Adventures in Samaria
“I think that healing stuff is a bunch of bunk, but I’ll take a cup of coffee and a prayer.” This is what Greg told me when I stopped him on the street outside a methadone clinic in East Baltimore (Methadone is synthetic heroin. It is prescribed to treat chronic pain and heroin addiction). We were there with students and leaders from a youth group that was staying with us for a week of Urban Missions. The tailgate of my truck was the platform for giving away pastries, coffee, healing, freedom, blessing, peace and friendship- the goodness of the Kingdom for free.
The cartilage in Greg’s knees was basically gone and he couldn’t stand for much more than a minute. He certainly couldn’t walk. So he was confined to getting around on a scooter. A couple of students and I prayed briefly for Greg and asked him how he felt. He was surprised when he flexed his knees that he didn’t have pain, so he got up to walk around! He had no pain or stiffness. He stood and walked around and talked with us for over an hour. He was healed, praise God! When he had to go, he got back on his scooter and said, “I thought that healing stuff was bunk, but now I believe. I’m going home and put this scooter away!”
Since then I’ve seen Greg every week at the methadone clinic. Since he’s no longer in pain he is coming down off of methadone and should be clean in another month. Until then, he walks the 12 blocks to the clinic every day without any trouble! A few weeks ago Greg told us that before he got healed he didn’t really have much faith in God, but now he knows God. He reads his Bible daily and is praying with his wife. His wife used to try to drag him to church, but now he really wants to go. Greg’s life was completely changed in one encounter with Jesus!
As I celebrate this testimony with you I’m wondering why I don’t do this every day. The goodness and kindness of God just never ceases to amaze me. We’ve seen broken vertebrae healed, bullets disappear out of bodies, countless knees and backs healed, miraculous detoxing and addictions broken. We often pray for places to live, peace in homes, restoration of relationships, jobs, favor with the courts, safety for family members in prison, you name it. It’s such a privilege to give His love away.
My neighborhood, where I’m living and planting a church is only 2 miles away from the methadone clinic in East Baltimore. Jesus told the disciples to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. East Baltimore is my Samaria. It is very close, just next door. But the people and their culture are very different from mine. I am determined to reach my own neighborhood. But I cannot ignore those nearby who have such great need. The intense desperation in East Baltimore is palpable.
My sense of justice is assaulted by the systemic problems of poverty, unemployment, poor education, drug addiction, violence and oppression. I can’t stay in my neighborhood and pretend this isn’t happening right down the street. The Lord has a dream to restore all the earth, Baltimore included, your city or region included. I am convinced this is part of our call as a believing community to join with the Lord to do our part in transforming our city. Where is your Samaria?
It would be easy to be overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. I know that the gospel is answer. So we just serve one cup of coffee at a time, taking time for each person who stops by, sharing the goodness and love that we have received with them. The Lord is always faithful as He so miraculously displayed for Greg. Go find your Greg.
To find out more about what Burning Heart is doing, or to come join us in an Urban Mission, visit www.burningheartforthecity.com or you can contact me at 410-459-5404, jaysbaylor@gmail.com