A Map and Compass

Treasure Hunting

"Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying." Acts 9:11 (NIV)

What is it?
Treasure hunting is our opportunity to provide for a God-encounter for people in our community whom He has already prepared. We come together at the church and spend just a few minutes in prayer asking God to give us words of knowledge for the people He wants us to pray for, where we will find them and what their prayer needs are. We then go out into the community on our hunt for God's treasures. It's a lot of fun and amazing to see God's hand at work!

Why do we do it?
So that people who may not know God can experience God's love for them and so that people in need can experience the hope and love that comes from experiencing God.

Who can do it?
Everyone who cares enough to do something about finding the lost and Everyone who wants to experience more of God in new ways. Caution, once you start treasure hunting it will quickly become more than an event; it will become a way of life!

When do we do it?
We treasure hunt on the 2nd Saturday morning of each month from 10 – noon. We meet at the church, spend a few minutes in prayer and then we head out into the community to find God's treasures.

Read all about it!
Saturday Oct 9, 2010 - The treasure hunt today was fun and fruitful. After receiving our words of knowledge, we once again set out for the mall. This time we were heading to the food court. We had a number of different clues to help us find our treasures. We asked 5 people if we could pray for them and 3 of them were open to it. One of the men we prayed for was in world war II and was suffering a great deal of pain due to being shot 5 times. We prayed and chatted with him for a short while and asked if we could pray for healing. He said "yes, please do. My wife prays for me all the time but it would be great if you would pray for me too." We did pray for his healing and he thanked us. We saw a woman in Old Navy who appeared to be having problems with her right knee, one of our clues. We asked if that was a problem and we found out that she has been suffering from back pain for years due to back surgery she had. We asked if we could pray for healing and she said that would be great. We made our introductions and asked for more information and then we prayed for her. When we were done she said, "I will have a smile on my face the rest of the day." She thanked us as we left. It was a great treasure hunt and a great growing experience.

Saturday Sept 11, 2010 – This was our first official treasure hunt and it was amazing. Six people gathered at the church and after we prayed and received words of knowledge we decided to divide into two teams. We headed to the mall and one team went to Target across the street. The team at the mall prayed for a clerk at Kohl's. When we approached her and told her that we thought she was a treasure on our map she agreed that several of the items on our list could be her. We asked if we could pray for her and she said yes! We asked her specifically what she wanted prayer for and she said she needed more hours at work so she could get her own place to live and be reunited with her children. I can only imagine the hope she must have felt when we told her we taught that God sent us to her to pray for her.

The other team at Target found their treasure inside Starbucks. There a young woman with two young children seemed to be their treasure so they told her they thought she was on their treasure map. The woman welcomed the prayer and told the team that her 2 year old daughter was in need of multiple organ replacements. She also welcomed the team's prayer and they were quick to intercede on her behalf and petition God for healing of this little girl and provision for the family. I can only imagine the hope and encouragement it must have brought this family to have God send these intercessors to her so that they would know that God cares about them and highlighted them. What an awesome experience and what an amazing God we serve!

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