April 2, 2011- From Sorrow to Joy

It was a delight to have Ben Peacock with us on this trip. Ben, is a photographer from Southwestern Seminary who followed us in our journey. I'm so glad he got to see the sorrow of being homeless, but also the joy of bringing hope.

We both got out there together at 10a. It was a delightful morning. JJ and a group of five others spent the time playing Dominoes. I enjoyed seeing Jose and his wife, who was a new family that got out of prison this past January. He's a journeyman electrician who lost his license when he went to prison. His wife was with him enjoying company with the homeless group we reach out to. He's still looknig for a job. We recommend a few places: 1)La Gran Plaza which allows them to apply for jobs and 2) Home Depot which contracts jobs. The husband and wife team seem coherent enough to talk. We spent some time talking about God and the Scriptures.

JJ, who finished playing dominoes after a couple minutes, asked about Adam and Eve. He told me that he believed that Eve had sex with Satan. There entered sin, and Adam committed to Eve after the sin. That was some messed up theology. But he asked me to read through Genesis 2. There I was able to explain to him that all men were responsible for sin. He shared with me that his son wants him to stop drinking, but he chooses not to. He continues to live on the streets wanting to change when he wants to. I pray its soon. He has a heart to love his children and family, but chooses to reject all that goodness for alcohol. I spent time praying for him and his family. His sons, all five of them, desparately want him to return.

Antonio limped late, but we were able to meet his need. We met up to 15 homeless at our first stop. Joanna, Sarah, and Meg (with all our kiddos) served all these homeless. It was wonderful to meet so many needs in the first stop.

At the second stop, we were able to see Lindsay. She split from Jason two weeks ago. She's walking again. We got to provide some food and clothes to a small remnant. Unfortuantely we ran out of food for Susan and her family, but we got some clothes for her.

My wife and I ran into "Willy". He's a guy we met off Hulen Street. He needed some food so we bought him an Angus Burger from McDonalds. I quickly prayed for him. He lives off Lancaster. I told him, I'd hope to see him again.

There are some prayer requests:
1) Scarlett. She has a severe brain injury. Supposedly word on the street is that she's paralyzed. Pray for her recovery, her kids, and her husband.
2) Antonio. He still has pain from his fractured back.
3) Salvation of JJ. I've been able to make ground into sharing my faith with Him, but He refuses a relationship. He keeps asking for me to pray for him to receive Christ.
4) Pray for Lindsay as she's recovering.
5) Pray for Venida and her family. They have poor plumbing and they can't drink the water in her house. We are going on April 7th to provide some help for Ruben, tables, and other resources she needs for her party.

Till next time... Enjoy the pictures!

March 26, 2011- Fortitude and Faithfulness

I don't know what it is about this week, but man God is awesome. It's hard to separate the week as many things happened, but I'll try to detail this as much as possible.

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.

March 12, 2011: The Power in the Word

There were a few things going on this week. We had a donation of blankets from North Fort Worth Baptist that arrived in our hands this week. Jonathan and I headed over on Tuesday to drop off some blankets at this abandoned two-story house we found last week. Here are some pictures inside:







I will talk to the neighborhood officers these next two weeks to see what we can do.

This Saturday also marks our first attempt at discipleship. God put a burden on my heart, like He did to Dr. David Platt, to read and preach the Word to them. I decided with Jonathan, to start reading through Romans. We read through the first seven chapters. Antonio, Indio, and Lito stayed. Antonio remained there for all seven chapters! I applauded his persistence and constant questioning of how to apply God's Word in his own walk. He still struggles with alcohol addiction but he's trying to overcome. Here are some pictures of that.






There is an interesting story. This was originally to take place at Susan's house but she had a huge argument with her father and brother. There was alot of fighting at her place. We decided it wasn't the time to have the study there. So we took it outside on a post close to the Texas Car Wash. From there, we met a new guy, his name was JJ.

This is going to be one of my favorite stories to share. JJ was cussing at us the whole time. He was making mockery of God. Saying things like, "If God is so real, why doesn't he just f*****g bring us some piece of s***t food, shelter, and jobs. F***K all that S***T!!!" He kept going on without any pause. Right when we were done, I walked by trying to ignore him, but my big mouth opened up and I said, "God always provide. Always." Within a few seconds, these two vans pulled up and Joey and crew passed out tons of water, food, and blankets for these guys, not to say the least JJ was dumbfounded.


















Just a reminder. God always provides. Always.