Tonight something so special happened... actually a few things are worthy of mentioning.
It is customary for our entire team to open in prayer together, before we start the night and I give a message. From the beginning, prayer has always been the focus. We try to primarily keep that prayer circle to our team, but it's been open to others who feel as though they'd like to join in...
Alyse, a woman that Amanda has poured into over the past 19 months, has been opening up to her a lot because of the love shown. Through time, she's made it very clear to us that she does not believe in our God. She has deep emotional pains & bitterness and we've learned how to be gentle & step back when speaking with her.
Well, tonight she joined us in our prayer circle! That is an incredible step forward for her! Please note, that yes I am using exclamation points. We are excited to see this new breakthrough with her!!!! It gets even better though...
Our team members, Marci & Carl, donated a useful tool for the Ministry. A prayer request journal, so that people can quietly write what they'd like said, doing so anonymously if choosing to do so. Prior to the message given, I'd announced that this book was available and there for them to use. At the end of the night, one person took that opportunity to fill something out. Alyse! The good Lord is doing something in that woman's heart, and we're so thankful to be a part of that.
The Ministry has been blessed week after week, with clothing donations; financial support at just the right time; and the extra helping hands. There is no doubt that GOD is still the one orchestrating this Ministry. Due to the abundance of people willing to help serve and pass materials out, it's really freed me to roam around and meet people after the message. Tonight I spoke with several people who were just passing by and wanted to know what was going on. After telling them what we're about, some asked how they could get involved. It is so awesome to see how the act of Loving your neighbor as yourself, has an impact on others.
A man named David, whom I'd met last week, came to help out tonight. I noticed that James could use a partner on the hygiene/clothing table, so I pointed him in that direction. It was another large crowd (especially for the first Friday of the month) upwards towards 70-75 people. To my knowledge, everyone was able to eat and there were only a very few small scuffles between the crowd.
I'm also proud to announce that our church, Horizon Christian Fellowship, has put on a Thanksgiving outreach for the homeless, for a very long time. Normally the shuttles would pick people up from the Downtown areas of San Diego. This year, they have added PB to their pick-up location. When I made that announcement to the crowd, I saw nothing but shining faces... I could almost see their minds imagining the hot showers, hair cuts, and Thanksgiving meals filling their bellies. I am so pleased with the tremendous cooperation & assistance we've received from our home church. I thank GOD the Father, for raising up a strong God-loving, body of Believers, with hearts to help each other out, in the name of Jesus Christ.
One of the women from PB, Tanya, asked about coming to service on Sunday. She inquired about finding a female who could pick her up. I got her contact information (some of them actually have cell phones) and promised to look into seeing what could be done for her. My prayer is that the enemy would not snatch the seed over the weekend, and that she would have her needs met. My wife might be able to pick her up.
Tonight, what I feared would happen, did. One of the neighbors from the area came down and gave us a hard time due to the size of the crowd. He informed us of the permit requirement for large gathering (in a not-so-friendly manner). Please pray for us. It's very possible that we might not be able to obtain a permit for a few reasons... 1) They cost money. 2) We are feeding homeless people with hot meals and are not a resteraunt. We are trusting GOD to take care of this problem one way or another. We are there to love all neighbors, including those who actually have a roof over their heads at night.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Refreshing times (Friday)
It has been a very busy past few days for myself, so I apologize for yet another delay in posting the latest.
The crowd doesn't seem to thin out throughout the month anymore. It's been a steady 100+ people for quite some time now... some old time regulars, and some just barely hearing about it. No matter how big it gets, or how late we have to stay down there talking with the people, GOD is so faithful to provide even the smallest of needs.
A few weeks ago, I'd mentioned a newer guy named Sid. He and I had spoken about the SDRM earlier and he was interested in hearing more. I told him that we'd have a chance to sit down and talk in depth as soon as the line started to die down... I looked to my left, and become joyfully shocked with whom I saw standing next to me. Our young friend Quentin! He's been in the SDRM for the past 10months. He was able to make it down to visit us while out on his all-day pass. He looks so refreshed... so new... so happy... so relieved to be set free from his old addiction to alcoholism. It literally couldn't have been more perfect that he showed up this night. He was able to spend the next 1.5hr sharing with Sid about the SDRM and what GOD has done in his life.
It's awesome to see such a transformation in someones life, and hearing that individual give credit to where it's due. There are no 12 steps, there's 1... and that is the step of faith, handing it over to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour!
Quentin reported to us, that Jeremy is back on a faithful walk and doing well in the SDRM. He's taken what he's learned from his fallen experience, and growing maturely from it. We also got word that Stephen is back in the SDRM too. Hopefully Stephen is touched by the hand of GOD this time, and surrenders his life to Christ our Lord.
I'm sure the rest of our team has their own incredible stories of their encounters with people down there in PB. Again, I'm thankful that GOD has built up a really strong and dedicated team of volunteers & servants to serve Him through love in action.
I think back to the very few lives that has been tremendously impacted by what we're doing down here, and if we were to stop today... it would've been worth it. The neat thing is that, none of us have any intentions of giving up. It's too exciting to see what GOD is going to do each week!
The crowd doesn't seem to thin out throughout the month anymore. It's been a steady 100+ people for quite some time now... some old time regulars, and some just barely hearing about it. No matter how big it gets, or how late we have to stay down there talking with the people, GOD is so faithful to provide even the smallest of needs.
A few weeks ago, I'd mentioned a newer guy named Sid. He and I had spoken about the SDRM earlier and he was interested in hearing more. I told him that we'd have a chance to sit down and talk in depth as soon as the line started to die down... I looked to my left, and become joyfully shocked with whom I saw standing next to me. Our young friend Quentin! He's been in the SDRM for the past 10months. He was able to make it down to visit us while out on his all-day pass. He looks so refreshed... so new... so happy... so relieved to be set free from his old addiction to alcoholism. It literally couldn't have been more perfect that he showed up this night. He was able to spend the next 1.5hr sharing with Sid about the SDRM and what GOD has done in his life.
It's awesome to see such a transformation in someones life, and hearing that individual give credit to where it's due. There are no 12 steps, there's 1... and that is the step of faith, handing it over to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour!
Quentin reported to us, that Jeremy is back on a faithful walk and doing well in the SDRM. He's taken what he's learned from his fallen experience, and growing maturely from it. We also got word that Stephen is back in the SDRM too. Hopefully Stephen is touched by the hand of GOD this time, and surrenders his life to Christ our Lord.
I'm sure the rest of our team has their own incredible stories of their encounters with people down there in PB. Again, I'm thankful that GOD has built up a really strong and dedicated team of volunteers & servants to serve Him through love in action.
I think back to the very few lives that has been tremendously impacted by what we're doing down here, and if we were to stop today... it would've been worth it. The neat thing is that, none of us have any intentions of giving up. It's too exciting to see what GOD is going to do each week!
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