UNDER THE BRIDGE: Loaves and Fishes, Crab Legs and Shrimp...and Spaghetti and Meatballs!

     Since this blog is being read in over 30 countries, we are greeting one different country every time a post is written.  This week we say, “Hello!” to our brothers and sisters in Brazil!

"Queridos amigos, deixe-nos amar uns aos outros, porque o amor vem de Deus."
  1 John 4:7

It was just one of those beautiful Florida days at the Bay Side Park.  The service and dinner are held under the white pavilion!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

     It’s 72 degrees and sunny with the deep blue water of the bay reflecting a clear Northwest Florida sky.  Winter doesn’t get any better than this.  Now don’t get me wrong, it has gotten cold!  But the homeless needed a break – and they got it today.   Thank you Jesus.

     We set up under a pavilion at the Bay Side Park (camp).  Today is our day for our outdoor church service and homemade, all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner for everyone.  I was rather excited about being able to feed them all, today.  Donations had come in, and I was able to buy a bigger pot to cook more spaghetti to our growing congregation. 

     However, just as we were preparing and setting up everything, Jason and Ashley walk up with food in a couple of individual Styrofoam containers.

     “What’s you got there, Ashley?”  I asked.  Ashley is three months pregnant and she is eating everything in sight!  Being homeless doesn’t make it easy.

     “Jason and I got some steamed crab legs and some fresh boiled shrimp.”

     “Uh, what?”  I must admit being taken by surprise.

     “Steamed crab legs and…”

     “That’s what I thought you said.  Are you kidding?”

     She opened the containers to show me the steamed crab legs and shrimp.  She wasn't kidding.

Crab legs?  Ashley, Are you kidding?

    

Jason and the boiled shrimp he shared with everyone who wanted some!

“O.K., you guys are making my spaghetti dinner look bad.”

     They did share with everyone who wanted some.  “Are you rich, or something, and I don’t know it?” I asked.

     “Nope…food stamps.” shot back Ashley’s husband, Jason.

     While homeless and living in a tent on Gilligan’s Island (see post dated Aug. 9, 2014, Federal Law of the Tracks!), they had received food stamps.  However, this week they got admitted to a program at a homeless shelter, Loaves and Fishes.  It provided them for a place to stay until he could find a job and move into an apartment.  Meals were provided, so they had extra food stamps with which to celebrate and splurge on a very hungry pregnant lady.

     It was a nice hors d’oeuvre for our spaghetti dinner!

     While “hors d’oeuvring” on the crab legs, they told us that they both had found jobs.  He had a couple offers in construction, and she at Burger King or as a maid in a large chain hotel, whichever one she would accept.  Praise God.

A wonderful charity which caters to families, especially those with children!

     Thank you all of you saints of God out there who have prayed for Jason and Ashley.  God bless you.  Glory to God!

     Loaves and Fishes is going to help them with the first month’s rent, deposit and utilities when they find and apartment.  We have had a number of homeless people find jobs and apartments, lately.  They are slowly getting back on their feet.  We miss them dearly when they are gone.  But we also rejoice for them.

     We rarely see them again.  It might be hard for them to come back for a visit which would remind them of the hard times they had gone through.  Maybe one day, after they have healed, they will return to help the homeless.

     Robert, who should not be homeless for much longer, just received his birth certificate and will now be able to get a copy of his license.  That translates into job possibilities.  Without a license or an I.D. card, it is impossible to get work.  Many of them loose their wallet or have it stolen, thus prolonging their stay in the street as a homeless person.

Robert and his dog Hanna!

     “Once I get a job and a place, I’m gonna take my mom off the street.”

     Mari is Robert’s mom.  Robert already has a couple of job offers, and by the time of this writing he should be working.

     Knowing street savvy Mari’s spunkiness, independence and dependence on alcohol, I doubted that Mari even wants to get off the street, though she has talked about getting a job, herself.  Her jail time for D.U.I. is making it difficult for her to find any kind of job.  She is an organizational whirlwind and could certainly be useful to society when she decides to be back in the fold.

     “Robert, I don’t think she wants to get off the street.”  I mention to him, as Mari had shared with me a few days before.

     “Well, she IS going to get off the street when I get my apartment.  She’s getting too old to be out here.  I’m gonna take care of her.” He firmly answered.

     Robert is twenty-two years old, and Mari, his mother, is fifty.  (You can read the past blogs, as Mari is probably in 90% of them!)

     At noon, I gathered everybody for the sermon titled “We Have a Treasure in Jars of Clay” (2 Cor. 4:7).  I had twenty-five attentive souls for about twenty minutes. To help me make my point, I had brought a clay jar filled with shiny gold coins (chocolate inside!).  I pray I got the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ across and into their heart.

Twenty-five hungry souls present heard that "we have this treasure in jars of clay..." 2 Cor. 4:7

     Then it was SPAGHETTI DAY.  Yea!  I make all the spaghetti they can eat with lots of sauce and meatballs and fresh French bread.  Paul, who brought two large cakes and their beloved Pepsi, helped dish out the sauce and balls while I filled their bowl with lotsa spaghetti.  It’s church day and family day, when everyone loves on each other and catches up on the latest homeless news.

     I always ask who wants to pray the dinner blessing, and today Robert volunteered!  I believe this was the first time we had heard him pray publicly.  It was a beautiful, heartfelt prayer to which we all said, “Amen.”  Evidently, it must have been the first time Mari, his mom, also heard him pray because tears welled up in her eyes when he was praying.  Robert’s prayer made mama cry!

     We do these services on the second and fourth Sunday of the month.  On the first and third Sunday of the month, we feed them hot dogs with chili, snacks and drinks, but no service on those days.  On those first and third Sundays, we drive to the camps and meet and feed them there.  In the camps we spend more time with them, ministering the love of Jesus on a more individual basis.

     After much sharing, hand shaking, and hugging, everyone slowly starts heading back toward their own camp with full bellies.  I bring back those I had picked up in town, with Paul dropping some off some others at their camps.

     The hardest part of the day is saying good-by.  I love these saints of God.  Thank you Jesus, and Glory to Your Name.

Well, good night y’all and God bless you.

I just helped Ashley and Jason move into their new apartment today.
They are now off the street!  Thank you Jesus.  Glory to God!

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