Feb 12 - Dogs, Care Bags and Confrontation.

On Feb 12, a bitterly cold Thursday night,  the group from Colonial Heights came out to serve with us. Outside of the nipping cold, it was a great night! The numbers were smaller than previous weeks. However, at the risk of sounding redundant, it was very cold. Perhaps the numbers seemed to be even fewer since the group From C.H. was so large. Regardless, 40+ folks were served food and even more benefitted from the clothing and care bags that were handed out! Even more exciting, the ending prayer was a great experience. Some of the homeless community joined right in with the circle. Donald shared about how he longed for a reunion with his wife Tosha. Several people prayed for the intentions of the night, then another homeless friend of ours asked for us to close with the Lord’s Prayer, in unison. This kind of organic, Spirit lead and filled communion with each other is the type of gathering that I have always hoped for. Please pray that we can continue to cultivate hearts, minds and bodies for Christ; that our simple hot dogs can be an avenue for pointing to True Bread.

Cameron Combs, the youth leader at Colonial Heights, had a small run in with one of our good friends out on the street, Anthony. The funny thing is that Cameron didn’t even realize he had a “Run in” or incident of any kind. (Enter “LOLz” into the text here.)  Anthony came to me upset and calling into question the heart of Cameron.
“He is a pastor and I need a place to stay. He said he won’t put me up in a hotel.” said Anthony.
Anthony, who was intoxicated, is a good friend whom I have known for several years.
I spoke to him and said: “man, I have been out here for years and I have never gotten you a room. Why are you being so hard on Cameron?”
By the end of the night Anthony was apologizing to Cameron and Cameron didn’t even know why Anthony was apologizing.

It was a entertaining thing for me to watch unfold. I barely know Cameron.I think I can safely say that it is in his heart to serve and love folks as Jesus did. The thing about the streets, especially in this bible belt state, is that there is no shortage of Christian folks who come out and serve for a night. The homeless are well acclimated to such short term come and go ministry. I am not saying anything negative about serving once a month, hell, I only serve once a week. These things are needed and are a great blessing to folks on the street, as well as to me in my little outreach. What I am saying, and some thanks are due to Breakfast Bob for helping bring these thoughts into focus, is that the homeless know the stereotyped weekend warrior Christian who will be there just for today. So the homeless push the server until they hear “No,” a word that is very, very important in street outreach. Cameron was gracious in his decline, and his testimony was not tarnished in any way with Anthony or anyone else. This is just part of reaching out on the street.

To be remembered in prayer this week:

1. One of our homeless friends, who has asked to remain nameless, is have bypass surgery on March 15th.
2. Jennifer Dowling is having hip problems and needs physical therapy.
3. Our friend Kenny broke his ankle.
4. Sandy’s father is in need of a kidney transplant.
5. Donald wishes to be reunited with his wife Tausha.

Please pray for healing and provision for our friends on the streets.