February 2007
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
Greetings in the mighty and wonderful name of our Lord, Savior, and King – Jesus! We are so very blessed to walk with Him each and every day. We are thankful for the opportunity and grace to meet together with Him every day in prayer and in studying the Scriptures. Even though we have had few opportunities to minister open-air because of the rain, we have been able to get out when the weather is dry. Sometimes it has been near freezing and with a severe wind-chill. Here are just a few testimonies (street stories).
…That We May Know Him… … And To Make Him Known
Ron’s Testimony ~ One day the wind-chill was well below freezing and Marty and I were handing out tracts at the Square when a high school girl came by with her hands in her pockets. Well, most people, except us, had their hands in their pockets that day. She looked at the calendar card and then she looked at me and then she looked down at the card being offered to her. Her hands started to move out of her pockets and then they went back in deeper. She had a decision to make. Then she quickly glanced down at the card, pulled one hand out of her pocket, smiled and took the card. Returning her smile I commended her on her bravery while speaking a blessing upon her.
Marty and I went to the Men’s room at the Square and, while there, ran into a man I had prayed with many, many times over the years. He had been on many different drugs, including heroin, and his liver, kidneys, gall bladder, intestines, and a few other things have been failing him over the years. He looked a little better since I last prayed with him when he was extremely weak and frail. So there, in the warmth of the hallway outside the Men’s room at Pioneer Square we all had a time of prayer, fellowship and sharing scriptures together. We prayed for healing in many areas, including loneliness. Interesting place for the church to gather on a cold winter’s day, wouldn’t you say?
Jean, who is from Birmingham, England, along with a couple of elder sisters in the Lord, met up with us on the Square on one of those cold, sunny days. They had just had lunch together and stopped by on the corner. During our time of fellowship a large young man came by in shirtsleeves holding a few coins in his hand and was about to ask for money. He announced that he was bipolar schizophrenic and only had twenty-one cents. He looked very cold and quite confused and Jean immediately asked him if he wanted some prayer. So an open-air healing prayer time commenced involving five brothers and sisters and a lonely, hurting, confused, and broken young man. After he left, we prayed for one of the women’s daughters who has the same type of mental problem. Open-air church gathered again in Portland’s Living Room on another cold, dry, winter’s afternoon.
Thank You for Your Encouragement
This is a challenging time of year to be involved in open-air ministry. It is usually quite cold, often wet, and sometimes below freezing. So your prayers for our health, our fruitfulness, and our daily provision are so needed and so greatly welcomed. Thank you for your kindness, encouragement, and support! We send you our love and prayers as we send you this short letter.
~ Ron & Karen
Here is a copy of an email Newsletter we sent out in February 2008
February 20, 2008
Dearly Beloved of our Lord:
A Short Testimony From Ron
I was walking into the Office Depot store on MLK Blvd. in southeast Portland when a man in his forties or fifties came up to me asking for money. His hair and clothes were dirty and unkempt. He had no teeth and smelled like he needed to clean up. I had a hard time understanding him because he had no teeth and seemed to have difficulty expressing himself clearly. After some time of listening I understood that he had pooped in his pants and need $3 so he could go to a nearby shelter and bath and wash out his clothes or get some fresh underwear. I told him that I don’t give away money like usually tell people. But I couldn’t stop looking at him and listening to his heart expressing his desperate need. As I looked into his eyes they seemed clear.
So I stopped and began to share with him about the importance of knowing and walking with Jesus as his Lord. He then began to confess Jesus as his Savior telling me that he had been praying for someone to help him. I asked him if he had a Bible and he said that he needed one. So I walked him back to my car as he pulled along his shopping cart loaded with his worldly goods. I unlocked the car and got out a New Testament and handed it to him while he started to hug me and thank me. As I talked with him about the importance of reading the Scriptures I pulled three $1 coins out of my pocket and began to give them to him. With this he started to hug me and shake my hand saying “Thank you, Thank you. This is so good because I need to have $4 to get cleaned up and I already have $1.
We hugged a couple of times, shook hands, exchanged names, and had a short prayer right there in the Office Depot parking lot. Two or three coming together in His wonderful name having church right in the parking lot! As I walked toward the door an African American woman yelled out at me through the open window of the passenger seat of a car parked near the entrance to the store. She had been watching the exchange and yelled out a big “God Bless you!” for all to hear quite clearly. I replied a blessing back to her as we exchanged smiles and I walked into the store. More than two of us had been coming together in His name in that parking lot.
I do not have words to describe the stirring in my heart as I walked into the store or as I sit and write out this short testimony. Our testimonies are important because they reveal our relationships. I sensed a renewed brokenness and the fear of God. Much more had been going on than I realized at the time. Even now I still find myself thinking back on the time in the Office Depot parking lot along MLK Blvd.
Perhaps these scriptures help put it all into context.
Matthew 10:7-8
7And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Matthew 25: 37-40
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Revelation 12:11
11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293