Saturday was a good long day of traveling. Our flight left Nashville around 12:30, and we stopped in Raleigh to switch flights. Throughout the day, everyone was pretty wired, but by the time we got to Tampa around 7, everyone seemed pretty tired. It was about 9:30 when Zach, Jordan, and I retired.
We had a great first full day down in Tampa!
We attended Perry and Drew's church service this morning at Covenant Life Church. It was a great time of worship as Perry spoke from Ecclesiastes 8. We had lunch at Chipotle, a Moes-type restaurant. We tried to have a vote on which is better, but, of course, it ended in a tie. I preferred Chipotle, the ingredients seemed a lot fresher.
Then the group taped Covenant Life informational cards onto the back of granola bars and went into the community to hand them out. It seemed like there were some great conversations that happened during these few hours. Sam and I were able to talk to a man for about 45 minutes, and we got to know him pretty well. It was great talking to him; I think we were able to at least plant some ideas into his head. As we got into some back-and-forth debates, ideas kept coming into my head like, "What can I say to him that might make him challenge his belief about this?" or even, "What do I need to say for him to realize that our message is true?" But after we finished the conversation, I started realizing the error in this thought. I think so often in conversations like these, we can forget that we have no power to win over somebody for Christ. Rather, there is a freedom in realizing that we can do nothing to change someone's soul. We can only proclaim what we know to be true, and leave the rest up to God. If He wants to bring someone to himself, he can do it in an instant. So I was encouraged by our conversation in this way. Anyways, there's a tangent for the night.
We also heard a bit from Perry and Drew about their church mission and goals here in South Tampa. I'm really glad we can all be here to contribute in any way we can; hopefully the results of our work will continue to be seen after we are gone. I sincerely respect their mission and philosophy in coming down here to plant a church. It's exciting to see the fruits of their labor being displayed as they see more and more people come to Christ as God uses them here in this city. I look forward to everything this week will entail.
It has become extremely clear that God placed each of our members on this trip for a reason. There is a great spirit among everyone here, and I'm excited not only for this week, but also for the new relationships that will continue to be developed back in Jackson. In our meetings before the trip, it was evident that each one of us has unique God-given spiritual gifts. It will be exciting to see the different roles we are able to play throughout the week.
Readers, continue to pray for our safety, but more importantly, be praying for those we will be serving and conversing with throughout the week.
Corey
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