As we entered Maine, I was immediately drawn to the beautiful ruggedness and open space, the empty highway, the softwood forests and desolate-looking land in between towns and cities, the inlets, marshes and wetland. There was a constant crosswind, blowing at us with strong gusts up to 50MPH. Earlier the morning, as we had begun our drive, dad had said, “I don’t know if we will, but I want to see a bald Eagle.” Lo and behold, as we neared the end of our drive to Bangor that first day, a large bald eagle soared directly in front of and above us. I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering all the stories I had heard about previous walks. We arrived at 4:44pm, and checked into room 111. We went to the pool at 6:56pm, and dad was almost in tears as he said, “If I see the day when this verse [in Mark] is fulfilled in my life…”
BANGOR
On our first day, we sat in the Bangor police station, waiting to see if we could connect with the police chief. We overheard a visibly upset woman who was there to pay a ticket and tow fee. “I have to go home and tell my husband, who is a vet, that we won’t have money for food this week,” she said in frustration. The thought crossed my mind, “I should pay it for her.” I didn’t know what to do. Then, dad got up said, “I’m gonna pay it for her.” We had thought the same thing at the same time. She refused, but afterwards, she came over to thank us. “It was kind of you to offer.” She was blessed by our effort, still upset and almost in tears. If nothing else, we were there for her, since we weren’t able to connect with the police chief.
We then went to the city hall. The mayor wasn’t there, and the city manager was in a meeting, but we met the assistant city manager, Bob, and a few others in the office. As dad explained, the looks on their faces were smiles of confusion and something similar to amusement. “These people have probably never heard of something like this before,” I later told dad. He asked them to bless us, something to which they didn’t know how to respond at first. So they just said, “We bless you,” since they couldn’t really say Jesus, although I could tell it took some awkward effort. The cool thing was, all of a sudden the assistant city manager Bob and I started discussions skiing/snowboarding when he mentioned going to his ski slope for the Easter service. There was an instant connection. And then I mentioned Big Sky, MT, somewhere I have lived and he has visited a few times. In this way I could offer a practical connection based on interests and hobbies and everyday life.
On our last night in Bangor, we met a young man named Ozzy at a 70’s looking Denny’s Diner. He was a real nice guy, who was always smiling and asking us questions about ourselves. He eventually asked, “So what are you guys doing in Maine?” And from there he heard some of the story, seeming genuinely interested and curious. We discovered he is actually an ordained minister who goes to a church in town. After waiting for him to have a free moment, dad sat down with him for a moment, gave him a book, and asked Ozzy to say a quick prayer for us (which he repeated after dad). “I’m not really sure how to pray,” he said. We could sense he had a warm heart and sensitive spirit, even if he was limited in his knowledge or his spirituality. It was an open door, and we’re believing he will be impacted by the book, and grow hungry for the things of God.
ELLSWORTH
We had an incredibly rich time in Ellsworth, near Acadia NP and Bar Harbor. We drove to Acadia the day we arrived, only to discover most of the park is still closed. The second day was the start of some pretty nasty weather, which ended up being irrelevant since we spent the day with new friends and connections.
The morning of April 8 we met Mel at City Reach Church in town. He’s a 27 year old African American who’s been sober for 2 years, and he runs the recovery house/program. We prayed together and shared our testimonies and then went to the recovery house where 5 men who are in the program are living with Mel. Most of them have recently come out of an addiction or very difficult season of some kind, whether serious drug or alcohol addiction, sexual addiction, family crises, etc. They shared some of their stories, one at a time. One man from Pittsburg, Paul, told of how he had been shooting heroin for years, and after splitting up with his girlfriend when things got bad, eventually got help from a local policeman who connected him with this program in Maine through City Reach. This same policeman had helped Mike when he was an addict, now the current pastor/leader in Ellsworth, who is also from Pittsburgh. He lived the gang and street lifestyle, fighting pit bulls, eventually doing 50 bags of heroin a day. One time he was attacked by one of his pit bulls when the dog was caught off guard, and he could have been killed. His addiction began when he first received painkillers for his injuries. One man, Mark, had been homeless for a number of years. Another, Jeremiah, a former Bible school student, is recovering from a difficult season in his life and especially his marriage. All of these men have such unique, difficult, and amazing stories. Most of them are not yet out of the woods. Dennis, 70 years old, was an elder in his church. He got caught up in pornography and sexual sin. Eventually he came out into the light, and is now in the process of recovery. After talking we had a powerful prayer meeting right there in the house. Dad and I were moved at what God is doing through and in these men, some of whom are on fire, and others of whom are still recovering from their past and still figuring out what they even believe.
On the spur of the moment my dad left for Bangor for a City Reach staff meeting with the two leaders, where he established a possible connection with the governor of Maine, Paul Lepage, through a pastor of City Reach Bangor named Bobby. I met with Kerry, a local man who is part of an Assemblies of God church. We went to a coffee shop and talked about Maine. He said there is a strong occult and new age presence here. Some churches are “granite,” as he said it, “granite in the ground and in the people,” and haven’t always worked well together. Factionalism seems to be a problem. It is one of the least churched states in the US, with some of the least churched cities. “Less than 10% are consistently involved in a local church,” Kerr told me.
We went to Kerry Lord’s home for dinner. It was a delicious home cooked meal, and we spent time with Kerry, his wife Mary Ann, and their two youngest daughters – Rachel and Bethany. The Lord family had traveled as a family for 13 years, doing music ministry on the road, living out of old restored buses. After dinner, we gathered in the living room. They brought me a baby Taylor and one of the daughters had her ukulele. We sat there in the living room, worshipping, my dad and I with a family we had just met. It was beautiful, a special moment, full of life.
That night we had the prayer meeting at City Reach Church. It was just a small group of us, including the men from the recovery program, Michael, a Messianic Jew we had met earlier, and another older gentleman from the church. We were prayed over and we prayed over the others, and dad showed and shared about his rod/staff. It was a powerful, blessed night, and we felt such a strong love of God for the men we met who are in recovery, and knew we were there to sow seeds into their lives, even if just for a day. During the meeting, I had felt a prompting to share something with them. “You men are stronger and more courageous than you know. It’s easier to just lay down and surrender to your addictions and problems. The easy way out is to just stop trying and give in. But you all decided to pursue freedom when the opportunity presented itself. Most people won’t ever know what it’s like to have to overcome the addictions and lifestyles you’ve come out of. All of you are so strong and courageous.”
On Friday, the weather got better, and we took a drive through a few parts of Acadia NP that are open along the coast. Due to a strong storm the night before, the sea was rough and the surge, waves and breakers along the coastline were majestic, with pounding, spraying water against the rocks. Calvin did some more prayer walking in Bar Harbor and back in Ellsworth to finish out the day.
We know that what we are experiencing here in Maine is because of God’s grace and your faithful prayers and support. Your love for the nation and its people are greatly appreciated; we thank you so much for your continuing intercession. We know God is hearing and answering our collective prayers.
Psalm 104
Luke 4:18-20
P.S. VIDEO UPDATE COMING SOON!
