San Fran and Francis Chan - The Ups and Downs of Homeless Life

We arrived in San Francisco late one afternoon and met our hosts David and Lori Beall, their daughter, Rachel, and Chloe (their sweet dog) and their home. They helped us unload into the wonderful room where we were to stay, fixed us a lovely dinner and started planning our next day with David. I know I say this often, but we are so grateful for the kindness of strangers. It was a delight and a real pleasure to be hosted by such a devoted Christian family. We felt at home as soon as we got there (but then our God is like that, He connects with awesome people).

We met David over the Internet.  He had a lot of things he wanted to show us, and is incredibly active in the homeless community.  He has an awesome ministry called San Francisco Revival, and he also runs the Street Angel Program trying to connect people in need with professional service providers.  He says some of the best things he can do is be a dependable friend and provide spiritual and moral support. (I've gotta tell you, he has a serious network of friends that connects all through the San Francisco area!)

David bought us a rail ticket for the week and we headed on down to the Embarkadero and to the mission area which is called the Tenderloin area.  Homeless were everywhere!  Frances Chan’s Church (City Impact) and City Team all have their missions there.  We walked all day up and down the hills of San Francisco.  David knew all the places to go for homeless outreach.

You know this ole homeless girl was loving connecting with those people! We spoke to so many people on the street.  There is no way to tell you about all the people we met.  Sometimes I wish I could just stick y'all in my pocket for a day so you could get an idea of ALL that happens out here on the street.  You'd be blown away!

But I'll tell you a few of the stories about the lives of a few people we met.

We volunteered Frances Chan’s City Impact Mission.  It was too late the first day we went to volunteer but met a fella by the name of Harry who gave us the hours they needed help and said we could come back any time and help out.  There was a huge youth group from Bend OR there to help that week but they let me, Kathy and David volunteer, too. (It’s great to see the youth do such work, they led praise and worship, helped unload trucks and worked in the kitchen.  They were very active and smiled while they worked.  It was a lot of fun.)

Harry was a pretty interesting dude!  He came to San Francisco seven years ago, totally strung out on drugs. But four years ago, he did a total surrender to God and got off drugs. He’s been volunteering and in charge of outreach of City Impact (Facilities Director) ever since. He said God gave him a word to move to San Francisco and volunteer.  He’s been obedient to God and his sweet spirit shows through to everyone he meets.

David was quite the tour guide for San Francisco as he knows it inside and out.  He took us to the City Hall to show us a place he felt was a holy place by one of the flag poles.  The flag said "An Appeal to Heaven." He also took us to the Martin Luther King Park where they had filmed a documentary about a guy named Moses.  It’s an interesting story about his life, his addictions and how he’s overcome them.  Fran Guijarro, the director, did a beautiful story of his life and won awards at the James Notodo Film Festival in Spain.  Check out www.mosesthemovie.org


A quick rabbit trail here, but David and his wife Lori and family always celebrate Passover in a very traditional style.  We actually got to meet Moses at their house!  It was my first Passover Celebration and was very cool.  Lori, Rachel and David cooked all day making the appropriate meal.  Rachel cooked the Matza balls, which I’d never had before.  They were awesome!  They set the table in the traditional way.  We all had our wine glasses (filled with grape juice) and a script for the celebration. It was nothing short of amazing.  

This has been a tradition in their home for many years.  As a matter of fact, in the Elijah cup, David gave Lori her engagement ring prior to their marriage.  How cool is that?  Think David might be a romantic? David explained they are trying to live as Jesus lived and that Jesus was a partaker of this celebration every year of his life and the last Passover is our Maundy Thursday and basis for our Communion in the church today.  They have researched this celebration thoroughly and were very informative about its traditions. To live as Jesus lived, they even had a Madouza and put lamb’s blood on their door posts at Passover. Guess what, no one found the Matzo and Elijah didn’t come. (google it!)

Okay, one last San Francisco story and then we've got to get on the road!

One of the most special highlights for me was getting to preach at the Homeless Church of San Francisco on Pier 32. It was awesome.  It was a packed house, or should I say a packed “pier” with the homeless and people from other churches.  There were times you could hear a pin drop.  

My friend, Fran, (that’s the director of the Moses documentary), filmed the entire day.  Hopefully I’ll have it on YouTube soon.  A number of people came to speak to me afterwards.  That’s when I met a girl named Meredith.  Here’s her story:

Meredith is 23 years old.  She grew up in a small town, in a very abusive home.  From the age of 3 to 14, she was forced to have sex with her mom's boyfriends.  At 14, she finally ran away from home, where she stayed with friends, but eventually ended up on the streets.

At 20 years of age, she met a lady at a shelter who introduced her to the homeless church and kept after her to come.  She eventually started going and met and fell in love with Jesus.  I asked Meredith, “If you had one piece of advice you could give someone to help them, what would you say?” She said, “If you are homeless and sleeping on the street, I recommend you get card board because it’s an insulation barrier from the cold concrete.”  


(So innocent despite what she’s been through. So sincere.)  She even gave instructions on where to find card board and how to make it ready for use!

Two days later, David, Kathy and I were walking the streets of San Francisco, and we stopped to eat at a little cafe in the Tenderloin area.  I didn’t eat all of mine so I fixed it to take to give to a homeless person.  We went back to the holy place by the flag pole because a lot of homeless hang out there.  I was looking for someone to give the food to and I prayed that it would be someone that really needed it.  God put it on my heart to find a female.  I was looking around for a while for a lady, and I finally saw one across the park.  For some reason I was really drawn to her.  David and I walked over there.  As we got up to her, it was Meredith again!  I thought it was so awesome that God had drawn me to her again.  She was hungry and so excited when I gave it to her.

Of course, as always, there are many, many stories to tell you.  But we've got to keep moving down the road.  Thank you for your prayers, your support, your comments, and your continued financial contributions.  Every single thing you do for us is such an encouragement!

Sammie