There is so
much I want to tell you all about San Diego, CA, but between technical
difficulties and a very busy schedule, we are much delayed in getting our
stories out. So I’m going to tell you a
brief story from San Diego, and the rest you’re just going to
have to read about in the book!
Our mission on this journey is to bring hope to and raise awareness for the homeless in our nation. We truly never know from city to city how that is going to play out. While in San Diego, we watched as God raised that awareness in the hearts of some very lovely people.
I want to
tell you all about Chuck and Joanene Falk, our hosts in San Diego, and how we
got connected to them. They were such a blessing to us in so many ways. I know I have written that this journey,
while amazing, is sometimes lonely, incredibly sad, and causes Kathy and I both
to be so emotional. The treatment we received
at the hands of the Falks was nothing short of God-sent. Here is their story.
As we got to
San Diego, we went to a little suburb named La Mesa. We had posted on Facebook that we needed a
place to stay in San Diego, and a friend responded that she was going to help us find a
place. Her lead did not work out, but
that lead said their friend would take us in. Talk about a crazy circle of events! But what a blessing that was! We knew
we would like the Falks before we got there because they had called a couple of
times to check on our progress and to let us know they were praying for our
safety. We got to their home that
afternoon, and we were greeted by a wonderful Christian couple. They helped us unload and get all set up in
our rooms. (Each of us had our own
bedroom and bath. Talk about SPOILED!) They
live in a beautiful home in the hills with a gorgeous view of San Diego, a far
cry from my tool shed for sure. J
 |
| Dinner Party with our Host Family! |
The night we arrived, they
gave a dinner party in our honor. They
even gave us special scripture plates to eat from. Their invited guests were Janny, Julie, Niles, Barbara
and Suan. We had a wonderful potluck meal and
awesome conversation. As a surprise, Joanene had prepared a pumpkin cake complete with candles and “Happiness Is Loving Jesus” written on top.
We sang “This Little Light of Mine” and then blew out the candles. It was so amazing. Such a small gesture, but it meant so much to us.
Of course, everyone wanted to hear about two crazy old ladies traveling the country ministering to homeless people. And while we were happy to share our story with them, we were very intrigued about what some of
them were doing, as well. Niles and Barb have a
ministry The Frances Kitchen Project, Inc. They started it by going to Tijuana to build a
kitchen for a lady named Frances who had a ministry cooking for the homeless
and needy in the dumps. As you all know
me – I was SO excited since I’d cooked for the homeless and ministered to them
for many years.
They also go
to a place called The Dump. It is an
actual dump where everyone throws away all their waste, even hazardous
waste. I saw a picture of it, and it was
disgusting. Men, women and children
living underneath other people’s garbage to keep warm. Nile’s and Barb’s ministry, aided by their
church friends of which Chuck was one, just put up a very large surplus army
tent with garage doors surrounding to be used as a church. The preacher at this church is from San Diego,
and he goes there every week, stays a few days, and has church every
Sunday. They also have taken a few tents
to put up for people to sleep in. (Side note: When we were in Fort Worth, someone donated a tent to each of us . . .Thank the Lord we haven't had to use them! . . .but with the stories we heard, we wanted to give our tents to these people to help those families get out of the cold and rain! If you are the Fort Worth people who gave us these tents, the Lord used you all the way over here in San Diego!)
Now, back to
the Falks. A little background info about them. They have opened their
home for 30 years for foreign students to come and stay while they go to
school. Their split level home has a
stairway “hall of fame” with pictures of all the students and gifts the
students had given them from their homelands. (One of their current students, Janny, was at the dinner party as was 8 year old Suna. Suna’s mom is a past
student that lived with the Falks, and the Falks watch Suna a couple of days a
week while her mom works.) Like I said, great people!
While we were there, the Lord just really impressed upon the Falks that they were going to start working with the homeless! We had a question and answer session one night, talking about how to get started, what to do, who to talk to, all that. As we prepared to leave, we thanked Chuck and Joanene. But Chuck said
“No, thank you, you have been a blessing to us. You've inspired us to go and do something for the homeless here.” We thank God for
putting us with such wonderful people. What a great week!
(And don't forget! You can read all the amazing San Diego stories in the book when it comes out next year!)
Sammie
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