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| Bay Side Park (Camp). Highway to the left (unseen). Utility building to the right (unseen) |
Sunday,
August 17, 2014
In the
early morning, the city police officer walked up to the three homeless children
of God sleeping behind a small utility building at the Bay Side Camp. They were each wrapped up and curled up
tightly in their blankets on the ground.
While telling me about this incident, Mari had her face in her hands,
crying in disbelief; like a dagger had been thrust deep into her heart.
Officer
P. nudged her out of her blissful sleep, saying, “Wake up, Garbage! It’s time to go!”
Garbage? Since words are spoken out of what is in the
heart, it seems this officer has garbage in his heart. This officer needs some serious sensitivity
training.
Mari
looks up at me, “I can’t believe someone would call me ‘garbage.’ No one has ever called me ‘garbage’
before.” She was very sad to start off
with, as a couple days ago her 32-year old nephew had died of heart problems unexpectedly.
“He has
left us, but he is in heaven, as he was saved,” she said assuredly.
She couldn’t
wait to see me so I would give her some Scriptures that would comfort her
sister, the mother.
“I am so
glad to see you. Leslie (her sister) is
so confused over his death. She really
needs comforting. I need Scriptures to
give her.”
“You don’t
have to wait for me; God is always with you, Mari.”
“I
know. I hear him even when He doesn’t
speak.”
That’s
deep.
Yes, they
are homeless, but not deserving of such an insult. Jesus Christ willingly died on the cross so
that these homeless people may be saved and become sons and daughters of the
Sovereign God. They are worth so much to
Him that He gladly suffered the cross for them.
And now, having believed on the Son of God as their Savior, they are
saints of God, made holy by the Grace of God.
Officer
P…Jesus died for you, also. And He can
heal you, too.
It seems
the officers are trying to clear the city of the homeless without providing an
alternative safe place for them to go.
When the homeless are told to leave an area, they go to another
place. When they are later told to move
from that place, they go back to the area they were at in the first place. This has been going on for as long as anyone
can remember.
Anyhow, hardly
anyone uses the Bay Side Park, as a noisy four-lane highway goes right next to
it. I have
never seen all the pavilions
used – even on July 4th! Most
people drive THROUGH the park to get to the drive-on fishing bridge.
At the
Bay Side Camp, Tom (not real name) announced he was leaving and going back home
to Alabama to be with his wife. Hooray
for him! We will miss him, but we
always rejoice when the homeless are finding a home and getting their life in
order. We have ministered to him for the
past year, or so. He is saved and we
pray he has grown in the love of Jesus.
Take that home with you, Tom.
We’ll miss you, brother. (Tom
didn’t want his picture taken, as no one at home in Alabama knew he was
homeless)
Chris’s
broken foot is almost healed and he is ready to get back to work. He knows someone in Oklahoma who will hire
him to work on an oil rig. He always
knew his homelessness was temporary. He
needs to get back to work quickly so he can keep his car! God bless you, Brother Chris. We made sure his salvation.
Suzanne
is healed. Praise the Lord. Yes, I did
buy her antibiotics for her staph infection on her lower leg…and the Lord
healed her. Her lower leg was bright red and swollen. The Lord can, and does heal
instantly, but I believe doctors are also a blessing from the Lord, as is
medication. She could have easily lost
her leg (if not her life) to that infection.
I rejoice to now see her so perky, talkative and alive. We love you Sister Suzanne. God bless you.
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| Healed and telling everyone. Glory to God! |
We hardly
see sweet Alice (our homeless deaf lady) anymore, as she is volunteering helping
the poor somewhere in town. I could not
find out exactly where. I hope she shows
up at our service and dinner next Sunday, as I bought her a pair of needed size
8 tennis shoes. I’m glad you are serving
the “least of these,” Sister Alice. God
bless you!
It seems
Tony, in his late fifties, might not be with us too much
longer. It might be his turn to be in
jail for a while.
“They
just happen to check me…and found this really small amount that didn’t amount
to anything.”
I don’t
ask what ‘they found’!”
He
continues, “Man, I don’t want to go to jail.
I told my lawyer I’ll do community service. She asked me how much I’m willing to do. I said…as much as they want me to, as long as
I don’t go to jail. I’ll talk against
drugs as much as they want me to!
To
punctuate this statement, he reached for his water bottle and pulled it out of
his pocket along with something which fell on the ground right between him and
us. Brother Bill and I, and Tony, quietly
stood there looking down at that spot on the ground.
Starting
to laugh at the irony of it all, I asked, “Tony…is that…a JOINT you just dropped
on the ground?”
By then,
both Bill and I were chuckling, trying not to burst out with laughter.
“Ok, Ok,
just laugh at me. You gonna judge me,
now? What…you don’t care about me,
anymore? I’ve been smoking these since I
was 14 years old,” as he stooped down to carefully pick it up between his thumb
and forefinger, and delicately put it back in his pocket. “So what, you hate me
for that? Why are you laughing?”
“We love
you, brother. It’s just ironic, that’s
all. We’re talking about it…and…there it
is.”
By now,
we could not help but to unleash unbridled laughter. Bob walked away and we started to hand out
food to the other approaching homeless men.
I don’t
visit the homeless in jail, though they would appreciate it. That alone would be a full-time ministry!
Shelly has
been banned from the Bridge Camp. Murphy and others announce that peace had been restored to the camp. Murphy?
Yes, Murphy is out of jail and back with the camp. But isn’t it Murphy who was arrested for beating
up on Shelly?
“Who told
you I beat up on her?
“Shelly did”
Everyone
had a good laugh about that one.
“Then how
come I was the one who was all cut and scratched up and she didn’t have ANY marks
on her?” retorted Murphy. “Anyhow, when I
go to court, she will testify on my behalf, and have the charges thrown out.”
Ahhh, the
evils of liquor…and stories…and rumors!
The day Murphy was released from jail, he had a heart attack! He had to have double by-pass surgery to
repair the blockage.
He
sneered, “I told you the food in jail was bad!”
Can you
love them…can you not judge them, as officer C. did? Or is your life so sanitized by the world and
you are so proper that you think YOU’RE too perfect to love these saints of God? There are none perfect, no, not one. We all come short of the glory of God. Jesus, who is perfect, loves them perfectly.
Now,
let’s go to Jack and Mari’s Camp where action never ceases and stories abound. Jack gingerly approaches us, leaning to one
side, as we give him his food.
“I
fell…hurt my side real bad…can’t move too much.” He lifts his T-shirt to expose a bad
scrape/bruise which looks like a giant nebula of many colors below his left
armpit. I didn’t ask how he did it and
he didn’t volunteer. Beer may have had something
to do with it.
Then Jack
carefully pulls his T-shirt back down, takes a careful breath, and adds, “Don
is coming back. He’ll be out of jail
this week.” Don has a wonderful area of
the camp. It is the most beautiful camp
site I have ever seen. He is a
perfectionist.
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| Don's amazing place at Jack/Mari's Camp |
As we sit
down and chit chat, I notice a scar on Mari’s face I had not seen before.
“What
happened there, Mari?” I could see a
story in that scar that would not disappoint.
When Mari
was in jail, last year, it was noticed that she had a spot to the right of her
nose which seemed to be a skin cancer. The
jail clinic scheduled for her to have it removed by a dermatologist. She was escorted in handcuffs and foot
shackles; rattling her chains and turning heads all the way up to the tenth
floor of the medical complex. I just had
the same procedure done (though not in chains) and understood what she had
experienced.
“The
doctor said he had to make a two inch excision and remove some of my skin. I said that didn’t bother me as long as he
takes all the freckles from the skin he removes and puts them back on my
face. Don’t remove my freckles!” She laughed heartily.
With her
police escort with her at all times, she was laid on the operating room
table…in shackles! The good doctor
thought that was truly a unique experience and made light of it.
He
comically whispered in her ear, pretending the escorts could not hear, “Do you
want to go to lunch with me after this?”
She
stopped laughing, paused, and said, “He was a very good doctor. He had a great sense of humor, too.” I read there that he respected her dignity in
spite of her circumstances.
“What is
his name?” I asked.
“Doctor
G…”
“No,
you’re kidding? That’s my doctor!”
How
ironic. In fact I had an appointment
with him the very next day. How strange
is that?
Jack and
Mari shared something with me they thought strange. A man drove up and came into their camp, gave
them food and a large, white icebox with all sort of things in it they might
need. He did not stick around but said
he would be back.
“You
know, Jean-Luc, he did everything according to your book. And the things he gave us are the things you
listed in your book that we need.” Jack
concurred, as they both had read the book.
“We have
enough stuff here to share with everyone! Praise God!"
It warmed
my heart to think people are reading my book and this blog…and acting on it. It
should not surprise me, as this is the explicit purpose for which they were
written.
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| Mari: "A man named Paul dropped off this icebox with all kinds of food and things we needed! Praise God! Thank you Jesus!" |
Off we
went to the Palafox Camp to see John, James and Henry, and others.
After
getting a John hug, I ask him,
“John,
didn’t you get that prosthesis fixed yet?”
It still laid next to him on his wheel-chair whereas it should be on his
lower left leg, allowing him to walk around freely.
“Nope,
still working on it. I got all new
clothes, though.”
“Awesome,
you look great, brother.”
I tell
them about the church service and meal we are having at the Bay Side Camp next
Sunday. On my way there, I will pick him
up (and anyone else) and take him there.
They actually look forward to the service part of that day.
John then
says that other people had stopped to either feed them or give them things
before we came along. He said they were
doing the same thing we were doing. He
said there had been more people than usual coming to help them.
James the
music man was sitting on the next park bench strumming his guitar when I told
him about the service next week. He
said,
“You
know, two men stopped by here today and invited us to church. They said they would come and pick us up
right here. They even said we’d get a
meal. They didn’t have to say that
because we are INTERESTED in going to church, not just in getting a meal. If there was no meal, we would still have
gone to church with them.”
“That’s
right,” nodded his friend.
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| We WANT to go to church! |
Don’t
forget, saints of God, the spiritual welfare of the homeless is first and
foremost in this ministry.
“James,
do you mind if I put your picture in my blog.
There are people in 26 countries reading this blog.”
Well,
that really shook him up right there and then.
He sat up straight and exclaimed,
“TWENTY-SIX COUNTRIES! You gonna
put my picture in 26 countries?” He
started playing the guitar with much more gusto, and asked, “You gonna be my
manager?”
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| 26 countries? |
As
Brother Bill and I walked back to my vehicle, Henry walked up smiling and happy
to see us. Henry is a reader and, in
fact, attended college quite a while back for three years. And it shows.
I always enjoy speaking with Henry, discussing the latest current
events.
I used to
carry a variety of books for the homeless to read, and Henry was always there
to go through the list. He usually likes
adventure or war stories. I don’t carry
many books anymore, but I did have a copy of my book, though I did not think he
would be interested in it.
To my
surprise, his eyes got big and his countenance lit up.
“Yea, I
sure want to read it. Awesome!”
It never
ceases to amaze me that the homeless want to read about ministering to the
homeless! Most of them here have passed
around a handful of copies I have given them.
Many of the homeless we minister to have read it. Amazing!
Glory to God!
The next
day, Monday, I was in my doctor’s office for him to check on a procedure he had
done on my face. I told him he was
highly respected in my community. He
looked at me, intrigued.
I
continued, “One of your former patients has nothing but praise for you.”
I knew he
would ask, “Who could that be?”
“Mari Lee
H…”
Well, if
that didn’t bring an instant smile on his face…followed by a chuckle…then
outright laughter. Yes, of course, he
remembered.
“And, how…are
you…connected to Mari?”
I shared
about Mari, what we do in this ministry, and otherwise witnessed to him on the
love of Jesus Christ.
Mari has
that effect on people. One day soon, the
Lord will heal her mind, soul and body.
She will be very useful to the Lord and she will serve Him powerfully in
the upcoming street revival.
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| The very social camp dog, Brianna, everyone loves and spoils! |
Good night, folks, and God bless y'all.
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