For a long time, I have wanted to start a family business/ministry called Leeward. Leeward is a play on our family name (Lee). Leeward means "on the sheltered side." I felt that had profound implications for ministry.
It's amazing how the Lord weaves together the strands of our lives, even the painful ones. I have suffered rejection and chronic pain. In addition, for the last ten to twelve years, I have experienced unrelenting harassment from neighbors, to the point of exhaustion and despair. I will tie this into the story later. In 2004 I became a subscriber to the Voice of Martyrs ministry and began to learn about the persecuted church. In the fall, an article appeared, challenging the reader to "open your tablecloth," i.e. practice hospitality. This is a lost art in America, though it is common in other parts of the world. Hospitality is not one of my strong points, but it's a Biblical command. So I accepted the challenge. As long as I did this, the Lord provided the food, mostly for free!
In early 2005, I began writing to local government officials about privatizing some of the services being cut from the state budget. I felt it was better to privatize than let people suffer. And I got some results! I was mainly interested in services to people with disabilities, because I have worked with them, and I have a nephew with Down Syndrome. Now the Lord wants me to practice what I preach. Later in the spring, I read an article (in a Christian magazine) on adoption. Something about it "jumped out at me." I don't know what the Lord wants me to have to do with adoption. Perhaps facilitating the adoption of special needs children. If so, that
will be one of the last phases of the ministry.
One day in my devotions, a verse about being delivered up to persecution jumped out at me. I think it might have been Matthew 24:9.
Meanwhile, the harassment. I decided that if I was going to have to go through with this, let me at least be doing something to make it worthwhile, i.e. doing damage to the devil's kingdom. I want to lay my life down voluntarily, not be a victim. But how? I began to prayerfully consider how I might do the most damage to the devil's work, and lay my life down that way. Who are society's least esteemed? I felt that, increasingly, it was people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities. Also infants.
Tying all of the above together, I believed the Lord was leading me to open a hospitality center for people with disabilities (not limited to mental disabilities). The Lord confirmed it by giving me Luke 14:12-14 (see sidebar).
Projected phases of this ministry are a house (underground) church, and a prayer group for persecuted Christians. The church is for Christians who expect to be persecuted. The prayer group with pray for, (and assist, if possible) persecuted Christians from other parts of the world.
The hospitality center is next. Then the adoption ministry.
Needs: a large house, and large lot with mature trees, in Boone county, but will consider other location; funds (more on this another time); administrative help; prayer; volunteers.
Inquiries?
http://leewardhope.blogspot.com or
leewardhope@yahoo.com. God bless you.
Update 5/27/11: Alot of this has changed. I won't begin to try to put it all in here. I wanted to give an update on being a victim, though. In the summer of 09, the Lord showed me that when I was a small child, I noticed that the person in the family who got the most attention was the one who suffered the most. So I decided that I would suffer the most in order to get the most attention. That was how I got started being a victim, and it followed me through most of my life. When I realized how I got into being victimized, I also understood that I had a choice. So I decided I wasn't going to be a victim any more. That left me with the task of unlearning the habits of a victim, which has been going well, to the glory of God. Praise His Name!
