On Wednesday, Jonathan and I came together to pray again. Like last time we really lifted one another in prayer. The homeless group came up many times in prayer, but it was just great to lift up one another. Jonathan is also starting to reach people in his area close to Oakcrest Baptist Church. I'm so blessed to be a small part of his life. You can just see his eyes light up when he speaks about the pastor, the church, and especially the impoverished and hurt. His heart is in the right place. We asked God to send His Spirit to continually move among those we minister to on Hemphill. We also seek His continual guidance in many projects... He answered.
First, let me backtrack a bit here. Office Munday had contacted me on Tuesday on a house we have been trying to reach on Beddel Street. It was owned by a Mr. Charles (first name only just due to safety reasons). I have his contact, but he has not reached us. There are at least 10 people living in that area alone. The house is abandoned and in need of fixing. We offered to fix it, but we await the response.
Officer Munday also connected us with several other schools in that area as well as school administrators that can provide us backpacks.
Second, Officer Jones, wanted to arrange a meeting with a small leadership group. This will be short, but very detailed meeting involving what else we can provide.
Third, Officer Clifton Miller, who has been a great blessing since Officer Morris was promoted gave us several opportunities as well. He spoke to me on Thursday about several things:
1. Backpack ministry to Morningside Elementary. They are desparately in need of backpacs. This is not a one term deal. The school is begging for help. That means they're in need of tudors, daily ministerial needs, and provisions. If we can get our foot in there, we have taken a small step in trying to reach the 300,000 homeless children in Dallas, TX.
2. He will present a proposal to some officials about either allowing us to purchase some homes for rehab or borrowing them for restoration homes. This will allow us to get a house to provide shelter for a time, so they can get off the streets. This is a HUGE LEAP for our ministry. At this juncture, this type of work is impossible for us to do, but I know what happens when I tell God something is impossible...
3. Officer Miller offers huge praise. I'm not surer how much it means to you readers, but to me, when a 6'3" 230lb burly dude with an authoritative presence breaks down on the phone and says he's thankful for our ministry, that means ALOT!
The reason I labeled this week as 'Fortitude' and 'Faithfulness' is this; it takes alot of fortitude to see this ministry through. I still don't know what this entails. After three years, we've done many things, but God continues to encourage us to surge forward even though the results are meager at best. But, I don't see us getting discouraged. So we continue being faithful.
On Saturday there was only Jonathan and my family. Jonathan and I went over early to read the last few chapters of Romans, specifically chapters 8-14. We finished a chunk of it, but not the whole thing. This time there was five, although not all five stayed. I was thankful Antonio made it again. But this time, Indio, Nate, Gary, and Pelon joined us. Indio was not all there, Nate was quiet, Gary was telling us stories of angels, Pelon was completely drunk and shirtless, and Antonio just recently was hit by a car (from what I gathered, I believe his back is fractured- He has no pain medication). Here are some pictures (man shirtless was Pelon):
After the reading, we fed them. My wife came armed with hot dogs, chips, water, and bananas. Although we were short a few bananas; we only broght 8. Regardless, we fed them hot dogs and water. We continue to minister to them briefly there. Another woman showed up shortly after. She seemed like she slept with every guy there. We felt her pain, but could only pray for her.
Here are some pictures:
We continued our journey to the second station. Venida and Steve, the family with two kids, had problems with plumbing. Her youngest child, David, contracted pneumonia. She needed clean water so we gave her a whole 24 pack of water. The rest of the homeless community seemed to rally around her giving their waters as well. We gave away most of our chips as well as hot dogs. There was some rough people there this time, but we were able to manage. I think it's a good thing my kids were there, so they saw we weren't trying to do harm. Jonathan prayed in a large group while I watched the vehicles.
Venida and her family invited us to a party of her son (David, who has pneumonia) on the 7th of April @5:00pm. She invited us as honored guests. Somethings she needs:
1. Shoes (he turns 1 year old)
2. Diapers (size 5)
3. Grill and tables
4. Shirts and pants for one year olds.
I hope we can do something for her family.
Our third stop landed us at Susan's house. We didn't do much but pray for her, but she seemed like she was back on her feet. She showed us to a couple more areas we could paint with a purple color. Here are the walls she wanted to paint. Another project to ponder.
Till we meet next time... Continue to be faithful.
