By Cathy Tankersley

On one of our Treasure Hunting outings, I was reminded of the parable of the lost coin.  The official TSM Treasure Hunt had ended and I had business to conduct at Chesterfield mall.  As I went to the different Jewelry stores, I spread God’s cheer by praying for the attending clerks and providing them with a gospel of John. 

Still on mission, looking for God’s treasure, I passed a man in the Food Court sitting at a table.  He had baggies of coins, and he was counting his coins. So, as I passed, I casually asked what he was doing.  This led to a lengthy conversation as he shared how he loved collecting coins and shared with me his different coin collections – what the collection was, what he had and what he was missing.  He shared how a sister had stolen some of his coins. He was bitter about his loss. These coins were his passion and his treasure.

I can’t help but think how God is eyeing his treasures, how he knows what is still missing and what the enemy has stolen. He is passionate about his treasures. God is on mission to gather the lost to himself and wants to use us to help in that mission. Not that He can’t do it without us. He sent his only begotten son to the earth on a rescue mission.  He has personally appeared in visions and dreams to many in order to bring some to Himself.  But He wants to give out rewards for us to join Him in the pursuit of the lost. There is great joy when we lead someone to Christ and even in the act of planting seeds that might take root. There is a satisfaction on being God’s hand and feet on mission for his purposes.

When I asked the man if I could pray for him, he requested prayer concerning the death of someone he knew.  I prayed then and there for the request. Then I said I would like to give him a gift and was he interested.  I had a gospel of John with a love letter from God.  He asked me what the gift was.  I told him the book was a true story that I thought he might enjoy reading.  He gladly accepted the gift.

When I left him, I went the wrong way in the mall and had to turn back and pass thru the Food Court again in order to get to my car.  My soul delighted as I passed the man deep in thought reading the Book of John.  I had to trust God for the redemptive work He was doing in this man, knowing that Isaiah 55:10–11 says, “As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, . . . So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void” (KJV).

TSM would love for you to join us on a Treasure Hunt. 
Who knows, you might get hooked as you start hooking others for God’s Kingdom

TSM's Treasure Hunting Adventure!
By Cathy Tankersley

On September 21, 2019, TSM began Treasure Hunting with a time of praise, prayer and teaching before seeking the Lord for where He might lead us to find His Treasures.

First stop on our hunt was Burger King on Parham and Patterson. We were looking for a couple with large drinks that were thirsty for God and we were to fill them up. We did not find our treasure. Our timing might have been off but we honored the Lord in obedience to go!

Next stop on our Treasure Map was the Firehouse at Patterson & Forest Ave to offer prayer for a sick son whom Jesus wanted to heal.  No one at the firehouse door acknowledged a child was sick.  We (TSM) shared our business card with phone # in case the word was for someone not at the door or in case this was a prophetic word for a soon to be sick son.

Then we headed to Verizon where we encountered a man named “John” – a name on our Treasure Map. When we showed John our Treasure Map, he remarked. “Isn’t that interesting.”  He willingly accepted prayer and we prayed for his business to be blessed.

 We then stopped in the Mixing Bowl Bakery, another clue on our Treasure map, where we encountered a clerk who gladly accepted a prophetic prayer of blessing.

One of our clues was wedding and we noticed a display of wedding cakes in the bakery, so we
 approached the lady working by the wedding cakes and asked her if we could pray for her. She tearfully shared that her brother-in-law, Kevin  was in the hospital from a heart attack and that her sister Joyce was days away from dying.  She gratefully accepted prayers from the team.

Next stop was A.C. Moore, where we were hoping to find a female with sparkling jewelry and possibly items dealing with clowns and a  circus.   We did not discover these treasures.
We had several other places and treasures to discover but time had run out for the group, reminding us God has many treasures that are waiting to be found. There is much work to be done for the kingdom!

Some of us headed to lunch at Panera’s where we found a treasure not on the Treasure map.

We were able to share with our cashier a prayer of blessing, a bible tract & a love letter before we sat down to pray, eat and process our day.
 
Although, we had a few stops that failed to yield the desired results of finding a treasure, we realize that if we had not stepped out in faith, we would not have had the opportunity to bless those we were able to bless. God rewards faith & risk with a pure heart not the actual performance or outcome.
We are looking to Treasure Hunt again on Saturday, Oct 19. Details to follow. Please pray whether God would  like you to join us on this next adventure. It’s great fun !!!

             TSM's Treasure Hunting Adventure
                                                           by Cathy Tankersley
 
On Saturday, July 20, 2019, TSM started its Treasure Hunting adventure with asking the Lord where He wanted us to go to find His treasures.

We heard Him say Lowe's - to look in the wood construction and the garden sections - and Red Robin!  As to exactly where, we discerned we were to start our hunt at Chesterfield Town Center where Red Robin borders the food court and Lowe's is across the street.

Praying for Clues
When we prayed for identifying our treasures, we were told to reach the lost and to look for:

     -young mother with 3 children,
     -braids,
     -pink shirt,
     -stars and stripes
     -physical healing
     -pregnant mom with financial concerns
     -big smile
     -man with a limp

The Hunt
 
We started at Chesterfield Town Center’s Red Robin restaurant.  This was a new type of place for us to do a treasure hunt. We weren't real sure as to how to look for someone in a restaurant when we were not going to be customers there!  HELP!  So we asked the Lord for strategy.  We discerned that we were to ask the hostess if we could walk through the restaurant as we were looking for someone.

Braids
We spotted a woman whose hair was woven in braids with a braided bun.  Not sure whether we should interrupt the lady, we exited the restaurant. Later, we returned to Red Robin and quickly blessed the lady in braids as lunch was being served! We felt she was God's  treasure. We told her “We know it sounds strange but we are on a treasure hunt and you are one of our clues.” She seemed intrigued and delighted. She gladly accepted the gift of a bible tract and love letter from God.

Young Mother with 3 Children
In the mall, as we walked around the food court, we saw a young woman with 3 children (and her husband who arrived later). We approached the woman and showed her our treasure map. She agreed she was one of our treasures and we had the pleasure of praying for her and her husband!
                                        
 
At Lowe's, based on our clues, we started out in wood construction section.
Finding no treasures there we headed toward the garden shop.
Pink Shirt and Stars & Stripes
As we crossed the store, we saw two treasures walking together that were like neon lights flashing at us - a lady who had stars & stripes on her pink shirt & shoes and a man with stars & stripes on his tee shirt.  We shared our treasure clues with them. The lady said that she almost didn’t wear stars & stripes that day but decided to change into these clothes.  They were gladdened by our encounter and requested prayer for their children especially for their daughter traveling to Jamaica. They were Christian and accepted a copy of a love letter from God as well.

Physical Healing
In the garden center, we encountered  a women sitting in a garden chair in obvious need of healing - another clue we had been given!  She was wearing an arm compression wrap and had a nasty scar on her foot.  She shared she had had melanoma cancer on her foot and had the cancer & lymph nodes removed and had resulting circulation issues.  She gladly accepted prayers of healing.


Pregnant Mom with Financial Concerns
Next, we encountered our pregnant mom (with her husband) who had financial concerns in a gardening supply aisle.  When asked for her prayer needs, she shared that she had to quit her job when she got pregnant because she worked around toxins and mold and that they were concerned about living on one income. They were overjoyed to be our treasure and appreciated our prayers.
 
Big Smile
As we were heading out of Lowe's, a salesman yelled out to us “Are you looking for a TRANE?”   This opened the door to share what we were looking for – God’s treasures We gave testimony that we indeed can hear from a real God by showing him our treasure map with a corresponding picture of the stars & stripes couple matching treasure clues. The man, Bill, whom we found to be an atheist, shared that he was raised a Christian but walked away due to the actions of a pastor that offended him. He expressed no need of prayer but accepted the gift of a gospel of John bible tract along with a love letter from God. We gently stated we hoped he would reconsider faith in Christ – that his eternity depended on it.  We prayed for Bill as we walked away – hoping for his salvation & ability to forgive a pastor that had offended him.
 
We Found God's Treasures!
 
Our 2.5 hour adventure felt very productive for the kingdom of God. We were encouraged and blessed as we experienced God’s guidance and saw God blessing others through us in so many different ways.  We enjoyed seeing how we needed each others clues together to complete the puzzle to find our treasure. Just think of the pieces of the puzzle we are missing without your presence.
 
We are looking to Treasure Hunt again on Saturday, Sept 21.
Details to follow. Please pray whether God would like you
to join us on this next adventure.
It’s great fun !!!
  For more information, contact Cathy at 804-833-1256.