The Cross and the Switchblade: carrying a mantle
My (Amethyst) family lived in a jungle once. That jungle was
made of concrete.
Gangs roamed the streets, protecting their turf. Heroin
addicts would scream mercilessly in the night when cops busted the dealers,
thus leaving the drugs scarce. The cries were shofars indicating that these
drug addicts were completely dependent on Satan himself.
“Being a heroin addict is like living in a small, dark room
trying to reach for a black cat that’s not even there,” said Pastor Pete Rios,
a recovered addict and former mentor for my Mom and Dad.
That was the life they lived. Not me. They….
Knowing, about, yet not really knowing my family’s deep dark
secrets. I have great appreciation for ministries like Teen Challenge that
helped them to get a new shot at life. I would sometimes wonder why I never had
the opportunity to work with this ministry like my parents once did.
Was my connection just that Dad would be rehabilitated so
that I would have a better life, or life at all ? The idea seemed incomplete.
The Prophecy
Late last year, Beverly Lorenz, the pastor’s wife at
Encounter House of Prayer stood at the pulpit and called me out. Unbeknownst of
much of my family background and the core values of Send the Roths, she declared
this word over me in front of the entire church:
Seeing the surprised and confused look over my face, she
explained that Wilkerson spearheaded the concrete jungle and planted a work where
no one else could penetrate. I was doing the same thing, in the actual jungle.
Honored by the word, I kept it as an encouragement. A
stretch? I definitely thought it was. But the word mantle continued to come up in my heart and in my life.
The word caused read the book ‘The Cross and the Switchblade,” a famous read in my family and in
most charismatic circles of Christendom. The book details the beginning of
Wilkerson’s ministry on the streets of New York.
Identifying with the
Wilkerson’s Ministry
As I read the book, I was reading my own story. Never in my
life have I read a book that I can identify with as much as this one.
Intertwined in the book was the past of my family and the joy of my future. I
understand exactly what Wilkerson was going through:
Dealing with self-destructive young people, having to
talking over laughing and jeering as you share the message. Spending the night
in cars and dangerous places where you “should’ve never been.”
And the humbling feeling of putting your heart and soul into
events that no one participates in— or rallies where no one responds to the
alter call. Hearts completely hardened.
That feeling of failure mixed with small glimmers of hope
that God supernaturally ordains to keep us going. Andrew and I know it well. I’ve
never identified with a book as much as I have this one.
As my plane nears touchdown in Kigali, Rwanda, I feel a
renewed sense of vision and destiny for what Andrew and I will do. There’s no
doubt about it that we are called to do this and God has truly set on us a
mantle.
This was touching to me .. Be bless and stay safe<><
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