His name is Brad Lemons, and the beautiful girl with him is his twin sister Kellie. Brad arrived in Boulder (from Kansas) on a Saturday, just in time for Supper on the Pearl, and didn’t waste any time getting to know our street friends. Brad was one of the teens that came on a SABBATH trip last summer, and it was life changing for him, so he’s spending his last summer before college hanging out with us and loving on the people we meet on the streets of Boulder, and the youth groups that join us for SABBATH 2009.

I’ve worked him pretty hard already. Here he is hiding from me in the new SEVENS fridge. j/k  Brad’s responsibilities include street outreach with Benny, assisting me in the shopping for the SABBATH groups, connecting with the teens we work with, and anything else we tell him to do. He is a natural when it comes to hanging out, making people laugh, and welcoming new faces, and he’s doing a great job. We’re so glad to have him here this summer! You’ll be hearing from him in the next SEVENS newsletter and here on the blog.

Brad on a turf tour in Denver.

For those of you who know me, this is probably my favorite.  My first thought when I saw this video was, “What if somebody did this once or twice a month in different locations.”  What a great way to be Christian.

Check this video out and then talk with someone about these questions.

1.  How does this make you feel?

2.  Could this be a blessing to others or make someone’s day?

3.  Could a group like this be a ministry?

4.  Is making people smile a “real” ministry?

I’M SERIOUS!  Talk about it and somebody do it.

“I get this feeling sometimes that after the world ends, when God destroys all our buildings and our flags, we will wish we had seen everybody as equal, that we had eaten dinner with prostitutes, held them in our arms, opened up spare rooms for them and loved them and learned from them.”

Christ’s love compels us…he died for all. We regard no one from a worldly point of view. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. For He says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’

He forgave us all our sins. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

1st paragraph from the book “Searching for God Knows What”, Donald Miller
2nd paragraph from the book of 2nd Corinthians in the Bible.
3rd paragraph from the book of Colossians in the Bible.

Here’s something to think about.

“There are seven sins in the world:

1.  Wealth without work

2.  Pleasure without conscience

3.  Knowledge without character

4.  Commerce without morality

5.  Science without humanity

6.  Worship without sacrifice

7.  Politics without principle.”

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)

What do you think?  Let’s discuss.

-Benny-

The following poetry was written by one of the SABBATH ‘08 participants.

Thank you Becca!

you might as well give up,
because you’re never gonna win.
you think that they are yours
just because they’re stuck in sin.
well you can break their hearts,
you can take their souls away,
you can get inside their minds,
and make them lose their way.
you can tell them that they’re worthless,
fill their heads with other lies,
and keep them locked in darkness
where no one can hear their cries.
you can consume their every being
and push them to the ground,
till they’re so beat and broken,
they fear they won’t be found.
you can take their identity,
make them lose sight of who they are,
make them feel like less than nothing,
and give them every kind of scar.
you can tear up their emotions,
and kill their spirits too,
push them from any hope they have,
make them obey only you.
but no matter how close you hold them,
no matter how far they fall,
they will never, ever be yours,
because there is someone who loves them all.
for they are His and His alone,
and they aren’t yours to take,
and He will always be with them,
no matter how much they break.
there is nothing you can do
to make Him love them less,
and He has the powere to save them
from any kind of mess.
no matter how ugly you make them,
He sees only His beautiful child,
and the things that he can do for them
will drive even your mind wild.
..and He is not alone,
because we will stand and fight.
we are His voice and hands and feet,
and we’re gonna show them the light.
so go ahead and try your best,
but in the end you’re gonna fail,
’cause we’re gonna love them the way He does,
and save them from your jail.
we will bring them to their father,
who will tightly hold their hand,
and let them watch as you wither away,
and then we will all rest in the promised land.

♥

open your eyes,
listen to their cries.
with fractured minds and boken hearts,
their journey home cannot start.
feeling worthless and scared,
they wander aimlessly, unaware
of those who would love them and carry them home,
because the only thing they know is alone.
faces and names pass through their life,
but never pause to see them or their strife.
their bodies are worn, their minds are sore,
they don’t even know what’s real anymore.
so far in darkness, they cannot see the light,
because no one will stand and help them fight.
so lead them away from this dark place,
show them the One of mercy and grace,
show them the love that they hunger for,
and let them be lost no more.

♥

]]> http://sevensonline.org/2009/03/29/beccas-poetry/feed/ 2 Niki n1194930524_30216559_1983 http://sevensonline.org/2009/03/18/i-was-just-thinking/ http://sevensonline.org/2009/03/18/i-was-just-thinking/#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:31:18 +0000 Niki http://777online.wordpress.com/?p=155 ]]>

It has been a crazy, amazing, sad, funny, incredibly challenging, spiritually uplifting time for the Nowells and SEVENS.  God has been telling me we’re in a learning curve and my response is to look heavenward and sigh back, “No kidding.” So here I am, learning, doing, praying, and knowing that it took us a few years to get here, but we’re right where we’re supposed to be.

We’ve made a lot friends on the streets, and they are starting to look for us, call us, and ask us to pray for them…or just ask for stuff.  We even added a 3rd phone to our cell plan that’s designated as the SEVENS phone.  Benny has gained the respect of some of the “leaders” on the streets as well as the drug dealers and some of the older homeless.  It is rare to walk the Pearl Street Mall and not have someone stop us to talk.  If we sit, people find us.  It seems to me that Benny attracts the hurting like flies to honey.  He’s a street pastor and word is getting around.  He’s there far more than I am, so it’s interesting to watch him and how people respond to him when I am around.  He’s such a good father.  Not just to our kids, but to everyone who needs one.  He lifts people up…sometimes literally. lol  This is two of the boys from the Granbury group last summer.

When we first started SEVENS, I prayed and asked God to give me His eyes when I look at our friends on the streets.  He answered my prayer and one-upped me.  He gave me lots of tears as well and I have grieved deeply.  There have been a few times I’ve had to walk away from a group and get control of myself so I don’t burst into tears and make a situation awkward for everyone there.  This has happened to me more than once.  I was having a conversation with a guy and was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion about his story.  I couldn’t walk away, so I swallowed hard and saved my tears for the drive home.  My heart ached for the walls I felt around his heart and his lack of real and lasting love in his life.

Last summer while one of our SABBATH groups was here, I was observing a circle of hippies trying to pass along their worldly wisdom to some of my youth group kids.  I say “my” because if you’re with me and I’m responsible at all for you – you’re mine.  I’m the Momma – that’s just the way it is.  One of the hippie guys was checking out a few of the girls.  I moved into protective mode and placed myself between him and my girls and started a conversation with them all.  My eyes burned with tears of frustration at satan’s lie of sex=love.  I know that is what was on his mind, but instead of being angry with him, I was filled with compassion at his neediness and his grasping for affection.  Nothing inappropriate happened, but I could feel the sexual tension in the air and it grieved me.  Kids on the streets do whatever they have to do to get their needs met, and sex is currency.  Add hippies and the “free love” mindset into the mix and, well, it changes the way I pray for them.

We are excited about hosting 6 groups for SABBATH this summer.  Two of our best friends were the first to bring their youth groups last summer to experience a week with us on a “break away” (we prefer not to call it a retreat) and on the streets.  The teens and adults that participated were awesome!  (The above picture is some of the group from Wichita with our friends at hippie camp.)  We were encouraged knowing that what we do translates to others, and that we offered them a life-transforming experience.  I’ll be sharing individual stories and pictures from SABBATH 2008 in the coming weeks as I play catch up on my websites and dream about what SABBATH 2009 will hold.  If you’re interested in a future SABBATH trip or interning with us during the summer, please email me at nikin@sevensonline.org for information.  We’re working on adding a page for each of those purposes.

As always, your prayers and support are greatly appreciated!

~Niki~

Literally.  While preparing for their ski trip to Winter Park, the Northside Church of Christ in San Antonio has spent the past several months collecting outreach supplies for SEVENS.  Headed up by the youth group and an amazing set of volunteers, they came up with all kinds of clever names like the month of  “SOCK it to Satan.” They collected over 750 pairs of new socks for us to hand out when we do street outreach.  The donation drive ended with “Sacks for SEVENS” where the teens stapled a list of needed items to brown paper bags and passed them out at church.  Northside members then took them home and filled the bag with items from the list.  When everything was collected and counted, there were over 30 boxes full of stuff!

We were amazed by the generosity of this church family and I was overwhelmed to the point of tears as we thanked them.  The boxes contained 750+ pairs of socks, 265+ deodorants, 6700+ baby wipes, 3200+ feminine hygiene products, $550+ in gift cards for fast food restaurants, thousands of band-aids, antibiotic ointment, tubes of superglue, athletic tape and gauze, pain relievers, and other items that make up first aid kits, and 789+ miscellaneous items such as hair products, shaving items, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and Kleenex.

WOW!  THANK YOU NORTHSIDE!!!

After everything was unloaded, we took them to the Pearl Street Mall where we do a lot of our outreach, and they did a prayer walk.  They met some of our street friends, which was a small taste of what awaits their group that will be joining us for our summer program, SABBATH, in July.

We have so many reasons to be grateful for the people at Northside.  They are also the ones who provided the money for us to purchase a much needed 15 passenger van.   The back end is already loaded with outreach items we’re using now and it will come in very handy in a few short months with our summer groups!  We’re hoping to have our new logo finished and painted on there soon.  We are blessed indeed!

Here’s the ski group in Winter Park right before we drove to Boulder.  Max and Zoe are in the front holding chunks of snow, Benny is in the back row on the left, Pete was already in the van because he was too cold, and that’s me in the black leather jacket on the far left.

God has brought so many wonderful people into our lives.  We are happy to be partnering with the Boulder Valley Church of Christ who is not only allowing us to store stuff in their building, but they were the first church to commit to hosting Supper on the Pearl once a month.  Last month’s menu was Chicken Noodle Soup, rolls, cupcakes, and Gatorade.  They gave of their time and resources but most importantly, they gave themselves as they engaged the individuals and families that joined us for the meal.

We met a newly homeless family at the last meal.  The husband, Rick*, lost his job and is spending his time trying to find a place for his family to live.  His wife Jill* is on disability which doesn’t go far with them and their two young sons.  We were able to give them flannel shirts we had received from a youth group Benny had met in Florida last November, some packets of basic necessities from a youth group in Chicago, and of course some of the stuff from the Northside group.  It’s humbling and faith building to watch as God brings his people from all over the country together to provide for the needs of those we meet on the streets of Boulder.  To semi-quote that old Beatles song, “we get by with a little help from our friends!”

On a sad note, we lost a good friend recently.  Our neighbor Terry ended his own life two weeks ago today.  We’ve been doing our best to take care of his wife Nell, whom we dearly love. It was with great sadness that Benny spoke at the memorial service in the same place he performed their wedding last April.  If there can be a silver lining, through this tragedy we’ve had the opportunity to get to know Nell’s son and his wife a little better.  They are close to our age and are needing friendly support as well.  They have a daughter that’s Max’s age.  Please pray for Nell and Terry’s families and all of their friends as everyone grieves and remembers Terry in their own ways.  I pray that we are offering hope and comfort and showing them that God loves them, a fact that they are doubting right now.

Next weekend our friend Michael is bringing a group from Oklahoma State University to join us for Spring Break.  I’ll be back with an update after that.

Thank you for your prayers and support of SEVENS and the Nowell family!

~Niki~

*Not their real names

Our Christmas tree this year is a small, 3 foot, pre-lit, simple decoration. We’ve had a rough December and didn’t have the energy to pull out our regular tree and all the trimmings. Simple is good and our pretty little tree served as a reminder to me that not everything has to be over the top to be be beautiful or hold great meaning. So it has been with our Christmas celebration this year. There were no parties or gatherings to attend, no “white elephant” gift exchanges, and no big holiday meals planned. We went simple and did our best to live up to what SEVENS is about…rest. We enjoyed each other, kept our tradition of baking and going to the movies as a family, and loved on our friends on the streets.

After the movie, we headed to Boulder. The unusually warm weather increased our chances of finding our friends, and though many of our “regulars” have traveled to warmer climates for the winter, we didn’t have to look very hard to find some friends in need of things to keep them warm. We were able to give away several shirts, socks, gloves, and scarves and had the chance to visit for a bit with our friend “Cap” (not his real name). He was hanging out with a few friends at the Circle K, near the dumpsters he camps next to for the winter. He told us he’s been clean (off alcohol) for 8 weeks today. Cap does odd and end jobs like shoveling and taking out the trash in exchange for free coffee and hot chocolate and the occasional bite to eat. He’s living day by day but doesn’t think he’ll be around next summer. Cap’s body is riddled with cancer. I don’t know much of his story, but I can tell you he served our country as a United States Marine in his younger days, and he has seven daughters. Both of these things are a source of pride for him. Today his eyes were a crystal clear blue as he smiled and laughed with us, told us about his daughters and where he grew up, and posed for a picture with Benny and the kids. Nothing “over the top” seemed to happen, but it held great meaning for him and for us.

Today is the day we celebrate that miraculous night 2000+ years ago when nothing “over the top” happened…or so it would appear to most of the world. But on that night, as it did today with our friend Cap, Heaven touched earth. God smiled and said, “I love you” as only He can. All those years ago He sent His son to live with us. He was homeless at the beginning and again at the end of his life, but God made sure there were people that loved him and met his needs. I am humbled when God sends our family to love on those He’s wooing, and I am grateful for the role you play with us. God is good ALL the time. So today I’m praying that God’s love and provision be “over the top” for you and for the “Caps” in our world this holiday season. Peace to you and your family and Merry Christmas!

~Niki~

My dad was a big fan of country music so I grew up listening to Tom T. Hall, Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Charlie Pride, Charlie Daniels, and Hank Williams jr.. I remember hearing this song from Tom T. Hall and how restful and happy it made me.

Let today be a day of rest and talking to God about who and what you love.

Enjoy friends.