Today’s outreach was wonderful! The weather was in the 70’s and sunny. This weather brings folks out and there was a constant stream of folks at the bus stop today! As soon as we got to the bus stop with three shopping carts overflowing with food and clothes, folks came up wanting one of the bags we hand out and to look at the clothes and toiletries we brought. Tanya was making bags as fast as she could, Gene was handing them out and I was getting everything out of the carts and placed around the sidewalk so that folks could easily look through and pick the items they needed without blocking the flow of traffic.
One of our good friends got off the bus, headed over to Gene and they began singing hymns. A lady got off the bus and headed over to them to join in and hear the hymns. Afterwards, she asked for prayers for a good friend of hers who used to be on fire for Jesus; however, homelessness has started to put the fire out and she has been very concerned about her. We circled around her and prayed for her friend. Shortly after that, another woman came up and was very worried about her children and herself. She was also homeless and really struggling to get back on her feet. We circled around her as well and prayed for her children and her situation. It was such a wonderful time with some very powerful prayers!
We had a good friend with us who is working with Gene on building tiny homes and who has been sharing his story of homelessness with others. He brought some much needed men’s clothes to share with those who were there, and even had some children’s clothes that we were able to bless a family with!
We handed out 46 turkey sandwiches, chips, oranges, bananas, water and propel – and laughter, a listening ear and unconditional love. It was a great day today at the outreach. The community continues to grow from within a space of love!