Footsteps: What do you do?

Another awesome homeless ministry took place this week.

I was joined by my buddy Jared.

This week we had CLOTHES, CLOTHES, AND MORE CLOTHES!

In addition to clothes, there were also peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Jared provided.

Special thanks to my buddies Jonathan Zack and Ivan Mendez that provided the clothes.

there were t-shirts of various sizes, two pairs of shoes, socks, hats, jeans, slacks, a pair of gel soles (Dr. Scholl's ["are you jellin'?"], face cloths, and other snack items.

When we first arrived downtown at Hemming Plaza, Jared and I prayed.

Before we could "set up shop" this one dude called "Georgia Boy" (whom we helped with shoes in a previous outreach) saw us coming with bags and immediately knew who we were, and what we were about.
He was the first to get up and approach us as others may have just thought that we were passerby's with bags in our hands.

We went to an empty table and laid out all the items on the tabletop in organized piles of like items and the conversation with 'Georgia boy' began.

I didn't really get to know Georgia boy too much last time as we were having an intense conversation with a man named K who was near him, towards the end of the night, in a previous outreach.

This time we got to know him more, asked for prayer request, and he really let loose with pressing questions regarding his walk with God.

"What do you do when you know you're doing wrong and you do it anyway knowing that God is going to punish you?"

I brought up Romans and how the things we don't want to do we do... and the good that we want to do... we do the opposite sometimes and that we're all human. but, there's power in forgiveness, repentance, and wearing that armor of God. There were a LOT more questions and I just came at him with the word like Bruce Lee. (it sucks that I can't minister to myself like I do to others... but Jared reassured me 'that's why we were designed to encourage each other and have relationships with others.)

Jared got into an IN-DEPTH conversation with a man name Lewis.
Lewis used to be a minister.
No lie... he could have been a guest speaker at the Man Conference at Celebration Church!
that's just how much of the word of God that he knows.
he was literally spitting bible verses out LEFT AND RIGHT!
it was really encouraging to hear.
However, he's voluntarily sinning and knows he's not living right.
The conversation continued with Jared and Lewis as I was distributing sandwiches to people across the plaza.

Two ladies approached our table as Jared was still talking to Lewis and got some of the smaller sized shirts.
One of the ladies appeared to be.. let's just say.... very fidgety.... she didn't stay still for one second.

she was rubbing her stomach and saying something to the effect of how "this baby has got me tired"
they grabbed as much as they wanted, got some PB&J's and went on their way.

as I was passing out PB&J sandwiches, I met a man named (or nicknamed) 'Free'

"Would you like a PB&J sir?"
"No, I had too many of those in jail."
"Do you have any prayer requests?"
I prayed for him... and our conversation began.

I generally like to shake people's hands to humanize them so that they know that I acknowledge them as an equal. However, 'Free' had scars on his thumb and around the top of his hand.
So I just gave him a fist pound.
He came downtown because he literally got in fights every other day while living at the beaches.
He's about 5'4 but was in the military, was in jail, and used to MMA fight.
'Free' would get paid to beat up homeless bullies.

Yes, there are HOMELESS BULLIES.
(supposedly, there's a tattoo'd guy at the beaches named Oz who "runs the beach" as far as the homeless are concerned)
'Free's friend was beat up by this Oz and defended his friend's honor by seeking Oz out.
It was reported that Oz was next seen wearing a neck brace........

Pretty much, his family lives up north.
His dad has 3 houses: 2 in the states and one he's building in the Phillipines with his new filipino wife.
His brother is in maryland and his sister is in the military here in Florida. (soon to be a senior chief).
"you don't have contact with your family?
"I dont' call them."

In my mind, i was like, Dear God, I wish I had a facility to get him off the streets.
"do you need anything? clothes? food?"
"No, but I'll sit here and talk with ya"

more often than not, most homeless people want/respect that more.... just having a simple conversation with someone that cares to hear....

Free and I talked about many things...
his prison diet.
why he was arrested.
robbery.
betrayal.
him being hit in the head with a hammer (he removes his hat to show me the scar).
his eye condition (the pupils of his eyes don't dialate) and his night blindness.

By this time, Jared's conversation with Lewis had wrapped up and Jared and I just had a listening ear for 'Free'.
he seemed enamored by us... real lighthearted words and body language.
not to necessarily impress us... but to know a sense of belonging and acceptance.

By the end of the evening, we distributed about 90% of all the items, prayed for about 5 people, and encountered maybe 20 people.

'Free' was the last person we spoke to that evening.

I guess the new tradition of this ministry is to ride the monorail afterwards and decompress all that has passed in the evening.

I've known Jared for about 2 years now. We've grown closer as friends recently as I shared my testimony with him and his involvement with homeless ministry. He's real insightful, a good listener, and definitely someone who is helping me through this season of my life. We began to share our ideas for growing the ministry, our own prayer requests, and prayed for each other.

... and that's what it's all about!

************EXTRA**************

Here's some verses to think about:

Matthew 26:11 "YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE POOR AMONG YOU, BUT YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS HAVE ME".

DEUTERONOMY 15:11 THERE WILL ALWAYS BE POOR PEOPLE IN THE LAND. THEREFORE I COMMAND YOU TO BE OPENHANDED TOWARD YOUR BROTHERS AND TOWARD THE POOR AND NEEDY IN YOUR LAND. 

MATTHEW 5:7 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY.
PSALMS 41:1 BLESSED IS HE WHO HAS REGARD FOR THE POOR, THE LORD DELIVERS THEM IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.

If you would like to get involved with Footsteps and participate in an outreach or have questions please contact either myself or Jared.

Jared - rekiemu@gmail.com

Reggie - rtaylor@fvent.com