The Miracle Mascots of Our (Bus) Ministry

weekly fodder for the flock...

Join our e-mail list!

Just type your e-mail address below and press submit.

Print
The Miracle Mascots of Our (Bus) Ministry

June 25, 2007
By Mandi McKibbon

In May of 2006, our teenagers started a bus ministry. In August, we began picking up two boys, Sheldon (now age 9) and Jauan (now age 7). (Their last names aren’t include because they are underage.) It was a challenge from the start! These boys came from a difficult home and had no discipline. We were on guard every week as to what to expect. We’ve been cussed and yelled at, kicked, punched, and everything else that goes along with that. People thought it might be better if we didn’t bring them to Sunday school, and we grounded them a few times for their behavior.

In spite of all that, these boys basically became the mascots of our bus ministry. Kids like them were the reason we were in this ministry! Our whole team fell in love with these kids and devoted a lot of time and attention to them, and over the months, we began to see significant changes in them.

Mascot Miracle #1
Then, on Monday, June 18, 2007, I brought Sheldon and Jauan over for a junior camp service, praying the entire time that they wouldn’t make a scene! At the end, the speaker asked everyone to raise their hand that didn’t have the Holy Ghost but wanted it. Jauan raised his hand, but Sheldon didn’t. I asked him why he didn’t raise his hand and he said, “‘Cause I already have the Holy Ghost!”

I gave him a look and asked, “When did you get the Holy Ghost?”

“When we were all in the big church in the big circle and Tyler and you and everyone else were praying for me. (Kids Empowerment Weekend—back in March!) I was crying and my brother was crying, and I spoke in tongues?”

I was like, you’re serious! And you didn’t tell any of us!

Mascot Miracle #2
Both boys went up front during altar call. I couldn’t get to Jauan, but I prayed with Sheldon. He had tears pouring down his face, his hands raised, he started shaking uncontrollably, and then I heard him say a little bit in another language! At the same time, another lady was praying with Jauan. He’s got his hands raised and is crying out to God.

A few minutes later, they call everyone up to the platform who got the Holy Ghost for the first time that night. I look and see Jauan up there. Well, we know how he loves to get on the platform and mess with every microphone and instrument up there, so I got his attention and motioned for him to get down. He came down and I asked him what he was doing on the platform and he says, “I got the Holy Ghost and they told us to come up here!”

“What happened when you got the Holy Ghost?”

“My lips went like this, and then I said some words I didn’t know!” he said.

Mascot Miracle #3
Then, on the way home, the boys were talking and asked if they could come back the next day.

“This was my second time getting the Holy Ghost! I want to get it a 3rd time!” Sheldon said.

I asked, “How did it feel when you got the Holy Ghost?” Sheldon described it as a “big rushing that feels really good!” Then I asked him what happened when he spoke in tongues. He replied, “It was like, like, a God language. I didn’t know what I was saying, did you know what I was saying, Mandi?”

“No, Sheldon, I sure didn’t!”

In the middle of this, a lady from the church calls so I’m telling the boys about her and how she always has a smile on her face, and Sheldon says, “She must have the Holy Ghost ‘cause it makes you really happy!”

And then the icing on the cake—he says, “I haven’t had to go to jail [juvenile correction] since I got the Holy Ghost the first time!” Let’s keep it that way, bud!

ninetyandnine.com

-----

Mandi McKibben remains an avid Chicago Cubs fan while living in the midst of Cardinal Nation. If you think she’s passionate about bus ministry, don’t even get her started on Bible Quizzing! She spends her days working at Gateway College, keeping all her “kids” in line, and spoiling her niece and nephew.