the King's Banquet

Last Monday, before Thanksgiving break, our school took part in a pretty major outreach in Minneapolis dubbed 'the King's Banquet' (Luke 14:12-24). We were all given roles for the evening. I was initially placed as a server, but switched to a table host the day of. Below is my testimony that I sent in to the group that put this on. I didn't have time to rewrite something for this blog, but I wanted to let you all in to my experience with this outreach. (I loved it, if that's no surprise!)


I sat in the far back corner, upstairs, waiting for my guests to arrive. From my vantage point, I had a pretty good view of the wall and the tables immediately to my left and thats about it. First to the table came Rich. Richard is a law student in his 50's that has been unemployed, and taking advantage of the food services offered at Dorothy Day since 2008. He is a devout Catholic who just seemed a little lonely. I enjoyed talking with him about legal studies and Ireland. Next to the table came Ron. Ron is pretty far on the other side of the spectrum from Rich. He is addicted to booze and has the goal to enter a wet-house and continue his lifestyle. Another host came to join our table so the ratio became one on one. As conversation continued, it became clear that these men had little in common. It was difficult to engage both of them at once, but once the talking started we let them listen to the message as we prayed silently over them. I could see instantly how both of these men seemed to shut down when the talking started. Ron put on his jacket and seemed to be looking for a time to exit. When he stood up to leave, I asked him if I could pray for him before he left. This led him away from the table so that Rich could have the full attention of the other host. After I prayed for Ron he suddenly told me this story of how some lady had prayed over his leg randomly on the street a few weeks back and he had been healed. He didn't seem to know why it happened, or why he was telling me really. His story launched us into a lengthy conversation about God's love for him. He wasn't ready to make any commitments to God, and still tried to make up excuses throughout the conversation. At the end, he did give me his kid's phone numbers and asked if I would contact them on his behalf and let them know that he is alive and doing alright. After Ron left, I went back to our table and sat down with the other two. We finished off our conversation and prayed for Rich, and the two guys exchanged contact information to keep in touch. We walked Rich down to the door, and with a hug, said goodbye. The other host and I shared stories from our separate conversations once they were gone. He had gone out with Ron before the event actually started and grabbed a hot drink. He told me that during their conversation, Ron was completely closed to talking about God in any way. He strongly felt like he should ask for Ron's kids contact information, but was reluctant in asking. God was so faithful in bringing that back up so that we would be sure it was from him. I really do believe, based on the conversation that Ron had prior to the event compared to the one we shared, that God is was really moving in his heart on this night. There was a real break-through by God's Spirit. I have yet to get in touch with both his children, but I pray for them often. I think God wants to reconcile this family back together. He is calling Ron to himself so strongly, and I know that he feels it! Prayer covering is needed for Ron and for his kids, Megan and Ryan, as well as over our future conversations!