Good News...We moved! It’s been a long 5-year journey to get here…but we are finally all moved in and meeting with clients five days a week in our new office, within the Restoration Storehouse campus on 1400 Parker Road in Conyers.
The path that brought The Refuge Center to this place has not been easy. In fact, many times it was hard! As the Executive Director, I was constantly seeking the Lord’s counsel to see if this move was indeed His will for this ministry. There were moments where I would just scratch my head in bewilderment and ask, “Really Lord, is this what you want for us?” Each time He would reassure us that this was the journey we had to take according to His will. So here we are!
One day recently right after we began to move in, I collapsed in exhaustion from the heavy work of moving all the stuff, I just began to pray. In the quietness of that empty board room, I just exclaimed, “Here we are Lord. What is your will for us next?” With my eyes closed and head bowed, the Lord showed me in my mind’s eye a vision of our purpose in being planted in this new spot.
Allow me to paint the picture for you…
Imagine a huge field full of wildflowers. This field is as large as the eye can see and the landscape was dotted with beautiful flowers of all types, colors, and sizes. As I am standing in this field, a strong wind begins to blow through, and the air picks up thousands of pedals and seeds from these flowers and scatters them in the wind and they fly away. I cannot see where they land but I see them being transported somewhere out of my sight.
Immediately my eyes opened and all at once a rush of some biblical truths layered themselves in my thoughts. Here they are in no particular order because they literally landed like a thud all at once.
John 3:8-"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Who am I to question what the Lord is going to do in this place or why He has us here. He knows the heart of every person that will enter our door. He knows where they have been and what His will for their life is. I am blessed beyond words to be a small part of His plan for their lives. The fact that He is allowing me to witness the transformative power of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of The Refuge Center is incredibly humbling!
Matthew 13:8-"Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
The parable of the Seed Sower has always been one of my favorite parables that Jesus gives us. It is so rich in wisdom and every time I read it, I pick up something new that the Lord wants to reveal to me. This particular portion in the 8th verse has frequently been on my mind since that day in the boardroom.
First, the flowers…usually when you see a field of flowers, there is generally one or two kinds at the most in a plot of land. It is normal to see a field full of just poppies, lilies, or dandelions. So, I thought it strange that the picture the Lord showed me was one of so much variety. But as I have been reminded lately while working so closely through the move with our staff and volunteers, how unique we all are.
Each one of us has traveled a different path to get here. Unexpected pregnancy, single motherhood, financial hardship, and abortion are just some of the stories that are part of our past. But everyone of us has been redeemed and restored by the power of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ. And we are not afraid to tell anyone about Him. It is those very seeds planted in us years ago that the wind is blowing to those who have good soil to receive it.
Now the soil…I am not a gardener. In fact, I can’t keep a houseplant alive. But I have had family and friends that are gardeners. They tell me that the secret to a bountiful harvest is the dirt. A good gardener is always working the soil, tilling it, turning it over, aerating and fertilizing, so when the seed is planted it can take root and grow to produce fruit.
Friends, when our clients arrive at our doorstep most of them have been through this tilling process. Broken relationships, addiction, abuse, neglect, joblessness, and sometimes homelessness are just a few of the trials we see our clients facing. They have walked through valleys that have created an opportunity for the seeds of Christ to be planted and to produce a harvest. Some of the most fertile ground is found at the bottom of a valley!
Matthew 6:28-29-"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."
This was a word just for me about an unspoken concern that I had not even brought to the Lord. Yet He knew the desires of my heart. You see, as someone who is very frugal and is always striving to be the best steward possible of the resources of The Refuge Center, I had approached the new space with the thought of making do with what we had. We would bring over our furniture and décor from our former office and just make do. But secretly, I was not excited about that prospect.
Through the recollection of this verse (Matthew 6:28-29) I felt a rebuking. Why was I worrying about clothing our new office under my own power? Our heavenly father wanted to provide for us like He clothes the lilies of the field! And soon after, wonderful people stepped up and blessed us with beautiful new furniture and more. God is so good!
We could not do any of this without you. We couldn’t do any of this without Him!
Friends, we will bloom where the Lord has planted us!
We are holding an open house in April. Details are available at RefugeConyers.org/openhouse. We hope you can stop by and let us show you the splendor of the Lord’s work!
In His Service,
Angela
Executive Director