I was blessed to meet Tammie Henry and Dusty Lampley of “Kingdom Seed Ministries” this past weekend. My day started out kind of slowly as I went out for my typical weekend motorcycle ride. The ride itself was great as I traveled between Belleville and Mt. Vernon Illinois. All of the fields were covered with the beautiful green of new growth. The weather was kind of on the warmish side so every time I rode across a stream or river along the way I luxuriated in the temperature drop that seemed to always appear when I most needed it.
When I arrived in Mt. Vernon I stopped at a gas station to top up the motorcycle’s tank and at Popeye’s fried Chicken for lunch to fill up my own internal reservoir that seemed to echo with sounds like rocks falling in an underground cavern. After the Hungery-Grumberlies were satisfied I sat peacefully watching the other diners while I finished up a blog post. The atmosphere was calming and I had no real need to hurry off but the longer I sat there the more I felt like I was being called to move from that spot. On one hand I knew that God had directed me to ride towards Mt. Vernon and specifically towards Popeye’s (I’d been craving their chicken all week), but on the other hand I hadn’t felt called to talk with anyone about God while I was there in the restaurant.
I prayed for guidance and then pulled up a map on my tablet. I began to look at various different routes to travel back home to Belleville, but none of them felt right; there was something that I was missing. The interesting thing about looking at the map was the feeling that I got as I looked at it. Every route that would have taken me back home felt wrong; at least every route did until I looked at the road continuing on further into Mt. Vernon. As soon as I noticed that there was a route that started from downtown Mt. Vernon and looped up towards the north before returning to Belleville I instantly knew that it was the route I was supposed to use to finish up my travels for the day.
After tucking my tablet away in the saddlebags of my bike and putting on my gear I got back on the road fully intending to ride home. That’s when I learned God’s plan for me for that day. I traveled into downtown Mt. Vernon and was turning left onto the road that would take me further north when something caught my eye. There on the eastern side of the street across from the courthouse I saw a sign painted on the front of the building that read, “Kingdom Seed Ministries.” As soon as I saw it the pull on my heart was so strong that I knew that this was the reason that I’d been directed to ride further away from home instead of returning. Two quick right turns brought me around the block where I parked in front of “Kingdom Seed Ministries” and went inside.
Have you ever walked into a place that you’ve never been in before and yet the minute you walked in you feel comforted and welcomed as though you’d just walked into your mother’s kitchen? That’s the way that I felt as soon as I walked in the door. There was such a feeling of spiritual warmth and coziness that I was instantly at ease. That’s when I got to meet Tammie Henry and Dusty Lampley and things got even better.
Tammie and Dusty were there to do some painting to get their worship area ready for Sunday services. They shared the testimony of how “Kingdom Seed Ministries” had come about. It was amazing to hear how in three short years they’d moved from meeting in Tammie’s basement to opening a facility in the middle of downtown so that they could serve their community. Their vision was nothing short of amazing.
“Kingdom Seed Ministries” was founded with a threefold purpose to Teach, Worship, and Reach. These three focuses are typical amongst the various Church communities, but I was especially intrigued with some of the steps that this ministry was taking to reach the people in downtown Mt. Vernon. To start with they stated that they offer the use of their facility, free of charge, to any organization that needs additional meeting space. This offer had already been used by a number of local organizations such as one of the local banks and the Rotary club.
Instead of trying to compete with other organizations or churches in trying to meet the needs of the community they felt that it was more important to support those services. For example instead of starting a clothing or food closet they decided to partner with organizations that already had programs of this nature in place thereby supporting those organizations or churches in the local area and bringing their community even closer together.
Another area that they realized was an opportunity to specifically serve the downtown business people was in the area of internet connectivity. While the local business community had access to the internet the people who came downtown to the courthouse didn’t have anywhere nearby that they could use that had Wi-Fi access or printer capability. “Kingdom Seed Ministries” saw a need in their local area and stepped in to fill it recognizing the opportunity to reach people by giving them a place where they could stop in for free Wi-Fi. As an add on to this opportunity they realized that they could reach even more of the business/downtown community by offering a coffee shop type atmosphere in the middle of downtown and were in the process of getting that area of their facility converted so that people could come in and relax for a while.
The tour of their facility was amazing and I was thrilled to hear the enthusiasm that God had placed in their hearts for their community. But what enlivened me the most was what happened as I was getting ready to leave. I looked at Tammie and Dusty and asked if we could pray together fully intending to pray over them and “Kingdom Seed Ministries” but that wasn’t the plan that God had in mind. As soon as I laid a hand on each of their shoulders Tammie started praying and that’s when it really got good! I have no idea how long we stood there but I know that we prayed about needs in the community, needs of the church, needs of individuals; we prayed blessings over each of these needs and over those with sickness; we prayed for safety and protection; and most of all we prayed for salvation and for God to continue to guide the Elders of “Kingdom Seed Ministries” as they sought to provide His light in their community. I was so overwhelmed during those prayers that by the time we were done I had tears of joy running down my cheeks amazed at the power that can move in us when fellow Christians come together seeking to glorify Him.
Total mileage 133