4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2023
⏱️ 16 minutes
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When a blizzard struck western New York just before this past Christmas, pastors Al & Vivian Robinson were expecting the usual winter storm they’re used to living in Buffalo. But when their town of Lovejoy lost power and neighbors started getting stranded, Vivian felt God calling her to open their church, the Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry, to help shelter, feed, and tend to the masses. With rescue efforts underway, and small miracles piling on top of one another, Al & Vivian experienced the love of God operating in a way so powerful, so moving, that it still brings them to tears when they reflect back on the 6 days they spent ministering to those in need.
Quotes
“Lovejoy lost all electrical power, but our church did not lose power. And I distinctively looked at my wife and I said, ‘Vivian, why would the Lord let us have electricity while everybody around us has no electricity?’ And then within about 10 hours, we found out exactly why.” - Al Robinson
“That first group of people that came here, the wailing and crying and shrilling, it was terrible. And that's when you began to understand the gravity of what is going on. This isn't a traditional Buffalo snowstorm, it’s far more sinister than that.” - Al Robinson
“It was just incredible how how the the spirit of the Lord in my wife was vibrating with the people around them where they just fell in sync with what she was doing, what what she was telling them to do, how she was orchestrating things, how she was making things up a structured at this church. It was wonderful.” - Al Robinson
“Neighbors started bringing food out of their freezers so that we could feed the masses. It was literally a two loaves and five fish moment.” - Al Robinson
“This is nothing new to us when it comes to serving God's people. And when people are in need, we go over and above to make sure we're taking care of individuals and we make the sacrifices that God has given us to go out there to get the people that needs our help. And that's what we have been designed to do.” - Vivian Robinson
“God gave us this building. He gave us our lives. He gave us our health. He gave us our money. So in our opinion, everything we have already belongs to God. And so if God asks us to do something with what's His, we have absolutely no problem doing it. My life isn’t my own.” - Al Robinson
“It is a privilege I hold in high esteem that the Lord would pick His humble servants here in Lovejoy to be a part of an operation that saved the lives of 154 people during the most catastrophic storm known in the history of Buffalo, New York.” - Al Robinson
“I was just grateful and thankful that God had used His humble people just to say yes to the call and that we had the opportunity to love on these people and to see each and every last one of these lives that God allowed us to save.” - Vivian Robinson
Links
Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry
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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling podcast. |
| 0:10.6 | When a Blizzard struck Western New York just before this past Christmas, pastors Al and |
| 0:15.7 | Vivian Robinson were expecting the usual winter storm they're used to living in Buffalo. |
| 0:21.1 | But when their town of love joy lost power, and neighbors started getting stranded, Vivian |
| 0:26.1 | felt God calling her to open their church, the spirit of truth urban ministry, to help |
| 0:31.3 | shelter, feed, and tend to the masses. |
| 0:35.1 | With rescue efforts underway and small miracles piling on top of one another, Al and Vivian |
| 0:40.6 | experienced the love of God operating in a way so powerful, so moving that it still brings |
| 0:47.4 | them to tears when they reflect back on the six days they spent ministering to those |
| 0:51.9 | in need. |
| 0:54.4 | My name is Al Robinson, Senior Pastor of Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry. |
| 0:58.4 | I am the Senior Pastor here at the love joy campus, and we have been here for 12 years. |
| 1:04.9 | I am also a New York State Certified Addiction Recovery Coach and I'm also a New York State |
| 1:11.3 | Chaplain from the Chaplain Task Force. |
| 1:14.2 | My name is Vivian Robinson. |
| 1:16.2 | I am the Associate Pastor of Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry. |
| 1:21.0 | I am the proud owner of LoverDoc Cafe, a barbecue spot here at love joy. |
| 1:27.0 | I mean, children do we have now? |
| 1:28.8 | Nine kids, eight grandkids. |
| 1:31.0 | So we just have a huge family, I have a huge church family, I have a huge family from |
| 1:37.0 | the Blizzard. |
| 1:43.5 | We're getting ready to just have a Netflix night, another Buffalo winter, another Buffalo |
... |
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