Our team spoke with several homeless people, here are a few of the stories (alias names used):

Sarah
I ministered to an elderly woman named Sarah who was in very bad shape. She was covered in flies and was missing most of her teeth. She could barely speak. She was grateful to receive the Blessing Bag and I prayed for her and stayed with her for some time doing the best I could to listen and be of service. She seemed uneasy about receiving any further help so I eventually left. Please keep her in your prayers.

Tyler
I also gave a Blessing Bag to a man named Tyler who was sitting on his front porch. He was a believer and we had a great conversation about our faith and some of the struggles he was having. He said he was already blessed by Christ so I asked him to share the blessing bag with someone else who needs it.

Joshua
We saw Joshua several times during the morning. When Phil finally had the opportunity to greet him he was quite friendly. He has bright, clear eyes, different from many of the other homeless. I don’t think he is a drug addict. But he is very troubled. Joshua is mentally ill. His paranoia convinces him that he is being poisoned. He feels he is being pursued by agents who are following him in supermarkets, at Goodwill, even on the street. We prayed for him that God would place a mighty hedge of protection around him and keep him safe. Joshua desperately needs to feel God’s protection. He also needs treatment. We encountered several mentally ill people today, both men and women. They have little hope of improving their lives without medication and a safe place to sleep.

Megan
She lay emaciated on a blue plastic tarp on the sidewalk. I was drawn to her as we drove down Jefferson. We stopped the car and approached her. Her body was a leathery tan. Her skin hung on her. We asked if she wanted a Blessing Bag. She said, “Yes, please.” I asked if I could pray for her. Her bright green eyes opened wide, She said she had “Jesus in here” as she pointed to her heart. She stated that it was her own actions that kept her on the street. “I am an addict. He knows that and he knew me from the time I was in my mother’s womb. He knows my beginnings and my end.” She quoted more scripture and her pain was covered by a peace. Megan told me that she wants to be there. It was her mission. She said “You have to love people. Others come down here with bull horns, saying that we need to be saved. But you have to love them.”

She told of meeting a man who was spouting demonic language, She cast him out in the name of Jesus and loudly said “greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world.” I asked her if she had a Bible. She said she loses things but she has it in her heart. I told her that the Gospel of John was in the Blessing Bag. She quoted the first four verses and said that God had to take her to the depths before she realized who He was. She had to give her whole self to Him. “We live in two worlds. One earthly one spiritual”, she said. She had a laceration on her arm. I cleaned and bandaged it from the Blessing Bag. Megan told me she had been an addict for fifteen years. She had been in prison for possession and has since been on the street for the last 3 years.

Please pray for each of these individuals, may they come to know Christ as their Savior and to trust in Him even in the circumstances they face. Pray for their rescue and God’s hedge of protection.