December 5, 2009: Transformation at the Tent

I was so thankful for this day. Not only was it for a great cause, but we got to see one of the men we were trying to outreach to in the past, come to know Christ sometime before our meeting. I made some mac n' cheese with turkey special, while Jeff brought bread and water. When we made our first stop at the campside down the Mexican Restaurant we saw that the place was vacant. It seemed that they have moved to another area. I told Jeff, "If we don't find them, we are going to leave." I had no faith that we would find them. But then as we crossed the street to the gas station we saw 2 homeless guys who pointed directly across another street that they had moved to this area. They had build this incredible tent, and now stay in there for the winter. There was about 9 guys and 1 girl all huddled up inside. To our surprise we saw Abel. This time around he was completely sane. He had gotten off of his addictions and sounded as if he had seen Christ. The funny thing is that some time ago when we had stopped going there for the past few months he had find his way back into church and received the grace of God. Since then Mario, a local missionary, has been mentoring him and allowing him to grow. He was serving and reading the Bible while we were there. They told us that they were studying the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and here we came with food. It's another example of how God provides even when we don't expect it, and even when people have no faith like me. They asked for jeans, and then we took off as my wife wasn't feeling well. All in all this was a great time. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers!

August 29, 2009: The Trip to E. Hattie St.

We brought water and fruit to this trip. We ran into a few guys. Jeff and Taylor got to share Romans with Nate, while I spoke with one of the guys in the park. I forgot to get his name, but he wanted a home, and his ex-wife, Karina. He had 3 children, 15, 11, and 7. Suzanne, and her husbands hung around Shannon and Brittnay. Suzanne talked about how Claudia was sent back to prison for 90 days. This is probably a good thing. This would give her time to reform, she's 24, young and needed it probably. The prostituion ring in these streets amongst homeless women is not fun.

We headed to E. Hattie street afterwards just off of Rosedale. The park was beautiful, and we decided to plan our next outing to that area. There will be more news.

Here are some pictures.

Part 8: August 15, 2009- Search Us O God!

This was a rather interesting visit. We started off at our home, and received some additional new help today. Taylor Turner, Brittnay Northrip, and Shannon Ely were from North Fort Worth Baptist Church who are friends with Todd Scacewater who played football with me this past fall was able to find out about us and join us. This was a glorious time, as we got to celebrate our ministry with three wonderful new friends.

But there was work to be done, so we loaded about 10 loaves of bread, a fried rice dish, hot dogs, water, and fruit (watermelons, oranges, and apples) into the car and headed out. We prayed that God would move us and challenge us today.

Our first stop was at the Texas Car Wash, but there was no one as we visited their homes. Then we marched into the gas station across the street. Right near the side we bumped into 15-20 homeless individuals who needed some food, and some love. Suzanne was there for the first time in a long while. I personally got some time to talk to her about her boyfriends, and her life. She wanted to get out of the streets like she usually does. Suzanne and I prayed before we left but she was thankful we were there. Ricky, Miguel and several others were there eating with us and sharing in the food. We heard many great stories, and Jonathan again was sharing about his testimony of Celebrate Recovery with all these guys. One guy pulled out his Bible and shared a word with him and Jeff. I'm so thankful for both of these guys because they love to share the word, they have an evangelistic approach, and they're so loving! I envy that.

Shannon quietly peeled away from the group and approached a group with Scarlet and her man. She was able to spend some time with that group on the side, and was very adventurous. Her daring faith reminds me of Daniel's story when he approached the wise men who accused him of praying even in the midst of a law condemning him. He did it anyway. There could be trouble lurking around every corner, but that's the awesome part. We are the light of the world, and salt of the earth! I'm so grateful to see others who are willing to have the strength to approach others to share their stories.

Taylor was a great listener. We knew him as a musician, but he moved around from person to person hearing their stories. He's truly an artistic person. I can see him using these stories to mold his music and his understanding of how truly God is.

After spending an hour in that area we headed off to the second area near the Shamrock station. Brittnay the amazing 'Hot Dog' maker definitely had a gift in packing these hot dogs as quickly as she could. We were out of the rice, and Brittnay was doing an amazing job meeting the needs of the people around them. She even walked across the street with Shannon in passing out the hot dogs to those who couldn't make it over to us, or were just too shy to ask us for them. Brittnay was definitely a go-getter.

I was able to sit down with a man, Delgado, who was from Guadalajara. He was a quiet old man who has been on the streets for more than 30 years. He was blessed to be eating, and was delighted to talk even though I couldn't only understand a few words.

Jonathan got to share his Celebrate recovery story with another man for about 30 minutes. I didn't know his name, but he was a rather large black man who wanted to know hope.

After we ran out of food and we were done, a police car approached us. Officer R. Castro told us that what we do is commendable, but we may be enabling these guys to do worst things. Most of the neighborhood we serve is called a 'day-labor' area. Which means alot of these guys receive money by working odd jobs, and by giving them food they used their money to buy hard liquor, heroin, or crack. I am stuck at odds here, thinking of what to do here. Officer Castro did ask us to call Sargeant Morris to see if he has other options for us. Sargeant Morris is also a minister who has done this, and knows how to approach this.

My prayer is this, as I spoke to my wife some more about this. In essence or to put it in a nutshell I have to see whether this is a smokescreen or do we continue bringing food and sharing the word. She reminded me that nothing returns void. The primary reasons why many homeless people at that area treat Christians like Officer Castro said is maybe because none of the groups are intentional. Although the officer can see patterns developing ultimately he can't judge the intentions nor the relationships built My wife adds, "If we leave aren't we like the other groups who hear the smokescreen and change directions?"

So I ask you to prayerfully seek Gods will in this. Fast and give up time to ask God to search deep within the resources of His soul and listen to what He tells you.

Part 7: June 13, 2009- Abandonment!

Today, we went on our adventure to find out that the cops had chased out the homeless from the car wash north to another area close to another gas station. As we neared Shamrock we saw a more destitute area filled with abandoned buildings, homes, and businesses. I was perplexed as to how far all these homeless guys can go because most of them were drunk, doped, or too injured to make such a far walk. We went anyway. Our main course today was Tricia's jalapeno rice dish, and Jonathan and my pasta dish. When we arrived at the Shamrock gas station we parked across the street and starting serving lunch. We met many new faces. The one I remember the most was Luwanna. She had a couple kids, and we got to talk to her a little and share the love of Jesus with her. We also saw a house of some sort providing some housing for these guys.

Jonathan was his usual self sharing his testimony of recovery through 'Celebrate Recovery' with several of the guys. He even welcomed many to join him for his Monday night session at his church. I love Jonathan, he's just a great guy with a big heart.

When we were done here, we headed back to our usual spot, and all the homeless guys were perched on a concrete slab just right behind the car wash place. We served food to the guys and noticed that there was a young lady who looked like she was in her 20s, filled with bugs all over her, and possibly her prostituted lover. We got to say hi, and found out she had 3 wonderful children that she could not see. I could only pray for her and hope that she finds Jesus in her soul. We got to share the love of Christ with several others, and left to return in 3 weeks.

This was also our new friend, Jeff Herrington's first week. We welcome him! His first adventure led him to the field with Jonathan and they were both cursed, and preached at while they were there. I'm not too sure who was there with them, but they definitely had a great time minsitering to someone who knew the Word well. He was just misinformed.

Part 6: May 30, 2009- God is good!

Jonathan and I headed back to feeding the homeless. Jonathan made some yummy pasta with alfredo dish, and I made a chili dish with some peaches. When we arrived at our first stop near the Mexican diner, there was no one. We bumped into Jesse, a familiar face who told us a group had already got in touch with them, fed them, and gave them clothes. We moved further down due to Jesse's recommendation near a shamrock gas station and a beaten down food mart. There we bumped into the group that was feeding the homeless. This group was part of Pastor Julio Castillo's church off of Martin St. The church's name is Iglesia Metodista Libre. It was wonderful to see that they have been doing their outreach while Jonathan and I have been MIA! We were so grateful to see God at work still even though we are weak. We fed about 20 people and met tons of new faces. It was nice to see a pregnant lady, Luwanna, who took some milk, cheerios, and food to her family. We also met a man who lost his arm in an accident and fed him. Jonathan spoke like a man with a vendetta as he preached the gospel with a fire. God is good, and we look forward to bring more people and head out in two weeks.

Part 5: February 21, 2009 - Fireside lunch

The event this time around was cold! We headed out there at 11:30pm. This time it was only me, Jonathan, and Brian Walker. Brian was the new guy out there, but he was a veteran at presenting the gospel in spanish! Just what a chingro and gringo needed. We brought Ravioli, and mutated hot dogs to the camp site just behind the Mexican restaurant. We set up, and had about 10-15 guys show up. A few new faces like Polo, and Roberto was there. Polo was incredibly drunk, but he seemed to hold his own, but his eyes were so red it was scary. He was incredibly thankful.

Before I forget let me mention that Gina Fortnor donated clothes from Northwood Church and the homeless guys really thanked us for all the shirts, jackets, and sweaters. Roberto was a mexicano cowboy. He was dressed for the occasion. He was from Mexico, and believed in Jesus as his savior. It was great that I till remembered enough Spanish to share the gospel with him. His brother, sisters, and family are all in Mexico too far away for him to keep in touch with. He was incredibly quiet and shy. Jaime showed up again with his religion hubaloo, but he was a great listener as he listened to Brian share the gospel. Jose another gentleman who came late was better dressed, but he hung around the same crew.

He was drinking, and hungry. The camp site was littered with a varmit they had killed, so they were cooking that to eat. Martin again was his crazy self. He drove his bike into the camp fire and tried to get in a fight with Jaime (A gun with no bullets was pulled out, but they ended up duking it out). Frank and Hector were really receptive to us, and Hector went to church with Brian on Sunday. We had a great day sharing the gospel, feeding, and clothing them. I will post some pictures following this post.