These verses in Acts 2:17, 18 are the same as in Joel 2:28, 29.  This is a prophecy in the New Testament, but it is taken from the Old Testament prophet Joel.Joel was talking about evangelizing (prophesying).  Peter explained it in a more relevant setting during his brief message on the day of Pentecost.  He was saying that all Christians, young, old, male, female, slave, or freed will be telling other people the Good News of Jesus Christ.I don’t pretend to know where we are in the timeline of God’s events, but I do know one thing.  We are a lot further along than in the days of Old Testament Joel.  We are 2000 years down the road from the New Testament day when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost.God gives us Dreams and Visions to first create changes in our own lives, then to help others.  Without changing first, our dreams and visions are useless.  When we take heed of our dreams, both our lives and the lives of others are impacted greatly.

As a young man, I had never seen a vision.  That being said, as an old man I sure have had a lot of dreams. I have always had dreams but now they are stronger than ever.  I’m thinking it’s because I am sleeping more.  I have always been an early bird until recently.  The older I become, the more I realize that waking up at 3 or 4 am makes me a grouch.  As a result I changed, and I started to force myself to sleep more.  That has helped me to hear better from the Lord.

I think sleeping better makes me healthier, less moody, and more careful.  I have found the more I sleep, the more I dream and dwell on Him.  The more I know Him, and think of Him, the more I want to please Him.  I’ve also been having some really good dreams lately.  Many times the dreams are of ministry or of the children we are ministering to. Sometimes I dream of Jesus or the Holy Spirit.  Whatever it is, whether you call it a dream or a vision, I don’t know.  I do know, however, that dreams help me to focus and press on.  I like to think that some of my dreams come from God, but who knows.  The words dreams and visions mean so many things to so many people.

There are some things that I have seen in my dreams that I believe have been a gentle reprimand from God.  Things I definitely need to change in my own life in order to better help others.

1.  Lack of grace.  I have been dreaming a lot of grace lately.  Sometimes I have awoken feeling badly about my lack of grace, gentleness, and kindness to others.  Sometimes when telling someone about God, we don’t have to beat them over thehead with things they already know.  We all know we are sinners.  We all know that there is nothing we can do to EARN salvation.  In the past, I would emphasize more our shortcomings as sinners than the ENORMOUS grace of God.

2.  I need to plagiarize God’s Word only, and emulate His Son Jesus, not others.  God used Hosea to tell us that the most effective way to attract people is with cords of human kindness.  For example, children. You can scold a child, standing over him or her with your hands on your hip.  God said it is better to first lift up a child, rub their cheeks.  Make a connection with them, by bending down to their level and minister to them.

3.  Many evangelists, my self included, have traveled widely giving the Word of God to people all over the place.  We shared the Gospel with someone who believed us, and accepted the Lord.  Fantastic, great as a matter of fact!  But then we left.  We didn’t follow up.  I don’t know, just seems kind of irresponsible.

Like I said, Dreams and Visions are to change us first, and then as a result others are affected.
Dean

My Dreams for Our Ministry

A. Short term goals

   1. Home

• Government approved orphanage or boarding school.  If the kids are in an abusive environment at night, no amount of food, prayers, or schooling will help them in the long run.

   2. Feeding

• I was hungry and you fed me.  We feed ANYONE who comes and is hungry.
• Feeding centers are good because you can feel the pulse of thecommunity.  Warehouse services provide food but don’t connect.  That’s good but it isn’t getting a relationship going.  By cooking and serving a hot plate is ministry.  Any ministry that is in a third world country needs to feed their hungry neighbors.
•  It gives kids a chance.  The brain is developed before 5 years old.  Malnutrition can affect a child’s emotions, health, intelligence, future and spiritual well being.  Like my buddy Papa Perry says, ‘a hungry belly has no ears!’

   3. Training all parts of the family.  Unwed pregnant ladies, unwed mothers, married moms and dads, unemployed dads, children and siblings.

•  I would LOVE to get generalized testing depending on needs, verbal or written.
  • getting to know them
  • prayer
  • IQ
  • EQ
• Training prenatal mothers
  • Nutrition/vitamins
  • Protection from physical abuse and strain
  • Doctors and check ups
  • Christian counseling
• Unwed mothers
  • Christian counseling
  • Day Care/Maternal care
  • Job training and or job placement
  •  Home economics
  •  Household finances
• Young families (mom and dad training together)
  • see above
• Unemployed dads who want to help
  • rehab (they usually have issues)
  • vocational training
  • Christian counseling
  • job placement
  • FOLLOW UP

   4. Children

•  All ages
• All stages
  • Maternal thru to careers
• One of three categories V.E.A., or a combination
  • Vocational
    • mechanics
    •  electrical
    • hvac
    • welding
    • body shop
    • hospitality
    • culinary
    • cafe barrista/taster/coffee shop
    • bakery
    • carpentry
    • construction
    • agriculture
    • missions
    • IT
    • Call Centers
    • ESL
  • Entrepreneurial (can go with either Vocational OR Academic)
  • Academically

B. Long term goals

• Make it easy to copy for use in other countries.
  • Go and do the same.

C. Sustainability

• As we are training the kids, and unwed moms, and trained dads, we can create small businesses.
• Grant writing
• Donations from churches and large corporations
• Entrepreneurial think tank
• IT/Start up incubator
• Training