Tag: Homeless

Operation Soup & Smokes Visit

~ Denise ~ 1 Comment

Wow…what a difference in the weather from the previous visit.  The sun was shining with temperatures in the low 70’s.  We expect high 80’s this week!

Met two guys who had just arrived the previous night after walking six days from the coast.  Craig asked if they would like something to eat, they said “man, we’re just thankful for anything!”.  Six days of walking!  Can you imagine yourself doing that?

We also met another gentlemen new to the area from another part of the state.  He came up to us when we started to unload the car, and helped.  He stayed around listening to everyone talking.  He started talking to me about how God puts people in your life when you need them.  He said he just began to realize that now that he is older, (he just turned 50).  Haha older, we joked about that for a bit. He said his mother was a religious person, she didn’t get to church much, but she talked about it at home.  He said he had a “Bible for dummies, well it wasn’t called that, it was one of those study Bibles, but it helped him a lot”.  I laughed and told him I had one of those too, and yes, they did help a lot!

We spent some time talking with Levi and Jason, both whose ministry is walking closely with the homeless.  Jason is in transition housing and asks for your prayers as he is actively seeking to be an ordained minister.   He is, to put it in his words, “following Levi’s foot steps as he walks with Christ”.  They both can become discouraged at times when they feel “under attack” and ask that you pray for them.

Carolyn, Levi, Jason, Denise

Right now we decide when we are returning to the park – while we are at the park.  That’s because we usually can coordinate everyone’s schedule then.  People hang around talking and ask when we will be back.

We had decided that we would be returning again on Wednesday.  I called out to John to let him know that we would be back on Wednesday.  He said, “Thanks for telling me”, gave me a hug and then said “I’ll miss you guys till then.”  I told him “Why thanks John, we’ll miss seeing you too.”  He came up and hugged me again and said “I love you”.  I told him, “John, I love you too.”

It continues to be humbling how a simple act of kindness, whether it is a bite of food, a kind word, listening ear or just plain genuine interest means so much to some.  Being there, just seeing, being present in the moment, can make a difference.

I read this line recently in a book:

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.   – Brandi Snyder

If I can be the one person who shows Christ’s love in a life, then let me be that one person.

The more that I see and read you can tell that God is working in big ways in the homeless community all over the States, and in other countries.  Please continue to keep all in your prayers!

Blessings!

OSS Update

~ Denise ~ 3 Comments

First, let me give my apologies for not reporting on last Wednesday’s trip to Finlay park before now.   It was just one of those weeks.

Wednesday was a really dreary, rainy, damp day.  (I know, what a lot of adjectives) Rainy days have a way of dampening the spirits, and it certainly doesn’t help when you are also operating on a serious lack of sleep due to a bout of insomnia.  I know that while we were driving to the park, I was praying to myself, “please God, let me be an encouragement to those in need today, even while I feel so spent inside”.

We arrived and unloaded the cars under the pavilion to protect everything from the rain.  There certainly weren’t as many as the Friday before, but still we served around 50 or more.  Some had arrived as early as 8:30 a.m. to get there before the downpour to keep their things as dry as possible.  We had lasagna, chili, vegetable beef soup, cookies and brownies available.  With the rain and a slightly smaller group than the Friday before, there was the opportunity for seconds and thirds if needed.  We don’t ever seem to have any leftovers.  We thought there was going to be some chili left over, but when we loaded up the cars, a man came over to get a few bowls for himself and his two children, two more stopped, next thing….Marlo’s chili…..gone.

Our “regular” friends were there.  They laugh when we call them by their nicknames now.  There’s Chuck “Too Tall”, Jerry “Green Hornet” and Robert ”Big Bird”.  Their spirits were pretty good considering the weather, and the need to make new living arrangements since the shelter was closing.

We got to visit with Dawn and Ernie before they prepare to leave for Ohio.  Robert “Big Bird” is going with them, and we may see him one more time before they leave.  Dawn and Ernie we will not see until they return in six months.  They will be working with a carnival.  This is something that they do every year, and then they return as Dawn’s children and mother live here in the area.  Dawn has been able to eat, however, they have been anxious because someone has been threatening Dawn’s life.  They received money from their employer in Ohio to stay in a hotel prior to leaving, so this past Wednesday was the last day we would see them for a while.  Dawn was emotional, and they stayed at the park as long as we were there.  When we were packed up, Ernie shook hands and thanked Rebecca and Marlo for “starting this thing”.  It was a bittersweet goodbye, as Rebecca and her family will be moving and Ernie and Dawn know that they will not be seeing them when they return.

It was one of those days where I really just had such mixed feelings.  I didn’t know if I was making a difference or not.  I sensed sadness in those leaving, yet I had also shared some laughs with some others.  I knew Ernie and Dawn were in a situation that I couldn’t really help with.  Sometimes you just feel helpless.  And I was thinking, if I feel helpless, what do they feel?  You know how when you are tired, you just question yourself and how you’re doing?  That’s where I was.

That’s also when God speaks….if I’m willing to listen, if I’m willing to see and hear.  If the heart is open.

Jason, had been talking with me awhile about how much our ministry meant to him.  He said that he might not see us next week, because he had a pretty good job interview.  Before he left, he had shook my hand, and then I gave him a hug.  He started walking away, and looked back at me sideways and said “Keep doing God’s work, I love you.”

I have to tell you at first it surprised me.  And, then I was reminded again of a lesson:  why do I keep thinking that we are the only one’s that are “doing God’s work here?”  Here are some men and women walking with God, in their own ways showing Jesus’ love, they just happen to be homeless.  I was forgetting Jason’s walk with Christ, and how we can all help and encourage each other.

I went there to encourage and became someone who was ministered too.

Open the eyes of my heart Lord……….and keep them open.

His name was Bryan

~ Denise ~ 4 Comments

They were just a few moments, just a few words, just a few things.  Words of greeting.  Words of encouragement.  Food for the belly.  A scratch on a dogs head.

We were just beginning to know his story.  He had learned to trust us enough to ask for help when he felt afraid and wanted a ride to another location.

Caring and loving of his only companion, his pal, his dog.

We had been wondering how he had been doing on the streets, because with his dog, he didn’t make use of the shelters, and we had been having  some particularly cold weather.  He had talked about going back to New Mexico.

Now, he has been found, having died from a stroke, his faithful companion beside him.

I didn’t really know what exactly I would think, or who I would be talking to when we started going downtown and feeding the homeless at the park…it is sort of  something you just start doing.

I do know that a strong impression I get is they really want you to recognize them.  They like if you remember them.  I mean, don’t we all like to be remembered?  Imagine, (well, I remember when) if you are feeling down on yourself, and people don’t even look at you, or acknowledge you, it’s like ‘remember me?’ So, I have been really trying to remember their names, and the pieces of their stories they tell us.  Isn’t that how people know they are important to us, when we remember stuff about them?  We may not always get everything right, but when we put forth the effort, it means something, you know?

I’ve been learning a lot of things from my new friends.  (I’ll try to blog about that some more.)  I’ve just been thinking some though about Bryan’s last words to us.

He had asked for a ride to the interstate  because he thought he wanted to get back to New Mexico.  He talked about how pretty it was.  He talked about some other things, but when we all shook hands, his last words were  to us “God bless you”.

You know, sometimes you think you are helping people in some small ways, and they turn out they are blessing you.  You think you are being God’s hand’s and feet and maybe it’s the other way around sometimes.

Too often the assumption is made that the homeless aren’t “spiritual” or “Christian”.  Well, I’ve had some pretty “spiritual” and insightful conversations with a few individuals.  Oh, they don’t fit that pretty little box that society has for them, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be “Jesus with skin on” too.  Maybe, just maybe their ministry is walking around in that pit of despair helping those who need it.   Don’t tell them to get out of the pit, or tell them how wrong they are, maybe they are supposed to be there helping the others.  Maybe, that’s their purpose.

I am sure there is much more for me to learn from our new friends.  Right now I’m just going to remember the last moments with Bryan.  Remembering him talking with us.  Remembering his eyes.  Remembering him talking and petting his dog.  Remembering his blessing.

Operation Soup and Smokes

A great book to read about homelessness