Manhattan Trip: Life-changing Experience...

Hello world... LOTS to share about my recent journey to Manhattan (48 hours ago). This perhaps the first time I went on a trip and did not take my computer and so badly wished I had... simply for journaling purposes. I experienced so much and wished to get them down while the moment was fresh. Already, some of it is fading, but I want to get it down as best as I can now...

My mom called last week asking me what I was doing on March 5th. As it was, I had no real plans. So, she asked me if I wanted to travel with her to Manhattan and go to a black tie dinner. I said "sure!"

A friend of mom's, Erstine Belton, invited her to come to this $1,200 a plate dinner (of which Erstine paid for two spots) that was a fund raiser for the "The Balm in Gilead," an a non-profit organization for the purpose of mobilizing churches into action concerning the Aids/HIV pandemic.

That alone is worth mentioning... I have felt for some time now, that I need to connect with people with HIV/AIDS and be a resource, a friend, a help. This organization is primarily in place to connect church leaders to do JUST THAT, yet... in an African American context.

Staggering stats... 1 in 50 African American men have HIV... 1 in 160 African American women have HIV. Regardless of ethnicity, 1 in 250 Americans have HIV, but only 1 in 500 know that they do. Crazy... And what has the church done about this?


*crickets*

I met people from all over the world and primarily African American pastors. It was an interesting evening, to say the least. I had my picture taken with Charles Rangel, the US Congressman... snaps shots of Star Jones and her husband to be, as well as Nancy Wilson (who sang "Goldfinger" among other things), and many... many... other people.

The absolute coolest part of the evening was 2 conversations...

One was with a gentleman from Indianapolis. He was just standing there, like the other 400-450 people, and I felt compelled to speak with him. To make a long story short, @ the end of our conversation he mentioned that before he left his hotel room, he prayed that God would connect him with whomever he needed to speak with... and he mentioned that our conversation confirmed God being at work (my mom and I lived in Indiana for over six years, so we had many common friendships, and other things to talk about). When he said that... my mom asked if he was a pastor. He said no; he was a lay leader. But, then I said, "Then I guess you should know, I am a pastor." He became very excited at this, and began to share with me a vision God had given him in helping provide community centers all over the world, that sort of thing... Instantly, I thought of Horizon and our hopes to do something very similar to that... This man is independently wealthy, owner and founder of a large company... perhaps he has funds to help us? Needless to say... we shared contact info... And what's cool is that he comes to Washington D.C. fairly regularly. In fact, he had just meet with the President in recent weeks. Yeah... God at work.

Second, and in my mind, the most AWESOME conversation was at the dinner itself:

Two young ladies sat to my left at the table... being that this event was primarily for African Americans, these two stood out because like my mom and I, they were not. At the dinner, small talk ensued and people found out I was a pastor... Instantly, the lady to my immediate left asked me direct and deep spiritual questions... In fact, she basically asked me to share the gospel with her and tell her the story of Jesus. I was thinking... "this is why I am here @ this $20,000 a table dinner... to talk with these two." The biggest reason for this spiritual conversation? "The Passion." I dunno... it was the most amazing experience. So much more to share... Maybe later, after I process all of this...