Church on the Streets
Last night at A Church Without Walls husband and wife team Andre and Dee joined us to minister to the homeless of Norfolk
Spring brings a real change of seasons for the homeless as the shelters that are open for the cold weather of winter are now closed and most have no choice but to live in bushes and other makeshift homes. They told us that it has been a very difficult week because of the night time drop in temperatures combined with the high winds.
Food and Conversation
As we served the food and drinks on
19th Street
about 10 homeless men stayed to talk. For me it was another moment that I wondered what I was to say. I would be heading home to my warm bed tonight. How could I relate to these men? Luke 12:11-12 encourages all believers saying, “do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say , for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say," and I was reminded that Easter was this Sunday.
“Who knows what tomorrow is?” I asked a group of 5 men. “Sunday?” said one questioningly. Blank stares from others, until one man said softly, “Easter.”
“That’s exactly right, it’s Easter Sunday tomorrow,” I said encouraging conversation. “What happened on Easter? Why do we celebrate it?”
“Jesus died on the cross, right?” said one. The rest were interested and the circle tightened.
Easter Service on the Streets
Next I was able to present a gospel message, the whole gospel message in a way that the group could relate to, and interact with. I told them that we celebrate 2 major events, Christmas (the birth of Jesus), and Easter (the resurrection of Jesus). “It’s easy to understand why we celebrate Christmas,” I explained, “but why Easter?”
From there the conversation walked through the birth of Jesus, through his healing ministry, to his death on the cross, that we might be declared righteous, and then to the resurrection that we might live as the very children of God.
I told them how cool it was that Jesus went to the blind men who called out on the streets and made them whole, how he healed the man with the crippled arm on the Sabbath despite the outcry from the Pharisees. How he didn’t care if you were rich or poor, black or white, on the streets or in a home, that he came to make us whole, to make us children of God.
As we finished our discussion I realized that I had just given these men the Easter church service that they would not have otherwise received. A message of hope, faith, and love.
Ministering to David
I noticed a younger man eating pizza by himself so I approached him. I could tell he hadn’t been on the streets too long because he still had nice teeth. We talked about Easter too and the conversation led to baptism. I encouraged him to be baptized so that through his confession of faith the Holy Spirit would dwell in him, and would ‘lead him in the way of all truth,’ and give him insight into the truth of scripture and Jesus Christ.
He was seeking God and had considered a wide number of faiths. The Word of the Lord that came to me for David was, “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.”
A New Field
We still had pizza so we packed up and went to one of the outdoor bus stations. Here we ministered to a ‘rougher’ crowd. Jimmy rightly discerned that the people at our first stop were completely humbled and broken people, desperate for help. Here though, the people were younger, on the streets for a shorter time, and were not yet fully aware of their desperate situation.
We opened the van and they began to come. Suddenly a prayer line formed and Jimmy was commanding an arthritic hand to be healed. When others saw the faith and ferver of the prayer they came to ask for prayer as well. A woman named Dee pulled me aside and asked for prayer. She made me promise not to share with anyone the details of her life, so I won’t. I prayed for a new day for Dee . For protection and commanded demons to flee. I encouraged her to draw close to God, that He is her loving Father. That she should trust God and that He will lead her.
Messengers of Hope and Faith
We ran out of everything but coffee tonight and the Lord made us messengers of hope and faith. We couldn’t have done all we did without Andre and Dee tonight. They came right along side of us and fed people, ministered to peoples’ spirits, and loved those who had been unloved.
As you can image there is great need for certain items for these folks. Here is the prayer request list from last night:
* Jeff needs a pair of size 13 boots
* Allen need a 3x hoodie
* Nick needs a 3x hoodie
* Tracy
* We are in need of 3-4 backpacks
* Tony needs a job (I will be speaking to someone this week so pray for favor)
Thank you Jesus for your love, your grace, and your unending mercy.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment