Sweet Victory.

Have you ever been so in awe of God that you just can't stop laughing and rejoicing?! You find your breath taken away and can't seem to come up with words to describe the goodness of what He has just done. Yep that's me right about now. Last night I went to a strip club. Never did I think I would be standing outside in the dark night submerged in 18 degree weather, huddled in a circle with girls (and one guy) standing outside of a strip club in the middle of no where singing "How He loves." Declaring His promises, and singing praise over such a dark place that the enemy has invaded was incredible. It was amazing how as we lifted up the name of Jesus outside of the club with a guitar, voices, prayer, and God's Word chains of darkness began to fall off that place and it was made into Holy ground. This process started last year. A girl on my hall, Katelyn had a vision and heart for reaching out to girls suffering in Human trafficking and prostitution. She made an announcement during our hall meeting asking if anyone would be interested in praying with her and seeing what the Lord wanted to do with this dream placed in her heart. Two fundraising clothing stores and 4 group meetings/time of prayer later we all loaded up in two cars with 20 gift bags completely unaware of what was going to happen. Only having the knowledge that Jesus is sovereign and is in complete control. We show up at the club around 9 pm and started off in prayer and worship. I've never been so cold in my life but I've also never felt so close to the heartbeat of Jesus. It was beyond humbling. I mean think about it, Jesus suffered so much for us because He is passionately and endlessly in love with us. It was amazing to see Him place me in a spot where there was suffering and a passion for souls. After praying and worshiping together for about 15 minutes. Two of the girls who have been our leaders through this took the box of gifts inside as we all waited in the car outside off the doors interceding and praying that God would do a work in that place. (Side note: the gift bags were valentines day themed and had chocolate, nail polish, face wash, hand written letters declaring God's promises and love towards the girls, and new testament bibles.) They were inside for about 25 minutes. We were honestly expecting nothing more than for our girls to deliver the gifts to the manager of the club and then leave but of course Jesus always does exceedingly above or beyond anything we could ask or think. When Kendall and Katelyn came out of the club with a man we were all a little shocked, but it turned out to be something amazing. This man was one of the managers of the club. He came to walk them out and say thank you. He wanted to let us know that he is going to make sure every gift gets to every girl and that he is glad we came to do this because the girls need hope. Not only that but he invited us back  and gave us discount cards to get in the cub so we could share our testimony of Jesus Christ with the girls face to face! The head manager took down our leaders e-mail just in case some of the girls at the club wanted to get in contact. The crazy things is, is that this is exactly what we prayed for. We prayed that the managers heart would be softened and that doors would be opened for us to build a relationship with him so the girls at the club could be ministered to. Look at God!!! Oh and the manager even opened up about his spiritual life and where he is with God, which then led him to say that because we came there he will be in church this Sunday! UMMMM JESUS!! We were all so pumped and overwhelmed by the power of prayer and the power of our awesome God. Because of Jesus 20 strippers are going to get a gift that tells them they are loved, valuable, precious, and the King of the universe is passionately pursuing them. I believe those girls are going to get saved because I believe a seed was planted last night and God is going to water it with the only living water and make it bloom into salvation. Gosh the sweetness of Jesus is amazing. Guys never underestimate the power of prayer. Never in my life have I felt so unworthy and so unseen yet so engulfed in Jesus' heartbeat. Who I am that I get to go and stand outside of a strip club crying out to God and asking Him to break chains when I am no better than the men and women inside of that club. That's how our redeeming Savior works. He is a miracle worker. I pray that this testimony encourages you guys to be passionate for souls and willing to go into the lowest of the low so that people can get saved and experience His amazing love. God wants to do marvelous things through you, you just have to be willing to say yes. Please continue praying for the girls in this club, the manager, and our team that went out. We are going to continue pursuing God's heart and seeing where He wants us. But while we are pursuing we are praying. This ministry didn't stop with us giving the gifts and leaving , it has now just begun for we have been given a mandate to pray for these women and men and trust God to have His way in their hearts. Satan is defeated and every chain is broken in Jesus Name.

- Cause I loved you before you knew what was love

And I saw it all, still I chose the cross

And you were the one that I was thinking of

When I rose from the grave,

Now rid of the shackles, My victory’s yours,

I tore the veil for you to come close

There’s no reason to stand at a distance anymore

You’re not far from home. (Steffany Gretzinger)

Preparing the gifts and praying over them!

The coupons the manager gave us.

Salvation is So Sweet.

But I will sing of Your power, Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning: For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. - Psalm 59:16

I am so thankful for the cross. I'm so thankful that my salvation isn't earned or obtained by works but that it is obtained through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. I am so thankful for the cross. There is nothing else that can save me. Being a good person, making good decisions, getting baptized, going to church twice a week, none of these things give me salvation or put my name in the book of life. Only Jesus. Only by His mercy, grace, and sacrifice is our salvation available. It's so glorious. What's even crazier is that when we accept Christ to be Lord over our hearts, and lives, he fills us with the Spirit and changes our values to His values so that those things I just listed above become apart of our lives; not apart of steps to salvation but a result of salvation. It's one of the craziest things in the world. And I am so thankful for it. Reading this bible verse this morning really encouraged me and refreshed my spirit. I have just been going and going this week. With non stop work, randomly getting sick, and feeling drained because I've allowed myself to worry and stress but not trust God, I've been discouraged. That's one of the reasons I love God's word. It is alive and active and literally takes a discouraged heart and brings power and truth. Today in convocation at school our campus pastor shared with us that a girl we had been prying for who got hit by a car a few weeks ago had a 25% chance of recovery. Now the doctors are saying she is going to fully recover. Praise the Lord for turning that 25 to an 100! God is our defense. He covers us in the shadow of his wings and makes Himself a refuge for the worried, broken, hurting, and sick . So I've made up in my mind by the life changing power of the Holy Spirit to worship God regardless of what I feel, to take time all throughout my day to just say "thank you Jesus." His mercy is new everyday, it sustains and makes me whole. I encourage you guys as I encourage myself to sing of God's greatness and power everyday. Even if you have no idea what your future holds, even if you're in the hurt, wondering, waiting. Continue in thanksgiving and constantly remind yourself of the cross. Praise is a weapon against the enemy and a fragrant sacrifice to God. Use it and rest in the fact that your sins are forgiven and your name is written in the book of life. - Sofia