In line stood a hungry family of 6: Father, Mother, a 9y/o daughter, and three sons, ages 8, 2, and 1y/o. The family has been living in their SUV since April of 2009, when the father, Gary lost his job from the local moving company. The mother, Ruby, does her best to keep the kids clean and educated, still attending elementary school. The family is afraid of being seperated should they enter into a shelter. The family has become well acquainted with the places that offer free food. It was through one of these places, that another church puts together. That particular church has been making the 45min drive to pick the family up every Sunday for services. The family have put their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ during these difficult times. I urge all believers that stumble across this blog to please pray for this family. The father is completely sober and desires to work again. As I stood speaking with him, I could see the sorrow, guilt, disappointment, and pain in his eyes. My heart goes out to this family and I wish there was something more that I could do to help them!
I gave my testimony tonight, and the Lord used it to speak to 2 of the men. "Guitar Billy" made a personal choice to accept Christ into his heart. Prior to his profession tonight, Billy was playing some Christ centered songs on the boardwalk for us while we were setting up. Ron, the other guy, has been walking in the faith for some time. He's one of the gentleman who has ritually helped us unload our truck upon arrival each week. Ron desires a deeper, more intimate walk with Jesus, so we prayed together asking GOD to bless him and strengthen his own walk.
We were blessed to have a familiar face walk up to us. I hadn't seen the guy for awhile, and he came to tell us what awesome changes have taken place in his life. He's been sober for almost a month now, living in a sober living facility near by, and wanted to encourage us. He said that it was because of our 'positive attitudes' that helped him make the changes. He told us that our witness is having a bigger impact on the lives of those we minister to, than we could ever imagine. It was really nice to hear such positive feedback for once. The guy didn't even come to eat the free food, he literally just came down to encourage us, and then he bailed for an AA meeting. What a trip!
It was nice to have the luxury of walking around and speaking to our guests, due to the help we had from Jerry and Joey doing the serving with Amanda.
The food went very fast, which enabled Amanda to spend time one on one with a few people. They all love her... and so do I, lol. She spent about 30mins speaking with "Wheelchair Johnny". He's paralyzed because a drunk driver crashed into him while he was driving to work one early morning. He's in alot of pain. His hands have callus from his extensive travels in his wheelchair.
He's a very likable guy. I hope to spend more time with him and getting him to come to church with us.
I'm grateful for the small things in life, that one would normally not think about. This ministry has helped open my eyes in so many ways. It's no longer just about the homeless! The ministry has effected the lives of so many differant people from so many differant paths of life.
Gloria a Dios!!!!
