.  The HSE Men went downtown to evangelize.  As the women were leaving, Chaz called and said everyone had to have an ID to get in the facility.  That posed a problem for Anna, her wallet was lost during our 40+ hour van drive to Indy.  Amy suggested that Anna must have a divine appointment waiting for her with the men.  So we drove back and dropped Anna off with the men before they left.

And Amy was right.  Anna had a very powerful encounter with a young woman who we will name “Sydney” for confidentiality. She saw Sydney sitting at the food court, filling out job applications. She felt God put it on her heart to sit down and ask her how she was doing. Almost immediately, Sydney began to open up to Anna. A rape victim at 13, she is 19 years old and has a six-year-old daughter. Sydney lives in a garage with roommates and her daughter lives with her family.

After talking for a while, Anna shared the gospel with her and led her in a prayer to accept Jesus as her Savior. Sydney was overcome with joy. They went on a search through the mall to find a Bible for her, but with no success. However, they were able to give her a gospel of John.  Please pray for Sydney as her journey as a new believer begins.

This morning began with church. Pastor Bill Goodrich taught out of Numbers 32 about having endurance as a believer and being loyal to God and wholeheartedly following Him. A few students went to Horizon Central for church service, where Pastor Dave Kosobucki taught out of 2 Timothy on endurance and faithfulness to God. There was an interesting unity between each message.

A few of us served in youth ministries during second service. Jonathon, an HSE 1 student, shared his testimony of our practicum with the high-school students. He encouraged them to stand firm in their faith and values and cautioned them to not take advantage of their faith, knowledge and access to the church body.  He shared with them about the kids from the youth mission in Wisconsin and the reality of their brokenness and lack of community. So, he motivated them to value what God has given them and where He has taken them in their lives.

After service, the church invited everyone to a potluck to watch the Indianapolis Colts Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars football game.  It was a sweet time of fellowship with the body before we leave on Wednesday.

Later, we were given the option for rest and fellowship or to go to HHOOT ministries. Shannon, Chris, Lawrence and Ezekiel decided to go, in hopes Brandon and Ryan would be there (previous blog), and they were. They spent an hour and a half talking with them. It was a heartbreaking encounter because Brandon started using meth again. They encouraged and reassured him of the hope found in Jesus to break free of his addiction. He has the head knowledge of who God is and what Jesus did on the cross for him, but he has yet to accept Jesus as Lord.

Today, we broke into women’s and men’s groups for breakfast. Some of the students helped cook and the men had food and fellowship in the cafeteria and the women ate at Golden Corral.

A former HSE graduate, Anne Kingston, joined us for the day from Dayton, Ohio. She shared a lot of wisdom with us and is very kind and outgoing. Debbie Villoria joined us for breakfast, too. It was a great bonding time for each of the groups and a great chance to learn more about each other and from each other.

After breakfast, we all went to the Circle Center mall downtown to evangelize. Michael Villoria did table card tricks in the cafeteria and the students spread out and talked with people.

A high-school band competition was going on at the stadium nearby so there were a lot of students in the mall. We had many opportunities for conversations. We got to encourage many of the band students to seek out God.

Then we drove to HHOOT ministries to serve the homeless. We helped serve lunch, sort and organize clothing, and got to talk and pray with the people. Shannon, Ezekiel, Brian, Chris and Monique talked to their friend Ryan (recovering heroin addict mentioned in other posts). Chris related to him and encouraged him because he endured a similar past. Brian told him he should give his life to Jesus and that God would give him the strength to resist the addiction and temptation to relapse. They prayed for him and invited him to Horizon Central. He was excited to check it out.

We had pizza together for dinner, then we separated into three groups for the evening. One group set up for Sunday school, a second group did childcare for the pastors and staff on campus so that they could go on dates, and the third group went back downtown for street evangelism. Michael Villoria came downtown and did street illusions. They opened up the door for many conversations about Jesus. Later, we split into groups and spread out through the town. God opened up a lot of opportunities for engaging talks.

Today, Team One went to Columbus Christian School for Michael Villoria’s illusion outreach at chapel. There were students from pre-school through high-school there and they were all very engaged. HSE students got to connect with the students and get to know them before and after the outreach. Almost the entire front half of the students in the chapel raised their hands to receive Jesus as Savior. It was a brief, but special time.

Team Two spent the morning cleaning the facility at Horizon Central (School 18). The building is over 100 years old and five stories high. It was a lot to clean, but very rewarding to serve this church that pours out so much.

Team One joined at lunch time and HSE continued to clean until dinner. Some HSE students helped out with an after-school program. They worshipped with students from kindergarten through 5^th grade, played and talked with them about knowing God.

Horizon Central hosted an illusion outreach at 7:30 for the church and its surrounding community.

We saw a lot of people we invited from the area. There were a lot of opportunities to engage in conversation before and after because refreshments and snacks were provided by HSE’s food team. The crowd was really into it. There were lots of families and young kids.

When Michael invited people to accept Christ, quite a few adults and children raised their hands and prayed with him.

Two HSE students, Shannon and Stossi, met a young couple named Nick and Melissa. Stossi mostly talked to Nick, while Shannon shared with Melissa. Stossi felt a strong connection to Nick because he reminded her of her own brother, Nick. He accepted Christ three years ago, but he has no friends that are Christians now. It has been easy for him to compromise and has hindered his growth. Stossi encouraged him to seek God and fellowship.

This past semester, Melissa dropped out of high-school because of depression. She regretted the decision because she saw that it would hurt her future. She became isolated and negative thoughts took a toll on her life. She is trying to get out more and spend time with people, which is why she came to Horizon Central for the illusion outreach.

Stossi and Shannon prayed for them and hope to keep in touch.

Team 1 spent the morning working on service projects around Horizon Indy’s campus. While Team 2 did went to Trinity Christian School for an outreach with the Christian illusionist, Michael Villoria.

Part of Team 1 cleaned the Horizon campus; mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, etc. The other half of Team 1 worked outside trimming trees around an elderly neighbor’s home.

Dolores and her husband have lived in the same home for fifty years, and have been married for sixty-five! She said that they were very thankful to have our team help out because they could no longer do the work themselves.

Team 2 had the privilege of visiting Trinity Christian School. It was explained to us that most of the children in attendance (pre-school- 12^th grade) did not know the Lord and came from low-income families.

Michael Villoria presented the Gospel to them through his illusions and a few students came to know the Lord. It was encouraging to see teachers and administrators demonstrating a genuine love and concern for these precious kids who perhaps don’t see that kind of love as often as they should.

Later, both teams braved the frigid weather to pass out flyers for a Michael Villoria show happening at Horizon Central. Armed with flyers and cold noses the teams dispersed into the surrounding neighborhood inviting anyone and everyone they came into contact with.  We had the opportunity to have conversations with people and even pray for some.

One group consisting of Stossi, Chris, Dinah and Felipe, were able to fellowship with a local ministry that invited them in for a refrain from the cold weather. The pastor there, Rick, said he was greatly encouraged by the team and what they were doing. Another group, Amy, Kristin, Andrew, and Brian, spoke with a family who was going through some very hard times, having moved multiple times that week. The house they were currently in was not up to code and the father said he was greatly comforted by the group. He was a Christian and mentioned that his mindset was about to go in the opposite direction but the group lifted his spirits and gave him hope.

We then drove downtown, where we were blessed to work at HHOOT and also blessed to witness the first snowfall. It was especially exciting for some of us native San Diegans who are not used to snow. It was also, however, bitter-sweet because we knew some of our friends would be out in the cold tonight. HSE students have been able, through these past weeks, to get acquainted with some of the regulars at HHOOT. Tonight we helped serve food, fold and sort clothes in the clothes bank, play music and talk to the HHOOT community.  Please pray for: Lee, Stephan, David, Richard, Solo and others who are out in the cold tonight.

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.