There is so much to tell tonight!!
We had a large group of volunteers that made up the team, which is always a real delight to watch it grow as it has. Like normal, we formed a circle together and invited Jesus to join us and to bless the evening. I shared another message and closed with an invitation to accept Jesus... nobody steps forward or made any movement. (It's those very moments that I begin to wonder what I'm really doing down there.)
Being the day after the huge Thanksgiving outreach, there were alot of happy faces in the crowd tonight. For some of them, this year was the first time they'd experienced the outreach at our church. I know I've mentioned this before, and I certainly don't mind repeating it... I absolutely love the Love that is poured out by the people that congregate and make our church what it is. I have never seen or heard reports of hypocrisy. Almost anyone can tell when somebody isn't being 100% genuine and our crowd said they loved the atmosphere at the outreach and felt very loved and welcomed.
Jeremy has finally reached his time at the SDRM to earn passes again. Tonight, he and two of his buddies (also from SDRM) rode their bicycles to join us and hopefully encourage souls to take a leap of faith and give the SDRM a shot. In GOD's perfect planning, one of Jeremy's friends, Stacey, just so happens to be the intake manager, so he has the inside scoop on the available beds. If Stacey tells somebody they are getting in, there's no way around it... they will have a bed. Jeremy, Stacey, and Jeff spent the evening talking with the crowd one-on-one. My favorite part about the SDRM is the fact that everything is founded on Jesus Christ. It is not a shelter, it is a stepping stool to help others grow into a wonderful relationship with Jesus, and through that comes deliverance from whatever addictions one might have.
We had a hiccup again with Patrick. For whatever reasons, he decided to act out again. This time he was upset with another person of the streets: cussing, yelling, threatening violence... pretty much just causing another scene. My first response was to look towards the condos where the rich neighbors are. Sure enough several of them were on the balconies with camcorders and cameras. We'd asked Patrick to please calm down. It's this very thing that doesn't help what we are doing at all. I quietly said a prayer to myself while trying to calm the situation with my brother, Ray. He said some things to me that I shall not repeat, but I would like to share just one. He said that none of us really cared about the homeless! That was the opportunity for Jesus to make His presence known before all of us... the whole group standing in line (and I mean the whole entire group) all stood up for what we are doing. "They love us!"... "Stop it Pat!"... "These are good people!"... "Why do you think these people are here if they didn't really care for us?!?" Everyone down there knows what we stand for and why we come back each week. We come in the name of Jesus Christ as a love offering to help the needy.
Of course 3 SDPD officers showed up within minutes and they had a few words with Patrick. I'm not sure what his deal is. I wonder if it's possible that he might actually be demon possessed. He eventually came back and stood on top, watching us. I walked up to him and asked if everything was okay now, offering him some food. He accused me of being the one who called the cops, so I walked away. Please, I urge, I beg, I encourage all readers to PLEASE pray for Patrick. Something is not right with him.
After dealing with that, I tended back to the crowd and thanked them for backing us up. One of the men, came to me and admitted that when I gave an invitation for Jesus, he was too scared to stand in front of this group. I asked him if I could sit with him during dinner to talk more about this, but he got his food and I didn't see him again. His name is Ray.
Alyse joyfully received the gospel of John! I didn't see how it happened exactly, but I do know that James was able to give it to her and I'd overheard Alyse thanking him for it. That is just soooooooo cool!!!!!
Richard, who has a horrible leg injury due to a robbery (I've mentioned him before) was around tonight. He's been taking antibiotics for his leg and said it was improving, but the poor guy is still hobbling around with crutches.
Towards the end of the evening, I introduced a man named Jeff (who Amanda spend alot of time speaking with at the Thanksgiving outreach) to the SDRM guys. Jeff eventually made a decision to go on Monday and see if he can get in. The funny thing is... while Amanda had spent so much time encouraging him to check it out the day before, he was very evasive about the whole idea and said it wasn't for him. As I'd said earlier... in GOD's perfect planning, He'd orchestrated for the right people to come at the right time to speak with the right person.
