Day 3 - The Roc

The morning started with breakfast in the rooms, and some group devos. Stephanie, Linda, Rachael and I read Revelations 5:6...and spent most of that morning trying to break it down. (“Seven spirits of God?” "Can we Wikipedia it?") Afterward, we met in the nearby meeting room, for last-night's recap and to practice. Practice literally flew by. It seemed we were just getting started when David jumped out, telling us that we needed to get ready to go. Lunch already? Lunch was going to be at the Galleria, a Texan mall.

The mall was HUGE. Hannah and I nearly had aneurisms when we found the 2 story Forever 21. We gathered to each lunch (at our finally found, Which Wich) and split up for random shopping. After thoroughly plundering through the mall (actually, only 1/4 of the fourth floor of the mall) we met back at the food court (which was carpeted!) And loaded up to go to the Roc.

The Roc is a ministry outreach for the area youth. Downstairs, there was a clinic, library, offices and a door to an unknown place. Upstairs, the chapel was a huge empty room, not far different from our youth room. (Though much more dilapidated.) Unfortunately, there was nothing for us to do for the pregnancy center, so we set up the sound real early. In a disappointed kind of way, the situation was a praise - the mimes got plenty of extra time to talk about the set for the night, and to practice the songs in the new space (really high stage for a really low ceiling) Also, it meant that people of the community had it covered if there was absolutely nothing we could do.

Practice went well. Then, we got the news the kids were arriving, so we went downstairs, and through the unknown door! A deep hallway lined with doors on both sides, some racquetball courts converted into basketball courts, classrooms, sewing rooms, gaming rooms and several new unknown rooms behind closed doors that weren't allowed to be opened. One girl (seriously, maybe an inch taller than Linda Small) was talking trash to a boy (at least ½ a foot taller than Zach) about basketball. So Ben & Michael split for two-on-two, to see if the girl was really that good. Unfortunately, I went out of the gym to meet new kids, but from what she said, she “totally” won. :) Really, all of the kids were friendly, and definitely curious. No one had seen a "mime" live, and certainly didn’t know that we were coming. There were other churches there, also on mission trips. No one knew who was who, and it took a lot of communication before we realized that we weren't alone here. After plenty of mixing, we went back upstairs to change and prep for the concert... where we didn’t know what to expect.

When the concert was getting announced, I couldn't believe that there were actual bouncers..or very large staff. A lot of kids only came because it was for community service. The politeness suggestion (or rather, threat) was that if there was any disrespect, they would be thrown out. As Michael dimmed the lights, I couldn't help but notice the split down the isle. Inner-city youth on one side, mission-trip

youth on the other. The mixture suddenly divided. Yet, even with the differences, there were SO many similarities. Youth are youth – both sides had some attentive, some distracted, some whispering, some playing on their cell phones...everything we could have expected...but some. Some were glued, entranced, focused. I heard several “Amens” ...and during “Not Guilty” the kids were glued. The clapping began long before the song was over. Many of the youth connected with that song, and it was amazing to see the nodding and the excitement, the freedom that comes (both spiritually and mental) with that verdict of being found “Not Guilty.” With many of them doing community service, I imagine many of them were also on parole and put themselves in that position of KNOWING you did something wrong, yet the judge freeing you because he loves you so much.

David introduced East to West... and for one time, ALL kids were silent. It was amazing how God works. Chris was frozen as Jesus on the cross as David talked about coming to him. In an incredible way, Once Chris left, Ben (as the "old self") was there slinking along like so often our old self does...manipulative, nearby and so sneaky. We didn't even see him come up..so perfect for the short message. Afterward, the leader of the Roc gave a few more announcements, and had an invitation. Though they didn't talk to us it was great to be available for it. Two of the youth were saved!

We packed up relatively quickly as the youth talked about camp. Most of us were SO ready for a late-night dinner at Chick-Fil-A. We had plenty of laughs over inside jokes about leaving Zach asleep in his car seat (trust me, it was HILARIOUS at the time) while the of the workers talked to David about the mime team and the church. Really, God can work anywhere, even in fast food joint. Marcie got a kid's meal which happened to come with a bedtime story. (The Prince and the Pauper) Michael and Chris begged to have it read (Michael promised to read it to Zach) and Marcie complied – each of us laughing the entire time over the hilarity, choppiness and darkness of the story they actually put in a kid's meal (it really wasn't the Mickey Mouse version; no, this was seriously dark)

We prayed for the night outside. It was such an awesome night and everyone felt it. Not only were kids saved, but God was in complete control the entire time. Things fell into place at the right time, moment's happened without any planning and attention's were held. Linda shared what a war she felt that night. She felt she needed to pray, and went out to do so. Of course, during the concert, we noticed nothing off, but she felt such a battle...to the point of “old-testament prophet weeping” She mentioned hearing the little voice near the end of the performance “hey, why pray now? It's almost over!” It was interesting to find out that she was hearing this voice “coincidentally” after Not Guilty.

It was a great night.