I’ve been waiting for two and a half years to write the following six words:  There is a Chipotle in Flint!  

I love Chipotle. Silly Qdoba fans think that the restaurants are similar, but that is like saying a Ford Pinto and a Ferrari are similar or that a 13 inch, black and white Philco TV with rabbit ears and 65 inch LG OLED TV are similar. Besides missing a “U,” Qdoba will also be missing me, now that Chipotle in in town.

I cannot say with certainty but I believe there might be a Chipotle franchise in heaven (that and Chic-fil-A, of course). I also cannot say with certainty that the opening of the restaurant is in response to our church wide prayer “In Flint as it is in heaven.”  But I do know, it’s an answer to my prayers.  Luke was not writing about Flint and Chipotle, but it sounds like my sentiment with his words, “So there was great joy in that city” (Acts 4:8). Did I mention that I love Chipotle?

Chipotle isn’t the only good thing happening in Flint.  In things much more important than a barbacoa burritos (which I highly recommend, by the way), I am convinced that God is doing great things in the city.

Ours is a city with many needs but also many opportunities.  For instance, in response to the water issues some friends of some friends of mine who own a water filtration business (Aquaoxfilters.com) contacted me to see if our church would like a free church-wide system.  Central’s water is from Detroit, but our partner church Joy Tabernacle is in the heart of the city and in the center of the crisis.  To make a long story short, thanks to the generosity of AQUAOX and the hard work of Pastor Todd Womack and the plumbing skills of Central church’s Rick Marshall, Joy Tabernacle will have the water filtration system installed on Saturday. What a blessing for Pastor McCathern and the people of Joy Tabernacle to have clean filtered water!

Long ago, I heard a missionary say, “You can’t tell a thirsty person about Jesus until you’ve given him or her a cup of cool water.”  I never imagined the missionary’s comments would be true for where I lived in America.   But here we are and not surprisingly God is bringing people together to meet our clean water needs and spreading the Gospel.  Now I think Luke’s words truly are appropriate!  So there was great joy in the city! (Acts 4:8)