So grab a cup of coffee and settle in. There is much to tell you.
We arrived in San Antonio, Texas, on the night of Saturday, January 12th. We got unloaded and got ready to go to Church Under the Bridge on Sunday morning to meet Pastor Dennis. We got up, excited to meet Pastor Dennis and work with him. When we arrived under the bridge, we saw a ministry unloading music equipment, chairs, etc., so I parked and went over to see the Pastor. “Hi, are you Pastor Dennis?” I asked. He explained that he wasn't Pastor Dennis and pointed us to a building down the street.
When you think of Church Under the Bridge, you think of it actually being under the bridge, hence our stopping at his location. I got his name, Pastor Brian Wicks, thanked him for his invitation to stay and told him we'd be in touch.
I told Kathy, “We’ll be back to this ministry because he is doing things the way I did for the Mark 10:27 ministry in the Houston area.” I loved it because he drove up with a trailer, opened the doors, got out his tables and chairs and set up to have church (with the homeless helping him, it was going fast!).
We headed on down to the building down the street to meet Pastor Dennis. Originally we'd planned to speak with him before the service, to confirm my speaking at the Tuesday evening service, as we'd discussed on the phone. But because we had gone to the wrong church initially, we were late to meet Pastor Dennis and the service had already started. We left our card with one of the Deacons and told him we’d be back to help serve the dinner to the homeless after the Sunday night service and meet with Pastor Dennis then.
We had to leave because I was scheduled to be the main speaker at another church that started at 11:30. My only contact there was a "Pastor Robert." I didn't even have the name of the church. But I had an address, and we headed there. He told me the intersection and parking place to meet him and said there would be a sign that said, "Haven of Hope" at the back where we could drive in.
We were certainly familiar with the name "Haven of Hope" because we'd been trying to get in there and had been turned down three different times, finally being told it was impossible to get in and that it would take weeks to get approved. Could this be the same place?
Sure enough, it was the same place. Kathy and I were so shocked and so excited at the same time.
We went through the gate with Pastor Robert and his wife, Janie, to the chapel. I remember Kathy and I looking at each other, still not believing we were actually there. The security was so tight, and we were just driving through the gate like we were somebody. Satan didn't want us at the Haven of Hope, but that didn't matter, because God did.
I have experienced moments like that throughout our entire journey. The things we think we can or can’t do are all guided by God. We have to remember it’s His plan. When God gives you a mission and sends you out, He will take care of the details. God’s never early, but He’s never late, always on time. SO TRUE!
We went into the chapel at Haven of Hope and started church. Pastor Robert was brief as he introduced me, having decided that the Lord wanted me to speak the entire time. It was an incredible time there, as we felt the Holy Spirit move and trust that seeds were planted.
Monday was a scheduled "office day" for us as we had a lot of emails, Facebook downloads and media work to do to catch up and finalize our plans for Austin. We planned to stay in and work getting ready for our work on Tuesday with Pastor Dennis, work that would never happen. I love how God directs us to the plan He has for us, because I thought we were doing one thing and He had us doing something else. We met the people He wanted us to meet, and He directed us where He wanted us to go.
Pastor Brian Wicks called me on Monday (remember him from the "wrong" Church we went to on Sunday?) He said we could go with him on Tuesday as he fed the homeless on the streets, and we could speak with them and pray for them. We still hadn’t heard from Pastor Dennis, so we agreed to do that. He was just so helpful in so many ways, giving us opportunities to work with him again on Thursday and to connect us to other people that we needed to meet in San Antonio.
Later, Pastor Brian called to tell us the weather was going to be bad on Tuesday and said we might not want to go that night as the homeless don’t like to come out when it’s really cold. He told us we should go to Bethany Methodist Church because when it gets to 34 degrees outside, they open the church for the homeless. We called and spoke to Sherry and told her we wanted to come help do whatever was needed and to pray with the homeless. She said we were very welcome and to come on.
When we arrived, Sherry showed us around, gave us information about their operation and set us free to do whatever we wanted, especially praying with the many homeless men who were there. They were serving dinner, some were eating, some watching TV, others were taking showers and washing their clothes. The church is a wonderful facility for them when it’s cold. Sherry and her staff are amazing, all caring volunteers, working tirelessly.
I sat down at a table with four homeless men who were all very welcoming and spoke openly with me about being homeless. They all had stories but mostly they were homeless due to a loss of job. The loss of job is putting so many people out on the street in America that it's mind boggling. I don’t think that people really know how bad it is. These men weren't stupid or lazy, they just needed a chance. Of course, EVERY crowd has a few curmudgeons, but I got their stories, prayed with some and moved on to another area.
A man named Buddy told me he’d had a divorce over 20 years ago and had never gotten over the depression and hurt. It was still with him. He said it was a heart breaking divorce, I didn’t ask details but I could see the pain on his face as he spoke. I asked if he was a Christian, and he said “Yes.” I prayed for a job and for peace in his depression. We prayed for about 5 minutes, and when I leaned back, he grabbed my hand and said, “Can I pray for you?” I said yes. I took his prayer, (what a sweet prayer), hugged him goodbye, and moved on to speak with others, introducing myself to find out their story.
I went back to the entrance of the church where we’d come in and saw that the volunteers were all gathered there with a homeless gentleman. As I walked up, they pointed at me and said “She will,” indicating I would pray with him. I grabbed his hands, asked his name (Mike), and many of the volunteers gathered around and laid hands on him as we prayed. Mike needed prayer for his wife and daughters, a job and that his family would be reunited. He had an alcohol problem that became more than his wife could handle, and they broke up. When I finished praying a long prayer with him, I hugged him and tears were rolling down his cheeks. He turned and walked back to the big room where all the gentlemen were wiping tears from his face. I hung out for a minute, got a cup of coffee and then headed back to the big room. As I walked in, Mike was talking with a friend and pointed at me saying “That’s her. She’ll pray with you.” I went over to meet his friend, Carlos, and we prayed, and Carlos cried. His prayer was for his family and a job. He hadn’t seen his family in a long time. He touched my heart just as Mike had. I could tell they both had beautiful spirits.
We have to remind ourselves that the purpose of this journey is to raise awareness for the homeless of this nation, but it is also to bring the hope of Jesus to those who live daily without hope.
(Do you see now why I couldn't decide what to leave out? There were just too many stories to tell you.)
Pastor Brian Wicks called me on Monday (remember him from the "wrong" Church we went to on Sunday?) He said we could go with him on Tuesday as he fed the homeless on the streets, and we could speak with them and pray for them. We still hadn’t heard from Pastor Dennis, so we agreed to do that. He was just so helpful in so many ways, giving us opportunities to work with him again on Thursday and to connect us to other people that we needed to meet in San Antonio.
Later, Pastor Brian called to tell us the weather was going to be bad on Tuesday and said we might not want to go that night as the homeless don’t like to come out when it’s really cold. He told us we should go to Bethany Methodist Church because when it gets to 34 degrees outside, they open the church for the homeless. We called and spoke to Sherry and told her we wanted to come help do whatever was needed and to pray with the homeless. She said we were very welcome and to come on.
When we arrived, Sherry showed us around, gave us information about their operation and set us free to do whatever we wanted, especially praying with the many homeless men who were there. They were serving dinner, some were eating, some watching TV, others were taking showers and washing their clothes. The church is a wonderful facility for them when it’s cold. Sherry and her staff are amazing, all caring volunteers, working tirelessly.
I sat down at a table with four homeless men who were all very welcoming and spoke openly with me about being homeless. They all had stories but mostly they were homeless due to a loss of job. The loss of job is putting so many people out on the street in America that it's mind boggling. I don’t think that people really know how bad it is. These men weren't stupid or lazy, they just needed a chance. Of course, EVERY crowd has a few curmudgeons, but I got their stories, prayed with some and moved on to another area.
A man named Buddy told me he’d had a divorce over 20 years ago and had never gotten over the depression and hurt. It was still with him. He said it was a heart breaking divorce, I didn’t ask details but I could see the pain on his face as he spoke. I asked if he was a Christian, and he said “Yes.” I prayed for a job and for peace in his depression. We prayed for about 5 minutes, and when I leaned back, he grabbed my hand and said, “Can I pray for you?” I said yes. I took his prayer, (what a sweet prayer), hugged him goodbye, and moved on to speak with others, introducing myself to find out their story.
I went back to the entrance of the church where we’d come in and saw that the volunteers were all gathered there with a homeless gentleman. As I walked up, they pointed at me and said “She will,” indicating I would pray with him. I grabbed his hands, asked his name (Mike), and many of the volunteers gathered around and laid hands on him as we prayed. Mike needed prayer for his wife and daughters, a job and that his family would be reunited. He had an alcohol problem that became more than his wife could handle, and they broke up. When I finished praying a long prayer with him, I hugged him and tears were rolling down his cheeks. He turned and walked back to the big room where all the gentlemen were wiping tears from his face. I hung out for a minute, got a cup of coffee and then headed back to the big room. As I walked in, Mike was talking with a friend and pointed at me saying “That’s her. She’ll pray with you.” I went over to meet his friend, Carlos, and we prayed, and Carlos cried. His prayer was for his family and a job. He hadn’t seen his family in a long time. He touched my heart just as Mike had. I could tell they both had beautiful spirits.
We have to remind ourselves that the purpose of this journey is to raise awareness for the homeless of this nation, but it is also to bring the hope of Jesus to those who live daily without hope.
(Do you see now why I couldn't decide what to leave out? There were just too many stories to tell you.)
Wednesday was another office day. I don't know if you, our readers and supporters, have a picture in your minds' eye of what we do out here on the road, but there is a lot of what some might call "logistics" to deal with. So. Many. Details. And so much technology to learn!
We were so behind with so much work to do on email and getting information back home to our writer, that we worked 8 hours straight on two computers. And then, wouldn't you know it, on Thursday, when we got up all excited to go meet with Pastor Brian, our camera was not working! Argh! Satan, get behind me!
We spent four solid hours at Best Buy fixing our camera, (but now everything works correctly, including the camera operator, Kathy, tee hee.) You know it’s so funny how when you’re doing good how hard the enemy tries to mess everything up. Between camera malfunctions, misplacement of files and a change in sleeping arrangements, it could have been a very defeating week. The enemy tries to come on you and take your peace when you’re about the Lord’s work, but you have to refuse to allow that and keep on keeping on. I don’t think people know how tough it is on the street and even what we are doing isn’t easy. Some days we wonder how we'll get to the next city, where we'll stay and how we'll eat. But we are depending on the Lord and the people He calls to provide for us while we are out on the road. It’s tough out here.
But enough about that. We persevered, didn't let Satan stop us, and God gets the glory. That's what matters! By the time you read this, we will be in El Paso, possibly even headed for Tucson, Arizona.
I am including the link to our donation page, or here, in case the Lord calls you to give to this incredible journey.
Much love to you. We appreciate your prayers and your support!
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San Antonio is missing you. Come back soon. Todd and Abbie
ReplyDeleteNot only San Antonio is missing you, we are missing you too. We love you and we whish you all the best. Be safe and stay well. God bless you. Rey and Andrea
ReplyDelete