big bounce

The last couple of weeks of our outreach to the homeless has been quite amazing. We have had a few homeless people find new hope in life, giving them a reason to turn things around. 


Bernie, who has been homeless for years, is planning on getting a shave and a haircut and rejoining society. He's made contact with old friends and family and is headed back to the west coast of Florida. In particular, he's gotten in contact with an old pastor friend of his who wants him to come home.


Rick, has been homeless for years as well, he has saved enough money to get into a small apartment and off of the streets. He asked me to pray with him last week and started sobbing uncontrollably. He said that a few weeks ago, he started praying. He's prayed every morning since and can't believe how much his outlook on life has changed.


Mike and Tracy, a married couple, have been working hard to get off of the streets and in just a few more weeks, plan to have enough to get into an apartment.


Ricky is everything you never want to meet in a dark alley. He's had a hard life and I don't think he's even out of his twenties yet. He's mad at the world and if you look at him the wrong way, I'm sure he'd pound you into the ground. He's been homeless for the last 5 months, since getting out of jail. For the first 4 months, he stayed at a shelter and recently has been living on the streets. Nobody has ever given him a chance, until he met us. He now seems to feel like he belongs to something (that isn't an institution). You can see a physical change in his demeanor when he's talking, working and/or just hanging out with us.


For all the ones that are moving towards God, there are 10 times as many that run from him, ensnared in their addictions, unwilling to believe that God can forgive them and that he loves them. A few of the hard cases are Jerry, Bruce, Michele, Dan, Susan, Andy and Jim. They keep coming back on Saturday mornings and they stick around for the companionship, but keep God at an arms length. Please pray that God will soften their hearts and that he will give them ears to hear his voice.


We also have the ones that come once and we never see them again. Please pray that we can love them while we have them and that love will be effective enough to bounce their hearts towards God. You just never know what act of kindness will change a person for all eternity, as evidenced  by the atheist that now believes in God. after the Christians in his community gave him groceries upon finding out he was sick.



If you ask these people what the difference has been in the past couple of weeks or months, I doubt they would be able to tell you. However, if you ask them if their view on God has changed, everyone of them would probably say yes. God has been working overtime in their lives and as we love them to Jesus, their tired, weary, broken souls have embraced a new awareness of a God that truly loves them. A glimmer of hope is shining in their dark and dreary lives and it is nothing short of a miracle. Please pray that God continues to grow bigger in their lives.