"...Truly I tell you,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me."
Matthew 25:40
Sunday our family decided to do an outreach project. We loaded up the grill and some hot dogs, chips and cookies and headed to the homeless park that is four short blocks from our church. We knew that after church the week before there were close to 25 homeless people at this park and we weren't sure if we would be able to reach them all with just the five of us. So we called in reinforcements! We invited the youth group at church to join us, they showed up with 14 willing servants.
Almost immediately after we got to the park our work began. I wandered over to a group of three people (Two men and a woman). Now I have never been known to be shy... not even a little, so I sat right down with them and the woman immediately asked me "Young lady, are you going to pray for me?" I told her I would love to pray for her. She then told me that it had "been so long since somebody has prayed for us" She told me her name was Giddy, but if I was going to pray for her I could call her by her real name, Julie. She grabbed my hands and we prayed. Shortly after we started praying her "other half" walked over. She grabbed his hand and made him sit by us and told him that I was going to pray for them. I asked his name and he told me "Wolf", to which Julie replied, "It's Paul. You can call him Paul." The name thing really struck me, they wanted the Lord who created them and who they knew loved them to know them by their name. Brings tears to my eyes as I type. After praying for Paul and Giddy and hearing a bit of their testimony and getting more than a couple hugs I moved on.
btw... while I was off visiting with and praying for people my wonderful husband was doing the cooking :) I love him!
The next group I sat down with included a man named Dennis who had worked for a local construction company for 14 years before getting laid off a couple years ago. He has been homeless ever since. I promised him I would pray that he would find a job. Lord, please help Dennis find a job, one that he can love.
Another young man was disowned by his family for being gay. He dreams of being a chef one day. Another had been out of prison for 3 months and had been clean of heroin for 2 weeks and clean from alcohol for 2 days. He was hopeful that this was a new beginning for him. I prayed that the Lord would be his strength.
Man after man, woman after woman, they each had a story. And they each just wanted somebody to listen to theirs. I heard about their families, their pasts, their former employers, their friends, their dreams.
I know that their stories and their hearts not only blessed me, but also blessed my husband, kids and the kids from the youth group.
Next time you are stopped at a light and there is somebody standing there holding a sign, say a little prayer for them. They have a family and a story and a dream.
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
Psalm 140:12
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