Hi again everybody. Time seems to be slipping away faster than I can manage, so I thought it best to start condensing my blog entries to every other week, unless of course something totally awesome happens and I just have to let it out. So here goes... Friday: April 27, 2012 - The absence of our beloved worship leader and his guitar has really made an impact on our evenings. Usually, the beautiful sound of praise sang unto the LORD keeps a peace over the area, and it's blatantly noticeable when we don't have anyone to lead us in worship. The events of the evening were without problems and everyone's stomachs were filled. Three of our dinner guests asked if they could attend church service with us the following Sunday... praise GOD! Sunday: April 29, 2012 - Piling into the vehicle, Amanda and I picked up Sid, Keith, and Mohawk Mike. All three of the guys enjoyed the service and were welcomed with open arms of love from our church. (I often worry how others who might be 'unfamiliar' with this type of group will react or treat them.) I'm overcome with great joy when I see such genuine love pouring out from those I congregate with. Our church had a baptism planned later in the afternoon, and Keith seemed eager to find out more about it during announcement... after service we dropped the guys back off in PB, but to my surprise, Keith ended up riding his bicycle to Crown Point to join us, because of the positive people he encountered while on campus. It was really sweet to see his big smile as he pulled up on the grass. Friday: May 4, 2012 - Tonight was crazy! As I've mentioned before, we can usually plan on the attendance being smaller at the beginning of the months, but this was so not the case. As summer approaches, it draws an entirely new sea of faces... not necessarily homeless people either... just people passing by who would like to catch a free bite to eat. Is there a line that needs to be drawn? The message was from Mark 8, where Jesus feeds the multitude for a second time using only a few pieces of fish & bread, and the miraculous multiplying of that food. It trips me out, because although we didn't have any fish with us this night, we literally did see the bread multiply before our very eyes and then some! GOD knew exactly how many people would show up this night and He met the needs to assure that all would be fed. As the line started to form after the message, it was obvious that we were going to run out of pasta. Out of nowhere comes some random guy carrying two really big pizza boxes. (I'd never met or seen this man before in my life!) He simply said, "Hey I'm here to help." and started passing out slices of pizza to those waiting in line. It was truly amazing to see and I think that for that next hour I stood there in semi-shock. Two of our newest team members, (Horizon Academy Seniors) who also happen to oversee our "Loving The Neighbor" Facebook account, took it upon themselves to and visit with the family that just donated the pizza. I'm eagerly waiting to hear how that all came about. If you're a Facebook'r please "like us" and be a fan or whatever it's called. (Can ya tell I'm not on there?) All in all, it was a really good night.

Well friends and readers, this post will be making up for the past 2 weeks. Blogger has changed their page tremendously, and it's taking me some time to figure it all out, so please bare with me. Friday, April 13th - The weather was extremely poor, with rain & winds blowing against us. Those conditions usually allow for us to fellowship with our dinner guests more... at least those that still show up, anyways. This time was no different. We served around 40 people, but the fun thing was all of us trying to huddle up and stay dry under the 3 pop-up canopies that we brought down. The wind was so bad, that I actually had to use Gorilla Tape on the canopies and the railing so that our things would not fly away! Somebody suggested that we should have shot a short video of that as a promotion for their products. Hooray Gorilla Tape! It was funny to look around and see black tape keeping everything together. All of us shared in celebrating the birthday of one of our team members. She brought her own giant (and delicious) Oreo cookie cake and wanted to spend her birthday with our neighbors. I thought was really cool of her. We actually had quite a few more volunteers show up which was a surprise, especially due to the rain storm, but it was really nice by the time were were done serving the food. We ended up breaking down our make-shift forts and took the magnificent opportunity to worship our Creator together under the glorious rays of the setting sun. The one thing that really sticks out to me from this evening was something that a passer-byers stopped and said to Amanda: "I see you guys week after week, and now I can really see your faithfulness by coming down during this storm." Friday, April 20th - This month marks our 3 year anniversary in Pacific Beach. It still baffles me how our Ministry has sustained this long, especially without any grants or financial support from any organizations. The only true answer is GOD. He is the one providing the necessities each week, faithfully He pours out His blessings, to share of His love to the houseless people of the beach. I heard a saying once, that has remained with me: If it's GOD's will, then it's GOD's bill. We are seeing that first hand, and it still blows me away! Lots of volunteers came to show support this week and help in whatever capacity was needed. My buddy, Rudy, helped make this possible by praying with people as he saw the need. Brian shared his testimony to the crowd, which I know was a GOD thing for most of these men to hear what needed to be said. Although I had a rough life before I met Jesus, I can only relate so much to this group. I never did the drugs that these people are addicted to, so my words mean nothing when it comes to that... but Brian spoke with conviction from the Lord, and GOD used that through Brian. He was able to speak one-on-one with a gentleman this night, who needed some serious help. This guy was in no condition to take on the street life, and GOD strategically placed Brian here on this night, to show the man that there is a way out.

Good Friday

Today, Christians all around the world celebrated the day that our LORD Jesus Christ was crucified. We do this, because it was His death, that brings to us eternal life... through faith in Him.

It's GOD's provision, that allows this Ministry to continue each week. This week, He did something extremely special that I think will be spoken of for years to come... Amanda was able to obtain a 4 pack of tickets to the Padres vs Dodgers game (GO PADRES!!!) We thought it would be so awesome to use the 2 remaining tickets to bless some of our 'neighbors'. More of that later...

The message shared tonight was well received, and 2 of our team members took the opportunity to speak & pray with those that showed an interest in giving their hearts to Jesus. That was really cool to see! Our volunteer numbers have grown in the past few weeks, so it was great to have the men be able to go among those the crowd. That has always been the hard part for me, because there are just so many people, and I can't get to everybody at once, so it's really nice to have that assistance available from time to time.

Everything went smoothly as far as the dinner went. We brought down a large bag of the awesome hats that we were gifted with last weakened. It seemed like most people were appreciative of them. It's always a blessing for us to see how something like a beanie can bring such a beautiful smile to somebody. (Please take this moment to consider, even the small things in your life, and never take them for granted.)

Onto the game we went: Amanda, myself, Sid, and David. Neither of the guys had ever been to Petco Park. It was a treat for all of us. The LORD hooked us up with a fantastic parking spot through another brother in the LORD. Although the Padres got stomped, we all had a blast!

Love covers a multitude of sin....

but love also covers the heads of cold people, through the loving generosity of an amazing Knitting Ministry called, Hearts & Hands. This particular Ministry has given our team hand-knitted beanie caps over the years, which has brought such a joy to everybody that received them.

This past Saturday (March 31, 2012)... Hearts & Hands held a ceremony for the Ministries that have been impacted by the love of this group. I'm pleased to announce that Loving Thy Neighbor (LTN) was one of honored Ministries, that spoke on behalf of everyone whose received a knitted gift from this group.

Before Amanda and I left the ceremony, they presented us with a very large donation of freshly knitted beanies! I'm not talking about a few or a grocery bag full either... there was an entire table filled with stacks & stacks of beautiful, hand-knit hats for our cold friends down at the beach.

I wanted to give a shout out to the wonderful ladies that GOD has called to Hearts & Hands, and honor them by asking all readers of this blog to please pray for them and the supplies they continually need to keep this awesome and unique Ministry going.

They are currently working on filling an order of 40+ blankets for an orphanage in Romania.
Again, all I ask is that you please pray for them and if it's on your heart to help in any way you can contact them through their website: http://heartsnhands.webs.com/

Busy

Tonight was incredibly busy for the team!

There were a few factors that made it extremely busy for us...

1) It's the end of the month, which brings more people to the free meals because all the their SSI finds come been used up.

2) Our team was short-handed by a few members, while other volunteers were running late or fighting to find street parking.

3) Due to an abundant and blessed food donation, we switched up the menu and gave our dinner guests an option of cuisine to choose from, which in turn created more work for all of us.

I was humbly reminded that our ways are not always in the perfect plans of GOD...

I'd arranged for one of our brothers to share his powerful testimony with our neighbors today, which would have given me an opportunity to find some rest for a change. (It can be difficult at times not having an assistant that I can turn to when I need a break.) Anyways, our guest speaker fell through last minute due to his work schedule, and I was unprepared to give a sermon. The LORD reminded me of what He showed me yesterday from the book of Daniel, so I shared about the second dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was pretty amazing to fully rely on GOD to use that story to reach the crowd tonight.

We gave some of our neighbors the opportunity to participate in serving their friends and helping us out at the same time. I feel that this hands-on experience is something that those men will not soon forget. It amazes me how the few that actually want to help, express their desire so strongly and are willing to 'give back' in any capacity.

Thanks to our recent connection with CVS Pharmacy, through the network of a friend, we have been getting our cases of water for free every week. Being short-handed allowed others to go pick those cases up for us. It's only 1 short block in walking distance, but the fact that these guys are willing to do something for somebody other than themselves is certainly a big improvement!

I love watching GOD work and down there you can literally see Him doing something to the lives of each person that comes across our Ministry, whether it's our own team members, people passing by, or those that join us for dinner.... something happens, that only GOD will one day be able to make clear to all of us.

Praise Him!

This is our mission field and the ground is fresh...

Tonight was mind-blowing! There are so many great things to share about what The LORD has been doing with LTN.

There is tremendous testimony is His provision alone. For the past several weeks now, GOD has been using people, who have absolutely no times to 'church', to provide for this Ministry... I find that miraculous in itself.

It reminds me of a story I'd heard regarding one of our Festival of Life events that our church took part in. In an immigrant community where Spanish is the only spoken language, GOD used a drug dealer, to be the translator for His servants sent out to preach His Good News... long story short, that drug dealer ended up giving his life to Jesus Christ by the end of the day. I'm sure that man did not wake up that morning and think 'Gee, today I'm going to talk about GOD while translating to the people that fear me, and then turn me life over to Jesus as my Savior.'

Anyways, back on topic- Upon arrival, both Amanda and I thought it was going to be an adventure serving as we looked at the lack of teammates tonight. O' we of little faith! Not even 5 minutes go by, and our entire area is flooded with people who have come to serve and love our neighbors by our side.

Then, a brother named Brian, and I were observing all that GOD has provided, from the food to the hygiene, to the heaping stacks of clothing. As Brian was giving GOD praise.... (before he could even finish his sentence) another family comes with bags & bags of more clothes and stacks of blankets! Brian and I both just started laughing and thanking our Heavenly Father.

An important belief that our Ministry team shares is giving people the opportunity to serve with us, regardless of their religious beliefs... or the lack of, for that matter. It's not up to any of us to say 'yes or no' when somebody wants to be involved, as long as their participation does not hinder or contradict the work that we are faithfully doing. That being said... we have seen a transformation in some of our volunteers. Yeah, some larger than others, but all for an improvement towards the morals that GOD expects of His children. Like I said, it's not up to us to deal with.... it's all His working. As a team, we get to see the reward first-hand, as lives are changed. It's a real blessing for me to look back and wonder what things would have been like if Amanda and I never took those small steps of faith... and then reflect on all the miracles that we've seen.

My writing will certainly never give justice to what GOD is doing in Pacific Beach. Some of these instances are something many will just have to experience for themselves.

More and more people are coming up to me throughout the evening with words of encouragement on how The LORD spoke to them through the message given that night. We acknowledge that we may never get to see all the fruits of our labor (on this side of Heaven) but we know without a doubt, that Pacific Beach is our mission field and we are called to Love our Neighbors. As time goes on and seasons pass, we see new faces come and go. For us, we are scattering the Seeds of Truth towards everyone who comes our way. In a sense, it's like preaching to all the world, because so many of our guests keep on traveling through.

Evangelism!

What we saw tonight was truly an awesome sight!

Our team arrived like usual, but due to the rainy weather, we made the decision to not bring any clothing.... however, the rain was held back for the time, so in all honesty I suppose we could have brought some, but then it may have gotten ruined in transport when our team dispersed for the evening... so it was probably wisest to not bring it after all.

The message tonight was about being Obedient to GOD out of our love for Him. By the response of our neighbors, the message was well received. One man shared how refreshing it was to hear something other than the 'turn or burn' that other churches preach.

Our team was pleasantly surprised when a friend from another church showed up with 15 or 20 youth visiting from Kansas City. They asked how they could help, so I spoke the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of what we lack: Evangelism.

Our attendance was smaller than normal, probably due to the expected storm, so there was only about 75 guests, but they chose to stick around and eat dinner on the grassy areas. It was the perfect setting for the youth group to fellowship with our neighbors.