Scars

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

"We all have scars, but as we run our fingers along their rough edges may we not have bitterness or self-pity or guilt; may we feel redeemed." - Mike Donehey

This is a quote from the lead singer of the band Tenth Avenue North. I am kind of partial to this band because they are local boys here from Florida. I love this quote! There are so many times that I feel like my life has been defined by the scars that I have. For me, the scars come from Health Issues I have had, From mistakes that I have made, and from the many ways that I have hurt or been hurt by others.

We all have them, Scars that is. They may not be visible to the naked eye but they are there. A few days ago we were reading in the book of Joshua with our kids. We were talking with our kids about faith and believing that God is on our side and that he never leaves us. For the first time in a year, they have seeds of doubt, they are wondering why it feels like God has left us and why it is so hard right now. They are suffering from the scars that the last few weeks have brought. I just want them to know that scars, as awful as they feel, look or seem at the time, are signs of Hope! It means we have been healed of something! Our scars are a sign of Grace and Mercy!

Then I thought of this song by Gungor.

No matter who you are, where you are at in your journey, that you can see your scars and be filled with hope. Know that God makes beautiful things!

shadow boxing

I was driving home from dropping the girls off at school one day this week and as I was sitting at a red light, out of the bushes, on the other side of the road, next to a bridge, a guy that looked like he was about 45-50 years old crawled out onto the sidewalk. He was wearing muddy clothes and his hair was going in all directions. He brushed himself off, to no avail, and looked around on the ground until he found a small cardboard sign. He picked it up just in time for the traffic to allow him to cross over to the median to start panhandling. As he was crossing the street he started punching, jabbing and swinging at the air in front of him like a boxer approaches the ring.

That picture stayed with me all week. Not because some dirty homeless guy with some crazy antics crawled out of the bushes and started asking people for spare change. But, because this guy slept in the mud, did not have coffee or anything to eat yet, looked like he would be spending the day out in the rain and yet he was ready to fight another day.

If ever there was an underdog, it's him. I'm routing for him and I hope you do to. Please pray for the homeless, that God will meet their needs and next time you see one, go ahead, give 'em a high five (bucks).

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those

who close their eyes to them receive many curses. 

~ Proverbs 28:27

Joel Anderson

Hello, my name is Joel Anderson. Those of you who know me know that a couple years ago I longed to leave the safety net that nearby friends and family were willing to offer as well as my comfortable, mundane, droll, boring, dull, fly swattin', watchin-the-grass-grow way of life behind me in Missouri, in exchange for the teeth gritting, hair raising, action packed adventures in the urban jungle of South Forida's (SoFla) palm tree lined, zombie walking, bad-driver-riddled streets, relying on God to provide for me all along the way. And for those of you who don't know me... That's exactly what I did and I haven't looked back. It's been a wild ride and I can't imagine how boring I'd still be if I hadn't come to South Florida and met these people who's impact on me has sparked fires in my heart that have forever left an indelible mark on who I am today, who I will become in future days. And these fires will continue to burn brightly as long as I have the breath of life in me.

It's with a sort of bitter sweet sadness that I must now leave these incredible people here in SoFla to return to Missouri and the familial duties that I believe are my obligation, having learned the things I've learned along the way. Now that this time here is drawing to a close, it becomes increasingly evident to me that this is the right thing for me to do at this time in my life based primarily on the health of close family as well as the trends that are becoming obvious in the geopolitical landscape of our nation. Will I be back to SoFla one day? I don't know. But I DO know that this has been an amazing life changing experience and those I've encountered along the way have been wonderful sources of encouragement for me through the hard times that have been all too frequent. They have helped me to keep my focus aimed on the positives and have lifted my spirits so that there were just as many wonderful awe-inspiring times as there were hard. All of them in one way or another made it easier to bear the hardships that go hand in hand with such amazing adventures.

So, with my life forever changed and the decision to return home decided, these past few months flew by. As my self imposed departure date has steadily approached, I have planned routes, packed belongings, made check lists, checked those lists, double checked them again, and rushed around to accomplish all the little things that are required to achieve the perfect move. All with the smooth efficiency of a four star general running a flawless campaign. Then, about a month ago I hit a snag. Sort of. Not a snag exactly, more of a hiccup really. The family that has been providing the lions share of the support I receive were asked to leave the house that they'd been renting. I don't know all the details of the events that led up to it, just that all of a sudden and without much warning we were all without a roof over our heads.

Somehow though, we were able to just barely get into a two bed hotel room. Most of us slept on the floor and all of us felt the sting of uncertainty as we prayed our way through the next week or two. The moving jobs that Jeff and I rely on for money slowed down, clients that Jeff's wife rely on for income turned away from us and to top it all off, the family van that she uses was totaled in a freak accident on I-95 after Jeff dropped the older children off at school. So, with fewer moving jobs, a cleaning business incapable of operating, extra time now required by the moving van to pick up the slack from the totaled van thus eating into the work day at a peak business times, money got tighter than we thought was even possible. And then just when things couldn't get any worse it became painfully obvious that it was much more expensive to use the moving van with it's 10-12 miles per gallon twice a day for the round trip to get the kids to and from school, than it was to use the van which got a significantly better fuel to mile ratio. Oh, and with the moving van, that 10-12mpg is on a good day. On the rough days it gets as little as 6 miles to the gallon.

With our patience for each other running low from being cooped up in a tiny hotel room along with the stress of our finely tuned and well oiled yet fragile system crashing down around us. We reached a breaking point. Something had to change. So, we packed everything in the van and headed south because the one thing that we could change was how many miles were in each round trip to the school. We found a room through the same hotel chain much closer to the school. But when we got into the room and saw that it was just ever so slightly smaller and the appliances functioned at a slightly diminished capacity... we reached our lowest point. Ever. Of all time. With morale below it's lowest possible point, unable to feed our community famous breakfast for the homeless and no promise of work tomorrow the people who loved me the most and did more for me than anyone else on my adventures, gave serious and deliberate consideration to packing everything up and some how some way getting back home to their family in Missouri. The only reason they didn't give up was because even that was financially impossible. Giving up, literally was not an option.

So, instead we just accepted what we could. The small things. Things like the fact that the wifi worked better in this room. The fact that somehow every day we made at least the bare minimum in moving jobs to pay for the room for the next day. The fact that even though we couldn't put hot food in the bellies of the hungry hungry homeless we could at least give them a dollar when we pass them by, if not a dollar fifty. Our outlook slowly shifted to one of acceptance relating to our circumstances. As we let go of the demoralizing fear that accompanied our seemingly uncontrolled free fall into the lowest possible moment of our year, we began to get what God was teaching us. That no matter how difficult or impossible things appear to be, God will not fail us. Because even though we reached our lowest low, the kids had food in their bellies each night and a roof over their heads. Things have been slowly improving. We got out of the tiny hotel room and into a small two bedroom apartment. It feels like a palace. I'm sure all of us have a pretty keen appreciation for the space we have now. Oh, and it's right smack dab in between our two homeless hot spots where we do most of our work.

In the aftermath of this period of darkness things are getting better. Slowly. I'm sure that Jeff wishes we had more jobs than we know what to do with, the same as myself, but it IS the middle of the month. A notoriously slow time for the moving business. It should pick up pretty soon and there is the possibility that we might win the bid for a big job that's scheduled for the end of the month. And my plans for exodus? Delayed by more than a month but still in the works. If I put my foot to the pedal and the pedal to the metal, I just might make it out of here at the end of the month.

But here's the thing.

The Kauffman family has embodied the very essence of love in action and I myself have been a major beneficiary of that love.

Yes, I could save up the rest of the money I need to bounce and leave them behind to fend for themselves, and with no small amount of gratefulness in my heart. But... what if I could give back to them some how?

I have witnessed with my own eyes the amazing life changing results of the Kauffman's ongoing efforts to reach the unloved of Miami and their efforts to love them like they've never been loved before. The Kauffman family and their non profit organization ReMerge accept the rejected, feed the hungry and comfort the hurting. The homeless, the unemployed, the broken hearted, the lonely. These are the people who need the Kauffmans so very much more than I ever did. Now I may not be able to replace their totaled van. I may not be able to improve the gas mileage on the moving van, or get them into a house with four bedrooms and a fenced in back yard. I may not be able to do much to cover their needs, but two things I can do. I can give them my support and I can spread the word about what they're doing to make this world a better place for all of us.

Please join me in praying for the Kauffmans and ReMerge as they press forward in their mission to love South Florida's social rejects. And a donation of any amount would be an awesome way to show your support for the work that they do.

help wanted

I've been reading through the book of Psalms the last couple of weeks and found that many of the Psalms were written by David when he was running for his life from King Saul. Every day was a struggle for David, every day he had to rely totally on God just to stay alive and exist.

In one sentence he would be asking why God was nowhere to be found, the next sentence he would declare that his enemies had surrounded him and were attacking relentlessly, the next sentence he would be thanking God for being his fortress and fighting his battles for him.

No time in my life have I related so closely to David's Psalms as I do now. All except being hunted down by a demon possessed king and quite frankly, I don't want to experience that at all. However, at every turn the enemy IS attacking. He steals at every opportunity and any chance he gets to destroy what has been built he does. Often it seems God is nowhere to be found and that he's far off taking care of things that matter, like protecting people in the midst of war, famine and pestilence. But then, out of nowhere he shows up and fights our battle and we survive another day.

Truth be told, we totally rely on God just to stay alive and exist every day here in South Florida. In Psalms 55:11 it says "Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets." We are in a seemingly never ending battle and well, battles make a person battle weary. We are wearing out and need rest.

Please pray that God will fight our battles harder, quicker and more effectively and that he will set us on solid ground. I'll be updating our specific prayer requests in "The Want Adds" section above, please take the time to join us in praying for these things and share them with your friends and family.

Psalms 55:22-23 -

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you.

here I am

Is not this the fast that I choose: 

to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rearguard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and God will say, Here I am.

- Isaiah 58:6-9

I love this passage because it shows that our actions are meaningless, unless they are rooted in love and compassion. 

out of the dark

We knew a year ago that this leg of our lives would be the hardest thing we would ever do. It's proven to be even harder than our wildest imagination. It's seems pretty close to being the Texas Two Step, but, instead of going two steps forward and one step back, it's one step forward and two steps back.

It's not working with people that are totally hopeless that gets us down. It's the constant struggle of trying to make ends meet while reaching out to the homeless. We are at any given time, one day away from being homeless ourselves.

One of the hardest things has been empty promises. So many have said they were going to help support the work we are doing, but, never do. It has given us a realization of how we as humans are so unreliable. It makes me think of how God feels when we tell him we'll do something and then not follow through. But, of course, he's God and already knows when we are making promises we won't keep. Yet he continues to love us no matter what.

In fact, God's love is so deep, that it makes this whole struggle worth it. Witnessing first hand the miracles of God is amazing and no matter our earthly struggle, our peace lies in him.

Last night I dropped Wendy off at the laundry mat and went to go change the oil and clean the van. Apparently the old work van is much to dirty for her and the kids to ride in. Since we lost our family van to an accident almost 4 weeks ago they've had to ride in it anytime we need to go somewhere and they decided it was time for a forced intervention.

Doug (center top, in black) 

As Joel and I were finishing it up at a car wash vacuum station, out of the shadows we heard a voice. No, it wasn't God, it was Doug. One of the guys we've fed on numerous occasions. He was really glad to see us and wondered where we had been. We told him times have been pretty hard and we had to move out of the house we were living in and move into a motel that didn't have a kitchen we could cook in. He was shocked.

He said he'd gotten out of jail a month or so ago and has gone to the park every Saturday morning to see if we were there. When we told him we want to start it back up this week or maybe next week, if we can work it all out. He said "no rush! make sure you take care of you first."

He then said, with heart felt compassion, that he wanted to pray for us because we had helped more people than anyone he'd ever seen before and that God knew it and would bless us for it. He went on and on about how we had helped him and others to the point it was a little embarrassing. So, of course we said we would love his prayers and so that's what we did. Right then, right there, in the parking lot of a gas station car wash, Doug prayed for us. The earnest prayers of this broken, homeless man made me cry.

Yes, sometimes feeding biscuits and gravy and spending time with a bunch of societies rejects seems pointless. However, to often in life we don't see the miracles God is doing in other people because we are focused on the problems we have. Then at the perfect time, in the perfect place, God reveals what he's done. Out of the darkness God brings light.

Please pray that God will continue his work in Doug's (and others) life. Please pray that we continue to have the will to fight for this rag tag group of vagabonds for another year.

lost treasure

I've spent a lot of time lately, wondering why God hates me so much to put me and my family through such hard times. After watching this video, I realized I've been believing a lie. I don't know when it started, but, it did and it's gotten bigger and bigger and it's time for it to stop.

I hope this affects you as much as it has me.

You are the Treasure Opener from Vineyard Creative on Vimeo.

A Wrecked Mess!

Wow! It has been a long time since we last blogged. We had computer issues and was unable to keep in touch but we are back in business now.

So much has happened these past few weeks and one thing is perfectly clear. We have a real enemy and we fight a real battle. When you move into enemy territory the battle gets real hard real fast!

A quick update: We had to move out of the house we were in, due to some pretty difficult cirmcumstances, and had spent the last month basically living in a hotel room. Talk about testing your resolve. Everyday was very close to the day that we were giving up and getting out of dodge, but everyday, once again God would show his faithfulness in some way. Some days I think we tried to ignore it so that we could justify giving up and walking away, but the one thing we have always said is that God is faithful! NO MATTER WHAT! So now we are living in a pretty small apartment but it does have 2 bedrooms and 2 BATHROOMS. With 8 people living in such a small place, having 2 bathrooms was reason for all of us to rejoice. It is a temporary place but hopefully we will be able to take the time we need to establish ourselves in a house in the area we want to be in. It seems everytime we get away from this area, God seems to find a way to pull us back here. After living in a few different areas of the city these past few weeks, I know this is exactly where we are supposed to be!

A few weeks ago Jeff was in a pretty bad car accident. He walked way, Thank God, but our car was totaled. We have been without family transportation for a few weeks and I feel like our life is at a stand still. We are praying that this is a blessing in disguise and not a way for the enemy to gain ground. Please pray with us as we make a decision about what vehicle to buy and that will provide the most perfect, most dependable vehicle for our family. Since the accident both of us have been unable to work at the pace we both were before. I don't have transportation and Jeff found himself primarily responsible for getting our girls to and from school. It has made it hard for him to schedule work around that responsibility and then to compound that he has had to make time to go to the chiropractor 3 times a week to get his back and neck worked on because of misalignment since the accident. It has been hard, but again, God has been faithful. We know God works all things together for the good, that is our hope!

What would you do if you KNEW you could not fail???

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman            

So this post is going to be brutally honest. Please bear with me.  I love the city we live in. I love everything about it. There are some people that I find easier to love more than others in this city but I really love it here. Even our kids, who say for effect, that they hate it here, really are starting to love it here too. Ruth has even proclaimed that she is not going back to Missouri no matter what. We can leave her here.

But, for the last few weeks I have wished that I was not here. I wish that I had not packed up my family to move here to start an outreach to the poor and a church for people who don't like church. I have told my husband several times over the last few days that I just want to go back to Missouri. I want to go where I feel like I can keep my kids safe from all the uncertainties that we face here.

We literally live day to day right now. One day can be great and the next day can come close to being the worst possible day I have ever experienced. I hate living like that. Everything about our life here is so uncertain. I really thought I was getting used to it and o.k. with it but these last few weeks I have realized that I am not used to it and my mind is not o.k. with it. My heart tries to tell my mind that I am o.k. with it, but it has not gotten to the point of convincing my very controlling mind that living with no certainty of tomorrow is o.k.

I had so many ideas of what coming here was going to look like and honestly, not one of those ideas has become a reality. There are many things we wanted to do when we came that we are doing, but none of them are near where I thought we would be 10 months into this adventure. I wanted to be so much further by now. I wanted to be doing so much more than what we are. Instead I find myself grappling with the idea that this is one big failure. We moved here almost 11 months ago and ended up living in a one bedroom, 700 sq ft. apartment for 4 months, lived in a 1,200 sq ft. 2 bedroom house infested with an insane amount of mold and then finally we ended up in a $1,700 sq ft, 2 bedroom house. It does not even really fit our family because it lacks a 3rd bedroom but it felt like a dream come true for us and was very easy for us to get into. Now, we are faced with the very real reality of having to move out of it. For a few reasons, that really have been beyond our control, we may have to move. It means we would have to start over again. I just don't know if I can do it!

Today, a friend of mine posted a status on her Facebook wall that said this: What would you do if you KNEW you could not fail??? She posted it with the passage from the Bible, from the book of Joshua, chapter 1 next to it. Here is what the beginning of Joshua 1 says:
1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. ³ I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— ⁴ from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea^[a] in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

I have been trying to convince myself of how God is with us and how He will not fail us, but to be very honest, I have not been able to this week. Please pray for us as we make tough decisions about what to do in moving forward that we will see what God's will is in this and that we can rest in knowing that with God's help, we will not fail!

peace out

Kevin ("Kev-O"), a 5 foot tall, 95 pound scrappy 50 year old guy that thinks he's a 7 foot tall 280 pound monster with nothing but time.  When he talks, you can't get a word in edgewise. If it's been done, he did it, if it's been played, he played it, if it's been kicked, he kicked it. He is a master of "one up-ers", his story is always more brutal and always more funny. To know him, truely is to love him.


The only time I've seen Kev-O quiet and respectful is when he would sit and talk with our 10 year old daughter Ruthie. I think talking with her took him back to a simpler time when he didn't have to act bigger than he was.


Kev-O was hit by a truck this week and died on the scene. 
Saturday morning breakfast will have a huge void for a while.


You gotta love 'em while you got 'em........

circus tricks

One of the guys that gave me inspiration early on was Jay Goldinger in Hollywood, Ca. He started a Homeless outreach called "food on foot". I sent him an email once (fishing for a little encouragement), asking a couple of questions about how he got to where he was and what things were successful. To my surprise, not only did he answer, but, he called me back. We had a 10-15 minute talk and what he drove home was that it's not about food for the homeless.... It's now a 100% full time job about raising money. That's all he does and he told me that if I wanted to be successful at this, that it has to be all I do too.


I found it very interesting, but, if you know me, that's not really my style. Personally, I would rather just be out feeding people, hanging out with them, praying with them, laughing and crying with them, putting them to work, getting into their lives all in an effort to show them that God loves them and uses ordinary normal people to help share his love.


However, the reality is that we do have needs and it does cost money to buy food, clothes and supplies for the poor, it costs money to operate this outreach and it costs money to live. With that said, we could use some help in the money department. Giving has been low and we've been feeling the hard pinch. 


If you haven't given lately, now would be the perfect time to help out. If you have never given, we would really appreciate it if you would consider it and pray about giving generously. If you are not able to help, please pray for us, our needs are huge but our God is HUGE-ER!

break on through to the other side

One of the homeless guys I've been spending time with is everything you never want to meet in a dark alley at night. He has a killer type instinct and looks like he would rather beat you to a pulp than have a conversation with you. He is a street hardened thug, that doesn't take non-sense from anyone. I've found that one thing he does like is biscuits and gravy and hot coffee. He's a strong guy and has been helping me move furniture and assemble IKEA furniture a couple times a week. It gives him walking around money and keeps him from mugging people.


He has been up on charges for possession of crack and drug paraphernalia. He was ordered to go through a county sponsored drug program, which he completed 6 months ago, and has been waiting for the charges to be dropped. He had a court hearing a month ago that he didn't know about, because he's living on the streets and doesn't get mail. When he missed the hearing a warrant was issued and the police picked him up. He spent three weeks in jail and was released.


A week later he had another hearing and because of a failed drug test (for an obscure opiate) he was given two weeks to retake and pass the drug test. He swears he has been clean for 6 months and hasn't done anything harder than cigarettes and an occasional beer. He has no reason to lie to me about it, in fact most guys would brag about what they've been doing. I've never witnessed this guy drunk or on drugs.


Two weeks went by and he went to his hearing, hoping to be a free man. His drug test came back positive for opiates again, a little weaker than before, but, positive none the less. As he sat in the courtroom waiting his fate, he asked the judge if he could call me. The judge agreed and this rock hard street smart thug called me. He didn't know what to say, he just explained what was going on and asked me to pick up his tent and bag of clothes so they wouldn't get stolen. It was a short call. The judge then told him he would have to re-enter the 30 day drug program at one of the outreach centers. So the call was made to find him a spot. Nobody answered the phone and nobody returned the call, so he sat there in the courtroom for a couple hours waiting. Finally the judge said, since it didn't appear the outreach centers had a place for him he would have to go through the program in jail.


That's exactly what he didn't want to hear, another 30 days in jail. He sat in the courtroom for a while longer until the sheriffs department came to get him. As they were processing him into the jail, a lady ran into the property turn in area and said "he's being released! they found him a bed!" They took him back into the courtroom and the judge asked if he had a way to get there. He told him that he did and they released him.


As I was driving him to the outreach center yesterday, he was explaining it all to me and he said "I'm not F#*&ing kidding you man, it was a God thing, seriously, I was F#*&ing praying to God so hard that they'd find me an F#*&ing bed. I just couldn't believe it when that lady ran in at the last second when they were booking me. God really showed up. I mean I just can't F#*&ing believe it."


This might be a very offensive way to talk about God, but, the point is that he really cried out to God and God heard him. This was such a huge step towards God for him and probably one of the most significant ah-ha moments he's had about the existence of God. Please pray for him as he goes through the 30 day program again that he'll grow closer to God each day.

paddy wagon

One thing that we've been trying to create among the homeless that we serve is a sense of community. Often times when wrapping up breakfast on Saturday mornings, I'll encourage the guys to keep an eye on each other and to stick together. I'll also ask about absent guys which not only shows we care about them, but, causes them to be looking out for the absentees. Well it seems to be working. Many times, as we are leaving the park, a group of guys are still there hanging out just talking.

However, the bad part of the story is, that a few days ago, a couple of the guys ran into a couple of other guys in a small parking lot. As they stood there talking a couple other guys showed up, who had beer, and they all stood there talking and drinking beer, next thing you know, three more guys showed up. Then before you can say paddy wagon, the Hollywood Police showed up in force and arrested all 9 of them.

Please pray that God uses this experience to draw them all closer to Him and each other. Please pray that God becomes a bigger and bigger presence in their lives.

warning shot

The other night, Wendy was in the kitchen checking her blood sugar level, as she normally does. I had demolished what was left of a half gallon of moose tracks ice cream about an hour before and for some reason asked her to check my blood sugar level too. I routinely like to humor her with such requests to dispel any fears she might have about my health. My blood pressure, blood sugars, cholesterol, heart rate, etc., are always text book perfect. I think because she's struggled with her own health, she is expecting me to suddenly drop dead from my terrible eating habits.


She willingly poked my finger and squeezed a droplet of blood out and soaked it up with a test strip. As I whined at how brutal she can be when drawing MY blood, the little machine bleeped and a number came up, "175". She looked at me in disbelief and stammered .... that's ... not.....good! My normal number is around 99 and even with eating a bunch of ice cream an hour before, my body should be able to metabolize the sugar much better than that.  Evasive measures were taken and I was instantly put on a diabetic diet and given an exercise regiment sufficient for training an Olympian and talks about making doctor appointments boiled to the forefront of conversation.


The next day my blood sugars returned to normal, even after eating, but a small amount of concern remains. It's the first time I've shown any hints of abnormal health. So, now, my eating habits will be adjusted a little to keep from over taxing my insulin production. That's what I'll have to do to remain healthy. It's nice to have my wife readily available to help encourage good eating habits. 


Most of the people living on the streets of Miami don't have that luxury. They don't have anyone that will nudge them when habits start affecting their spiritual, physical or mental health. They are all alone and can only see the needs they have in the moment and strive to satisfy them however possible.


Please pray that we can be that loving, encouraging person in the lives of the people that we are reaching out to on the streets. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in everything we say and do to help turn them towards God and not away from him.

Discouraged?

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

Confession: I get discouraged easily. I think we all get discouraged, but some hit that point sooner than others. It is kind of frustrating to me because it takes a lot longer for Jeff to get discouraged. I can get frustrated, discouraged and be ready to give up and I turn around and there is Jeff getting ready for a marathon. I am so glad God put him in my life and this is one of the many reasons. I can't tell you the number of times I have said I quit and there he is telling me all the time: "God is faithful."

One of the the other things that I have to do frequently to keep from getting discouraged is spending a lot of time talking with God. This can seem strange to a lot of people but it really helps me. I sometimes will find myself yelling at God, crying out to God and thanking God all in a 5 minute time span.
I also make it a point to spend time alone with God everyday. This can be very hard to do with my busy life but I find it essential for my sanity. I need to be encouraged by God.

So yesterday in time alone I came across these verses: Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked, keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

In other words when I get discouraged, this is what God is saying to me. Wendy, don't get sidetracked by all the peripheral stuff. What is the main goal here? What are you trying to do? Stay focused on the main thing. Don't get sidetracked by all you don't know, move forward in what you do know. Get busy doing THAT. In the meantime keep yourself from following what is evil and can sidetrack you. Don't make any rash, big decision while you are discouraged. Just stay on the path you are on. This will pass, it always does. No, don't quit. Never give up. Keep your eyes on me. I can handle this. I got your back. You do what is right in the right way. Stay the course. I'll take care of the rest. Do you trust me to do that???

I assume that I am not the only one who gets discouraged and needs help to move forward. This is what I feel God is saying to me in this scripture. I hope today that no matter what you are going through or what you are being asked to do that you remember that God has got your back. Do you trust him?

flesh eaters

You've probably heard that there's been a run on purchases of zombie ammo due to the 3 separate cannibalistic attacks in South Florida. The common links have been homeless people snorting bath salts. Bath salts are readily available, legal and cheap and according to news reports make you feel like chewing someone else's flesh off.

When we went out yesterday to find non-cannibal hungry people, we had a hard time locating any in the normal places. When we did catch up with a group we know, they said that everyone (the homeless) is afraid of the police right now. The police have cracked down on the homeless and have been arresting them in droves using the crazy zombie attacks as the new found excuse for harassing them.

There are 10,000 people sleeping on the streets every night in South Florida and because 3 have gone on a crazy people eating spree, the powers that be want to harass the other 9,997 non-cannibals . I find it really hard to sit by idle and watch as the authorities persecute those who don't have the ability to defend themselves. Then I read something like what I found in Proverbs -

"Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9

The streets are a dangerous place, please pray for the people we are serving that God will keep them safe. Many seeds have been planted, please pray God will change many lives.

vagabond

Dream big or go home!

We have a huge God and he answers huge prayers. We have a dream of an outreach center in Miami that is a shelter for the homeless, a kitchen for the hungry, a pantry for the poor, a closet for the naked, a community for the lonely. 

That's why when we saw the Vegabond Motel on Biscayne Boulevard, we knew we found the perfect place for the center we dream about.

Please pray that God will make a way for us to own this motel and that he will provide all the funds necessary to renovate it. 

eye of the storm

The past couple of days in South Florida have been stormy. I was downtown Miami picking up a table at a condo that sits next to Biscayne Bay, there was no rain at the time, but, the wind was fierce. It turned what is normally a very beautiful and calm body of water into a tumultuous and ravaging scene. The blueness of the water was replaced with murkiness as the sand and sediment churning up to the surface. Later on in the day it started down pouring and has continued all night and all day so far today.

Whenever it gets stormy like this the homeless search for shelter and it's really hard to locate them. In such dark and dismal conditions, they are all alone, wet, cold, hungry and depressed. All they want to do is be dry, eat something and feel secure.

When life in general gets stormy, all WE want to do is have shelter from the storm and feel secure. It's very comforting to have people come beside us in the hard times and just be there to share the moment. How much more if God is the one that comes to comfort us?

In Ezekiel 34:11-12 it says-

"For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness."

Many times, as we've been given the opportunity to reach out to the homeless and hungry, we have been told that we were an answer to prayer, which seems weird. However, they say they had reached the end of their proverbial rope and cried out to God and we showed up with hot food, drinks, dry clothes or just a listening  and compassionate ear.

Who, in your life, is going though a storm? Do you think God is telling you to do anything about it? How can you reach out to them, letting them know God loves them and has not left them?