January 8, 2010

Tonight my heart is deeply troubled. I've experienced something new that I hope to never witness again, and Lord willing, I can help find a solution so that it doesn't need to be this way.

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!!!!

New Years Day ~ Jan 01, 2010

There was an undeniable presence of GOD tonight. His spirit was at work with everyone around!
Throughout the last 2 weeks, we've been blessed with donations of many sorts, including homemade blankets from Fleece materials and Beanies.... tonight we made great use of those items.

Amanda and I were blessed to have some assistance tonight from some of our friends at church, Jerry and Talisa. It's always a special treat when others come out with us. Our fellow sister in Christ, Mary Clo, joined us too.

I discovered something new today... When I had asked why there were so many people missing from our usual size, I was told that majority of them get hotel rooms at the first of each month with whatever SSI they receive. It's comforting to know that some of them are off the streets, even if it is temporary.

The group of maybe 30 or so, politely bowed their hearts as we all said grace together, and listened to a message that had been prepared. I trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to use the message to penetrate the souls of the people. I'm personally comforted because I know GOD's promise, that His word will never return void.

Jerry and I got to spend some one on one time with a newcomer, named Kyle. He does not believe in GOD, but rather Evolution. We were able to share with him some facts about the theory he trusts, and encouraged him to "investigate" into Jesus. He said he would and looked forward to seeing us next week. Before we parted ways, I was able to convince him to take a small Bible Tract with him to read.

It was great to be back down there. It's wierd how 2 weeks away can feel so long ago. I realize with this ministry, there is going to be alot of relationships made between us, and that someday those would disappear and move on. Ryan, one of the guys who got baptized a few months back, is moving back home to Georgia, and I'm actually saddened by this. We may not have hung out as friends, but I will miss him.

Amanda was able to spend time ministering to some of the females, as well.

One of our regulars told me that he's a musician, and plans to play worhsip music for us sometime soon. I look forward to that! It' ll definately be a nice addition to the ministry to have constant worship music available.

As of right now, I plan to pick up 3 men for church this Sunday morning... I can only pray that nothing hinders that from actually falling into place and letting it happen as planned.

GOD is so awesome! I wish it were so easy for others to just see it.
I pray that today, as the New Year is getting started, many souls will accept this truth:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

CHRISTMAS DAY 2009

As I sit here collecting my thoughts, I can't help but wonder how truthful the men and women were being last week. We've begun to know and understand each other, and part of me feels guilty not being there to assure that everyone has a hot meal to eat on this day.

I'm told time and time again, that it's nearly impossible for the homeless to starve in the streets of Pacific Beach, so that gives me comfort, but I strongly feel that food alone is not good enough. The people need friendships, people to talk to when they have issues, people they can hug and be warmed by a genuine smile. The purpose of the ministry is not to give them food and walk away, but to share the Love that Jesus Christ has for people, yes including the homeless.

I can't think of a better way to start off the New Year, than to share it with the needy and telling them how they too can start the year fresh by abiding in GOD: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!- 2 Corinthians 5:17

December 18, 2009

Well... if anything has come from the experience of last week, I'd call it a learning lesson. I'm not quite sure how to take that in, or how to seperate my own emotions from the ministry. We are fully aware that some of the people who come to eat, come just for a free meal ticket trying to get anything and everything they can from us, but then there are those who are genuine, thankful, appreciative, and sincerely enjoy the friendship that we've begun to build with them.

The latter group were the ones who stood up for us last week, while the angry crowd started bad talking us because we did not come. I knew there would be some negative feelings from our absence, and really wanted to use that to somehow get a message of GOD from it. I ended up with a decent message to share with the group, how to not rely on 'man' because man will fail you, but GOD will never fail you, as promised: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." -Joshua 1:5

Upon arrival I was shocked to only see a handful of people waiting around, maybe 8-10 guys... actually worried that food would end up being wasted by the end of the night. But as the night set in, the more people rolled in. We ended up feeding about 1/3 of our usual size.

All our guests assured us that they have somewhere to eat during Christmas (next Friday) so they did not expect us to show up... in a way, giving us a "day off".

I was encouraged by a new person, who had just shown up in the area. Afterwards, we spent some time talking with Spike... getting to hear how The Lord has been working in his life. Lisa encountered a woman who'd been observing us week after week, and was moved to offer help for the future, because of our faithfullness. (GOD is too good and never ceases to amaze me when I hear such things!)

I'd consider it an over all good night.

December 11, 2009 ~ RAINED OUT

We did not make it this week, due to the rainy weather. This was the first time it's rained on a Friday and we did not expect people to be standing around in the rain, waiting for a hot meal.

Unfortunately, we were wrong. I received a phone call from one of the regulars at 5:30pm asking where we were at. I explained to him that we figured nobody would be around because of the rain, and we did not want to risk wasting food if that were the case.

There is nothing we can do about that, other than take the experience and learn from it.
Rain or shine... from this day forward (Lord willing), I will be there to feed these men & women.

Week 32 ~ December 4, 2009

We may not be feeding 5,000 people anytime soon, but we shared the story of when Jesus did that very thing, with the five barley loaves of bread and two small fish. (John 6:1-14)

As we rolled into December, marking another month for the ministry... I felt it was necessary to let the people know that it's because of GOD's faithfullness, that we are able to continue being down there with enough food to feed everyone. The God of whom they heard about in that historical event, is the same GOD whom we serve today with joy.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!" -Hebrews 13:8

I'm thankful for the many people that GOD has brought to this ministry. We would not have been able to find a decent parking spot if it wasn't for the faithful help of Randy standing in an empty parking stall, waiting for us to arrive. (That really helps us late-comers) As Amanda and Molly were setting up and preparing to serve, Joey and myself went above to speak to the crowd from an audible position. Of course the was crowd back to it's normal larger size again. As Joey shared from the book of John, I observed everyone and realized almost everyone was paying attention to the gospel of Jesus Christ and His goodness. When it came time to pray, EVERYONE bowed their heads to join in.

Again, we introduced ourselves to all of the new comers as we walked through the crowd to get in the make line. It's heart-warming to witness the gentler, softer, and thankful side of such people. To sit with them and hear things from their own hearts, letting us know how thankful they are that we're there, well.... words can't begin to describe that feeling! To see the smiles that are brought to so many faces, because they stand there waiting to receive a steaming hot home cooked meal... it's a wonderful thing to experience. Thinking back to the time when I was praying and heard GOD speak about this, never would I have guessed it'd grow into this. I can't imagine doing anything else now, and I thank GOD for pouring out His blessings.

I discovered that some of the men had volunteered their time on Thanksgiving, to our church and helped serve other homeless people during an outreach.

Kathleen, a sister in Christ, came down after work to bless a woman she'd met with last week while her home fellowship joined us.

Some men spoke of interest in attending church with us, and I gave them my contact number so we could keep in touch. I pray that GOD would speak to their hearts and that all distractions would be set aside so they would actually call me. (There's been numerous times where I've driven down because they've said they'd meet me and never showed... so I now figure by calling me, would save unnecessary wasted gas.)

I trust that Jehovah is working on their hearts, whether they display it or not. The respect shown is a sign, that there's already been a positive impact in their lives.

Week 31

Our team was blessed to have other believers come to our side and help serve wherever it was needed. Knowing this ahead of time, I took full advantage of it and brought plenty of things (such as clothes and hygiene materials) we've accumulated over a period of time. One of the women that came to serve had generosously donated some new blankets too.

It was really nice having an additonal 10 or so people. We even had worship music available... I love worship music! The only thing differant from all other times, was the crowd itself. I'd guess maybe 30-40 people joined us for dinner. Considering the way this ministry has grown, I believe GOD has heard our prayers and examined our hearts desires. He's all knowing, so I shouldn't be surprised when He gives us the smaller intimacy crowds, to give us the opportunity to sit with others and get to the personal talks. I'm so thankful that GOD is in control.

I'm somewhat bummed out a bit though. It was a wise move to change the time to 5pm because of the sunlight, but for those that may not have gotten the memo, they come at 6pm only to find scraps of food left (if they're lucky).

We did not do any sharing of the gospel before hand, nor did we do a bible study. We simply sat with people, and got to know them a little bit better, and share with them the love that Jesus has shared with us in our own lives. The people are very open to hear and receive the things of GOD. The people are spiritually hungry and it was awesome to have enough people with us to literally spend time with each that wanted to talk.

Again, none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for GOD. I'm thankful that He's blessed this ministry and for everything that has come out from it. I'm thankful for those who have been able to contribute in one way or another. I'm thankful for the people who have accepted us and now consider us their friends. My prayer is that the Light of Jesus would shine so brightly in our weekly interactions, that it would ultimately have an life changing impact on them, and a desire to seek GOD would grow from that...

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!" -Psalms 40:16

God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. -Psalms 53:2

The poor will see and be glad you who seek God, may your hearts live!
The LORD hears the needy... -Psalms 69:32,33a

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. -Matthew 6:33

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. -Matthew 7:8