Never stop loving... ever!

It's been so long since I've last written and so much has changed over the years. I'm at a loss for words, but the burden to post is pressing on my heart, not to just say anything but to glorify God and share of all that He's been doing in that time. Looking back and reviewing the photos, I'm caught in the past, reflecting on the good old days. It's been nearly 7 years since God called us to what we do. Our group in Clairemont has grown to approximately 50 people attending the meals. We may never see the fruits of our labor and I've learned to accept that. It's been a hard lesson for me. For so long, I craved results... not for my own self reward, but to confirm that we weren't wasting our time. That has always been my biggest concern. God has taught me through trials of my own, to wait and trust Him because He is always doing something. Loving Thy Neighbor, as a team has completely changed since the last entry. Only a small handful of original team members remain. Through the things God has orchestrated, we are fully supported by our church family at The Branch San Diego. I am so very grateful for the overwhelming love and support from such kind people. Majority of the new team are fellow members of the Branch. We are currently still only meeting for dinner the last 2 Fridays of the month. It's worked well, although the original plan with the move was to test the waters with serving just 2 weeks out of the month. So what's really new? Hmmm... The relationships that we have built with our friends has never been stronger. A large number of our guests are people we knew from the PB days. Some utilize San Diego's finest public transportation to reach their meal. Keeping that in mind, we make it a point to wait until 5:30pm before we start the night. A message of truth and hope is still given before the food is served. One of the benefits of a smaller crowd these days, is the luxury of changing the menu up. It's no longer just pasta. We have done bbq's, enchiladas, tacos, and may more home-made types of dinners. It's amazing to see the joy and love put into cooking for our guests. (I don't do any of the cooking, just to be clear.) I confess - "I can't cook". Our start time had to change to 5:30 so that I could still be a part of the ministry. I no longer work locally and my commute is less than fun, so 5:30 is the soonest I could get there. Sometimes everything happens so fast that we are reloading the truck by 6:30pm. Let me try to paint you, the reader, a picture in words how it all goes down at the intersection of Genesee & Bannock Ave... Amanda arrives at 4:45pm, greeted by the hungry awaiting guests already forming a line with their backpacks in place. As she pulls up, usually Wayne and other long-time guests are quick to unload the truck and have everything all set up,literallywithin minutes. As the team trickles in, everyone picks their station for the evening. It's very casual. I'm sure it looks strange to people driving by, to see a large group setting up with tables and clothes on the corner of a park. I've stepped away from preaching as much as I was. That privilege has been given to Joey (a long-time team member) and a brother named Paul. Paul is a unique brother with a tremendous gift. He was called by God, to remove himself from all comforts this world has for the working class, and step by faith into the mission field of the houseless life. He literally sold and gave away all that he owned, aside from his Ford Ranger that he sleeps in, to be alongside his peers, whom he shares the Gospel with on a regular basis. I cover in the absence of either of those two brothers. The support of our ministry has grown so much, that we regularly host yard sales to raise funds for special things, such as things found our our wishlist. I'll be sure to follow up on the wishlist another time. The most recent praise report is His provision on us obtaining a shed large enough to hold all the items for the ministry. Pictures will follow soon.

Getting familiar

This past Friday was our second week for the month of February. Our guests were the same as the week before, with a few more.

What I like is that we get to spend some much time with the people. In that we can pray for then or share about why we are doing what we do: "We love because He first loved us."

Our growth is slow at this point and our team had grown with plenty of likeminded brother & sisters who are eager to serve... Only hang up is that we don't have lots to do yet. At least not in this area.

I believe that I'd mentioned other ways our team wants to love on our neighbors through works of service. We are in the process of arranging our first opportunity to help The Body with some needs. This is exciting and I feel this is a great way to get others off their seats and serving Jesus with the gifts He's so generously given us.

Not much to share this week, but it's an update and I can't stress enough the plea to please pray for us.

February - Our 2nd set up

This time was a bit more fruitful than last month. Surely the massive flier campaign we did helped spread the word some but to our surprise... A few guys from PB showed up this week. It was good to catch up and continue building those relationships along with the other new guests that came for dinner.

We served beef tacos this time, including refried beans, and a healthy salad. Our gathering was small yet intimate enough.

With the gathering still being so small, we're able to have some liberty in what amounts we can hand out. We jokingly told the guys to not get used to it as it grows though.

Over all it was a sweet evening full of fun fellowship and feeding some hungry new friends. I look forward to the opportunities that God has laid out for us.

The Green Zone!

Funny thing, that term is.... One because it's a term used for a 'safe haven' or 'non-hostile area'. It can also be used to describe a specific spot or geographical location, which either way could be used for this evenings event.

Tonight was the launch of our Ministry in a new part of town. In preparation we passed out several flyers and met with numerous neighbors in need, giving them well advanced notification of our whereabouts. Including this afternoon, I spent a good portion of the day driving around Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, and Pacific Beach. I got positive responses from everyone I encountered...

Amanda took advantage of the change of pace that's set before us and switched the menu now that we have that opportunity, which was hard to do with such a costly volume of people in PB. Tonight we had Chili, Cornbread, Fresh salad, Fruit Platters, and other goodies.

We didn't know what to expect for the evening, although God knew, we didn't know... and to be quite honest, I was a bit worried earlier this morning. Our team arrived on schedule, meeting at the park or our place beforehand to help with last minute things.

Once we arrived at the park, we set our tables on the big grassy area that faces the nearby bus stop. Hence, the 'green zone'. Our positioning was strategic for those traveling from afar by public bus to see us with no confusion.

Completely breaking the mentality of attendance numbers that we're so used to in PB... We were blessed to serve a total of 5 hungry neighbors, of which not all were "homeless"... Again breaking free from that perception of defining how to love our neighbors. A neighbor is anyone, homeless or not. Our first patron was a young child walking with her father. She enjoyed a giant cookie, while i played with their cute French Bulldog. The rest of the evening was well spent of sweet fellowship amongst one another, catching up an gathering ideas, and simply praying for each others needs.

None of the food went to waste either. All that was made was wisely divided up in preparation for next week as well. Collectively our team enjoyed the heat from such a hearty chili.

Of course we invited all who passed through the park. Many looked puzzled at our presence, just like before, but we are very excited to see what God has in store for us.

Sadness in Reality

As promised to the people of Pacific Beach, it's my duty to keep that group informed of our new location starting this week. In doing so, I went to the boardwalk last night with a stack of flyers to pass out. Boy was it cold down there!

To my surprise, the scene has changed since our departure. I expected to see the same group of neighbors congregating at the usual spots, but there was nobody to be found anywhere. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed because I'd hoped to see some familiar faces and do some catching up.

I did run into one guy who attended our meals. I spent about an hour with him and God gave me a wonderful opportunity to share about His truth with this guy. Before we parted ways, he informed me that one of our old attendees had recently passed away. It saddened me to learn this news.

Tonight, I learned of yet another person (who I shall remain nameless but one our entire team cared deeply about) passed away tonight. I know nothing of the details other than his death is confirmed. This news is a blow to my heart and I do not know how to put it into words.

Tragic as death is, it something that awaits us all. It is final and there is no returning from it. At the moment, all I can think about is how pressed my heart is to share the Gospel of Truth with as many people as I can before it's too late.

The latter of the two guys claimed to know The Lord, and there is slim evidence to prove such, based on his lifestyle. God knows the struggles we all face and it is He who knows if they had a real relationship together. I really hope so!

The Ministry launches the new site in a few days and we don't really know what to expect. I am asking for prayer from those who read this blog. My prayer is that God would bring comfort to our grieving hearts for the loss of a friend, guide and direct us, bring a tight unity to the team, that His Spirit would already be at work on the hearts of those who received the flyers, and that His love would be the shining light that will draw neighbors to Him through our labor of love.

New Season, New Year!

Happy New Year's to all. I, myself am very excited for this new year and whatever God has planned for us as a Ministry.

With only 1 more week until we launch our new location for dinners, we had several volunteers prepare sacked lunches, as a team effort, to spread the word to the surrounding neighbors. In those sacks, we included a pair of new socks, a sandwich, a snack, a Bible track, and a simple flyer with a map indicating where dinner will be served on a regular schedule. I think the number was 45 sacks made.

The original plan was to get them all out on Saturday afternoon, but the sunlight was not in our favor, nor was the chilling weather conditions. Before it got too dark, we were able to pass out about 10 lunches and pray with a few people.

The rest we distributed Sunday afternoon, which was much more productive. We came back to headquarters empty handed.

It still amazes me how God orchestrates things to fall as He plans, and it never comes at a bad time. It's funny how that works....

Just this afternoon, somebody contributed a box full of socks and other clothing items for our neighbors in need.

Oh and I forgot to mention that because of our break from Pacific Beach, we've now had the opportunity to get more organized and what what inventory we have on hand as far as hygienic supplies go. That task alone is major, so having the team over to help get organized was a real blessing for us.

As I've shared with others over the past months, about the new location (being much more local)... A number of others have shown interest in participating. I think change is a good thing and I firmly believe we made the right choice in moving out of PB.

More updates as they come.
May God the Father bring forth paths in the wilderness and rivers in the deserts, just as He promised in Isaiah 43:18-19.

Amen!

Update for the season!

Well, here we are at the end of November... It's been about a month since we've left PB. Of course there are mixed emotions but our team all agrees that we made the right decision.

Being that most of the LTN team fellowships at Horizon anyways, it was no surprise running into some of our friends from PB at this years Thanksgiving outreach. It was neat to see some familiar faces.

I've held back on mentioning what exactly we are aiming towards for a few reasons. The biggest is that Gods ways are not always what we have planned, so things may change if we say "This is what we'll be doing."

For now I can share what things we've been praying about and we are confident that if that's what God will is, the doors will be opened wide...

From experience, we are well aware that the biggest need for the homeless community is at the me of the month. That's being said, we plan to establish ourselves at a park in the heart of Clairemont Mesa on the last Friday of each month. Flyer distribution to inform the locals of our Ministry will start at the beginning of January 2013.

With the last Friday taken care of, we have at least 3 other weeks available for Ministry opportunities. This is where the changes are taking place. I know that not everybody shares the same heart to reach out to the homeless population and that is perfect understandable...

What about sharing some love with the elderly in our communities? Whether that be cooking meals, doing yard work, doing small repairs at somebody's home, walking around and praying in convalescent homes, etc... That's an area that's heavy upon our hearts.

It's undeniable that San Diego is a huge Military town. How can we not love those who willingly risk to lay down their lives for our freedom, including our freedom of religion? In what capacity can our team of servants for Jesus Christ reach out to love on the Military families? Door to door prayer? Teams of people maybe help do the grocery shopping for mothers while their spouse is deployed? There's so much potential to share Jesus is such actions!

The other week is somewhat undetermined still. Originally we were thinking helping in orphanages and loving on the children Jesus talks so much about loving the kids and not preventing them from coming to Him. The only issue is that I have yet to locate any orphanages in San Diego. Our heart is still for children but we are seeking direction and guidance where to go and what to do.

That's all I have to update for now, so please remember us in your prayers. May GOD grant each of you blessings upon blessings, peace, love and joy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.