FOOTSTEPS: taking the homeless home.

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Tuesday the 29th of November

could easily have been ..

one of the best days of my life.

for starters...

a co-worker left a bag of butterflake rolls,

chocolate chip cookies,

dinner rolls

and a giant loaf of italian bread.

pretty nice of her right?

the night began. 

and i say night because after daylight savings,

the sun goes down at 5pm.

the air was COLD!

Not PLAY IT OFF LIKE IT AINT COLD cold...

There's an #OCCUPY movement going on in downtown Jacksonville.

Very nominal.

With a big loaf of bread in my hand looking out for any needy.

I approached their area 

a table had bread and one guy was making a peanut butter sandwich.

they had tents, umbrellas,

laptops,

wifi

it was kind of disturbing.

to make sense as to why I approached them,

I asked if they'd like a loaf of bread.

(maximum 15-20 people)

I was out as quick as I was in.

I then met

Jared Gibson, a co-leader of Footsteps Homeless Ministry,

and I met up at Hemming Plaza

we then rode to

the Sulzbacher Center

where dinner line is nearly a block long.

Jared prayed before we began.

one of this week's donations for the night

 was a BIG THICK WINTER COAT!

(thanks Jonathan Zack for the donation)

meet "Cowboy" a man I met on the streets a week ago.

he actually had a nice black jacket on.

It was comparable to a North Face.

We traded.

we gave his black jacket to a guy who was just wearing a t-shirt

it had to have been 60 degrees out

not cold if you're from up north

..that's a bit nip to Floridians.

IT WAS CRAZY HOW MANY DIFFERENT ITEMS WE HAD

the first three people that approached us got beanies.

one got wrap around ear muffs

shirts

khakis

pants

they searched

and looked

the bag of food?

GONE!!!

we solicit prayer requests from people. 

50/50

50% of those who accept have a respond with a specific request

25% oblige, take their hats off (if wearing one),

close their eyes and bow their heads letting you freestyle.

the other 25% blurt out a generality - HEALTH! SHELTER!

... part of Jared's prayer before was

that if we could minister to at least one person let it be

Meet Robert, a Vietnam vet. He's in a wheelchair.

we met him in the vicinity of the Sulzbacher center.

we offered him bread

but I don't think his body could handle

the sweetness of the roll. (?)

he asked for prayer..

to wake up and see another day.

Jared prayed then he spoke to us more.

we sat by his side.

he's in his mid-50s

Vietnam vet

has a problem with alcohol

in a wheelchair due to accidents shattering both hips.

and replacements that are misaligned.

he can't walk normal again.

he "lives" in a government supplemented

program giving him housing.

the residents are mentally ill.

Robert feels he's the only one that has his wits about him

while the rest rest are inciteful.

his 18 year old roommate in this house provokes him to anger...

because Robert is on SSI,

the program tells him where he can live.

his young roommate infuriated Robert so much so

he left the facility

and WHEELED his way downtown from lem turner

a 6 hour trek.

we saw him on day 11 of "fleeing" his residence.

after hearing all that I asked if I could pray for him again.

afterwards, he asked me if I could take him back home.

he wheeled towards the back door.

backed up.

opened it.

stood up via the door frame

and got in my car.

with his chair folded in the trunk

his address was put in the gps.

he was AMAZED by the gps.

no lie.

"oh it tells you where you're going"

along the way,

he began to tell us

of going to Vietnam at the age of 17.

2 tours.

bootcamp in my hometown of San Diego.

being stationed in Guam.

being a foster child.

adoption.

respecting elders.

this young generation.

we made it to his house.

we hugged him goodbye.

he wheeled up the ramp towards the door.

that was the first time we took a homeless person home

If I had a dollar...

I'd eventually want another...

If I had nothing... would I want more of nothing?

where's the balance? where's the "happy medium" ?

"too much" happens when you lose track of things.

excessiveness relates to anything.

- For Every Action, There's an Equal and Opposite Reaction -

Newton right?

Does that relate to the spirit as well as in the natural?

More good , less evil right?
________________________________________
________________________________________

tonight was special...
after consulting with my co-leader Jared,
we didn't go out tonight as a team.

this morning, we had a breakfast potluck at my job.
there were a lot of carbs and sausages left.

It rained today.
Hard.
... I thought about them. the homeless.

What they were doing....


After work,
I went under the bridge near the jailhouse downtown.

With a trunk full of food and clothes,
I met about 10 people......... ...

Last week there was a luncheon with pizza.
At the end of that day, I went downtown and fed some of the homeless.

It was in and out.

I cried that night because I didn't ask anybody for prayer.

That morning, at the men's breakfast.
Pastor Chris Brooks spoke about how you can feed the poor
but they could still go to hell.

I cried because the experience was overwhelming, 

the tears intensified because of that memory I had

of truly doing goodwill.

the homeless were waiting in line for dinner

(6:30 at the sulzbacher center)

I pull up with boxes of pizza in my trunk.

they swarmed.

..and then shared.

tonight was awesome!

I pull up at the foot of the bridge

going around the block to find a park.

while driving,

I spotted 4 homeless people sitting in between

some parallel parked cars.

I park and open the trunk to get food.

"Y'all hungry?"

1 lady.. 3 men

(numbers dont lie. men greatly outnumber women on the streets)

I gave the lady the rest of a fruit salad. 

the men grabbed one croissant and 2 sausage links.

If some of the pieces of food were stuck together,

I'd tell to take it and that "it was a sign" :)

(who am I to be the food police y'kno?)

one of the men's name is William Young.

He turned 51 today.

I said "November 22 huh?"

He said,"You know what else happened on 11/22?"

I paused...  "J.F.K got shot?"

He said "Yeah!!!"

I gave him and his friends some clothes

that my buddy Dustin donated.

they loved em.

a beanie.

winter jacket.

rain poncho.

flannel.

i prayed for Mr. William.

he has a feeling something's not right with his mom and just would like to get in touch with her somehow in the near future.

he gave me a hug.

around the corner were 3 other men.

Y'all hungry?

i learned a lot about diabetes from a man named Robert.

he has it.

I gave out rest of the clothes.

gave them croissants and sausages.

Robert took some donuts that I had as well.

he looked like a big kid sitting on the ground

holding 2 donuts in one hand while eating a croissant with the other.

we prayed.

around the corner

going towards the sulzbacher center was a different group of people.

didn't really look homeless,

but with a bag of remaining food in my hand.

I just gave it all away.

In fact, I had some left over....

and left the last bit tucked away in the big brown bag on a picnic table bench.

afterwards I went to chill with my brother for a bit.

he's riding with me to go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this Thursday.

the night was perfect really.  70 degrees!

very still air. .which has been very rare lately.

NO WINDS! it's crazy!

have a good night you guys.

spread love.

FOOTSTEPS - NEW IPHONE!!!

OMG have you seen the new iPhone!

It's the best one yet!

There's even a program that TALKS BACK TO YOU!!!

ISN'T THAT COOL??

oh...

you haven't seen it?

is yours broken?!

...you don't have a phone??

oh.... wow.... how do you connect with people?

oh... you're homeless...

wow.. that sucks..

...maybe there's an app for that...

///the above sounds ridiculous right?
MILLLLIONS lined up and waited for the new iphone.

don't get me wrong... i love my android smartphone.

banking, maps, social media, email, and more

all in the palm of my hand...
----------------------

the disciples of Jesus were unsuccessful with healing a boy with epilepsy.

the father of the boy told Jesus [Luke 9:40] I begged your disciples
to cast it [demon-epilepsy] out,
but they could not.”

41Jesus answered,
“O faithless and twisted generation,
how long am I to be with you and bear with you?
---------------------
The cavemen had the stone age

King Tut lived in the late Bronze Age

The forefathers of America lived in the Industrial Revolution

WE, now live in a time known as the AGE OF INFORMATION.

take a minute to let that one sit.
-----------
what this means is that anything and everything

that you want to know

can be accessed with the wave of a finger...

because everything has been given to this entity known as 'the internet'

useful information...
useless information...
it's all there for you to access.

making you the god of your own little world.
-----------

so what happens when grandma's in the hospital

and your prayers go unanswered?

Does it mean that God is not God?

---------

faithless and twisted....

Angry birds won't get you into heaven...

google or facebook won't help you 'cast out demons'

only the name of Jesus.

church, it's really time to unplug from the world

and plug into God

#PREACH

-------------------

tonight's outreach yet again was awesome and rewarding.

as the sun set on the river city

we made our way downtown

with only a box of clothing

1 pair of shoes

2 navy blue work pants

4 jackets

1 sweater

1 long sleeve t-shirt

1 string tie bag

2 pair of THICK socks.

we first arrived at the sulzbacher center.

the mens size 9.5 shoes

were given to a woman staying at the center

who can "use them for exercise"

meet Clyde, Debbie, and King [not pictured, their friends Willie and Bryan]

Jared and I prayed for them all.

My buddy Jonathan provided

the majority of the clothing that they were given.

(thanks buddy)

when we met up with these guys...

they were huddled together and VERY cold for the most part.

they said the clothes were a godsend.

[they're all wearing donated jackets/long sleeve shirt] 

Debbie's prayer is for shelter (and healing...

her faced is bruised because she "ate sidewalk" last night...)

King and Willie are guys that worked ALL their lives

economy . unemployment dried up . homelessness

Wille had a shouler injury recently.

he couldn't even lift his right hand in the air. 

Jared laid hands on him and prayed.

we talked about many things...

where they get their meals

how COLD IT'S BEEN at night lately

I asked Clyde for his prayer request..

he said he'd pray for me.

Bryan knew

what the temperature was going to be tongiht..

it's remarkable how savvy they are about some things.

at this time the b squad

Lauren and Wilson

were arriving at Hemming Plaza

with a young man by the name of

Joseph.

Joseph just got out of jail..

is engaged..

23 years old....

...homeless.

I referred him to OPERATION NEW HOPE

Lauren and Wilson picked him up

from where he was staying

and they had a micro-bible study

in the plaza before we got there.

You could tell that Joseph was eager for a change in his life

he was VERY soft spoken,

 willing to talk,

and had a VERY stoic demeanor.

we all linked up and prayed for one another.

before we prayed...

Wilson (dominican republic)

noticed a young woman sitting not too far

from us

and asked if she wanted to join us in prayer

prayer requests were spoken

we all had our arms on each others shoulders

IN PUBLIC

praying for one another

it was Awesome!

meet Estrella,

[ ehs-tRay-ah]

{Spanish for 'Star'}

 she's in JobCorp, a government program

set up to help people off the streets

give them a trade

find them a job

however the program alledgedly treats them like dogs

people give donations..

and officials hold them from the people in need

REAL DIRTY

REAL GRIMY...

What I love about Lauren is her boldness and persistence.

She's going to take Estrella to church on sunday

and contact me afterwards to give her some clothes from the

MOUNTAIN of donations that I have in my house.

(I'm really excited because

she will be the first woman to get FIRST PICK!)

This ministry is SO SPECIAL because

it's guided by the Spirit

no outreach is ever the same.

no game plan is ever the same.

the number of people we encounter

is always different.

it really gives you a feel for Jesus' ministry

when he walked the earth

the ONE thing that makes us different from Jesus

in our ministry

is that he was actually homeless in his.

look it up in the gospels...

...there's an app for that.



Man don't live on bread alone...

 

that's the title
of this blog post
because my brother
Aaron Davis
 was able to get
ALL of the extra
french bread loaves
from a Jimmy John's
and donated it to the ministry.

it was a beautiful evening.
the weather was perfect.

one homeless man that I met once

who's originally from up north

said that Jacksonville was like paradise.

... crazy right?

all a matter or perspective i guess.

GREAT PICTURE / GREAT SMILE GUYS!!

the team for the evening was myself, Jared, and first timers Lauren and Jonathan.

Jonathan and I have become close like brothers now and Lauren I met last weekend at George Dumain's house during a songwriting session. (about 10-15 of us got together last saturday to write a new worship song.... it was awesome).

Jonathan is brand new with his walk with Christ. He's got an open heart, an open mind and has that brand-new child like faith that is missing in a lot of people I've met.

Lauren is just awesome... plain and simple.

she just got back from a mission trip to Paraguay two weeks ago.

when I mentioned the homeless ministry at George's house, she was the first person to ask me for more information. who? what? where? when? why?

she's a bold woman of God with bold faith and a soft heart.

I especially like that she had the audacity to go up to a homeless man (that asked for two bottles of water) and gave it to a man name SUPER (WHO IS AWESOME BTW).

SUPER was simply amazing.

a lot of time people expect that they have to have their Christian walk in tip top shape before they come out to this ministry so that they can withstand the onslaught of homeless degredation.

often times.. it's the other way around... these people encourage you so much!!!

Super told us many many stories... he was born a 1 pound baby in 1955.

"back in those days... one pound babies didn't make it... i'm the biggest one in my family now"

he got into drugs.... was shot 8 times... and prayed that night...

"Lord I know i'm going to die, but don't let me go to hell"

the holy spirit spoke with him that night that he wasn't going to die.

he almost lost a leg... and on.. and on.. and on...

it really gave him joy to share all of the victories in his life that God has given him... he's a man that prays without ceasing...

awesome guy.. he had us in stitches... he was so funny.

i liked how he had eyeglasses hanging from the tip of his nose haha...

Old SchOoOoOooL

(now that i think of it.. i think his jersey said old school haha.. )

 the first guy we prayed for was Frank "the tank" .

middle aged man.

he didn't really seem all that 'ragged'.

his prayer request was for his mother..

she's in her late 70's

and has to have an EKG done (heart test)

this caused great concern to Frank

and he was just stressing over it.

we layed hands on him and prayed for his mother.

some usual faces were out..

"country boy"... Kaheim ("K" from previous blog)...

we passed out water and bread...

water seemed to be more popular than the bread.

i guess bread (by itself) would make you more thirsty..

we then rode to the sulzbacher center that was DEAD...

NOBODY OUT... which was highly unusual..

afterwards we returned to hemming plaza to ride the monorail.

 Jonathan's from Chicago and was trying to figure out the rail stops.

pictured in the background is Sharmaine. we met her in a previous outreach.

Jonathan's map is blocking the guy's face... but she's with a new guy.

They're expected to be married in December.

very fickle world that the homeless live in.

they have basic needs... and love is definitely at the top of that list.

she was very enthusiastic about announcing her engagement.

Lauren taking it all in. she liked the views of the skyline.

she'd make a nice commercial model for the skyway no?

afterwards we all reflected on the night.

Jonathan's giving recaps...

after the ride... we were all heading back to our cars..

I stopped us in our tracks and brought up that we should

bring up our prayer requests to each other.

we sat down at the benches and shared our requests..

Jonathan is NEW new...

he doesnt' know about the stories of the bible.

I gave him a NASB bible..

we've been talking about tithing... demons... and covering the bases

before we joined hands and prayed for each other..

i asked Lauren and Jared's input on tithing...

they knocked it out of the park.

we all shared our different perspectives on tithing and offering

and i feel that left a great impression on him.

all in all it was a great night. 

God sent just who he wanted tonight for the reasons he wanted. 

hope to see you out next week.  



gli uomini di stagioni

I had an awesome shoot the other weekend with my old roommate Petsa Ivanovic and his soccer teammate Davide Faga.

Petsa is Serbian.
Davide is German.

The theme for the shoot was 'Four Seasons"

Winter / Inverno

Spring / Primavera

Fall / Autunno

 

Summer / Estate



Footsteps: School of Hard Knocks

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but this week's outreach was the best ever.

you would think i'm just saying that to make this ministry sound bigger than what it is....
no lie.. this outreach was the best ever...

That's the business that God specializes in - BIGGER AND BETTER!

Prior to anything starting... i picked up my buddy Steven Sutton. We met John Walsh of OPERATION NEW HOPE to get insight on resources available to help people find a job (who have recently been released from jail).

He prayed for us and a positive outcome for the outreach.

Tonight was really crazy...

you had every news station at city hall as the new budget was being heavily debated...

the team met up at the piano that's right outside the library.

I was joined up by Jared, Ronny, Dustin, Amanda, Steven Nolan, Steven Sutton,  and a guy named Adam that saw us "preparing for something" and just wanted to join us.

"I don't know what yall about about to do, but I want to do it too!"

It was our highest Jacksonville attendance in Jacksonville since we started!

That was really a TRIP!!

We had TWO CASES of bottled water, materials for PB&J's, and a FRACTION of the clothing donations.

We split up in teams and hit up Hemming Plaza.

We ALL had opportunites to reach out to people. No one was really 'shadowing' anyone else.

Everyone was ACTIVE.

USUALLY, the park closes to the public at 8pm.

However, I presume, because of the fuss at city hall, police officers were barking that the park was closed at 7pm....

...which was kind of good because we hit the plaza quickly.... LITERALLY gave out a case and 1/2 of bottled water in about 10 minutes... a hat.... shirts... socks... a pair of women's shoes... lotion.... and mouthwash.

it was like a BLITZKRIEG!

we then went to location B

Which is located by the Sulzbacher center... which is RIGHT by the jail....

as we approached the location... we heard this RAUCUS....

it was guys in the jail playing basketball...

in a way... it was a beautiful sound...

very acoustic.. energetic...

.. no profanity... just pure recreation....

.... in a jail house.

In this small area was the sulzbacher center and the jail...

after going to Haiti... nothing really surprises/scares me about experiencing "raw humanity"...

In a courtyard area near the center were picnic tables where people can commune 24/7

there were some guys freestyling to a beat.

they were having a good time. ..

Adam was on a bike and beat us to this location as we all drove.

He was freestyling with the guys and was just having a good time.

There were homeless people sitting on the curb outside this center.

A fire truck and ambulance was at this center because there was some sort of health emergency.

There was a DCHD (Duval County Health Dept) Motor Home station outside giving HIV tests and just closed as we got there.

On the quest for knowledge (and how we can possibly partner with sulzbacher to help the community) I went into the main entrance of the woman's dormitory to ask information.

A lady at the desk gave me a lot of good information.

We went outside and kinda felt like 'that was it' for the night.

We went back to the corner where we originally stood and all talked.

I'm REALLY impressed by Steven as he was SO personable with people. he stayed WAY beyond anyone's expectations with people and REALLY REALLY sat there and shared the love of Jesus with the homeless..

VERY VERY inspirational.

(afterwards he and I really started brainstorming on many many things)

 

I always like to flip the script and ask people who participate...

"well, what's your prayer request?"

That always catches people off guard because they're so mission-minded that their own requests are wayyyy in the back of their mind at that point.

We prayed for Adam and it was awesome!
You could tell that he had SUCH an awesome heart for God...
He was even wearing a necklace that had the last supper on it... (very cool).

However, his mentality was one that he felt that he had to get himself right before he comes before God to live for him.

The ENTIRE group really gave great input on living for God.

It was awesome!!!!!

Meanwhile Steven (sutton) was STILL praying for this other group.

[Adam busted out an awesome Christian freestyle that was SICCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!]

The night wrapped up.

Jared and Ronny rode in the same car so they went home first.

Everyone else rode in my car (from Hemming plaza) so I asked them THEIR prayer request.

Requests were spoken, including my own, and I did something a little special tonight.

I drove them to the top of my parking garage.

The night was perfect, breezy, and the sky was clear.

We held hands and prayed for the person to the left of us.

The icing on the cake for the entire night is that we ushered in the spirit of God by worshipping Him to this song....

going with the flow in this ministry is paying off....

we're doing all we can at this point in time... and He's doing the rest.

I had more fun on the streets then at my first day at work... (crazy right?)