friday update

Blessed Portion Friday Night Update 4-20-18

Hello Everyone-

From these pictures you can see we had quite the night. So many good things to report and a few hard things. Many were in a frenzy trying to figure out where they would be able to sleep because of the recent evictions. One friend in her tears said "There is no where to hide." Many felt the same way as all their belongings had been taken and put in a dumpster due to the recent evictions. Many came asking for just a blanket to cover up with tonight as they were too nervous to even ask for anything more because they knew it would be seized. For our female friend we did end up seeing her later in the evening. She found a spot for the night to sleep at, but in the morning will need to look elsewhere. Many talked at the first stop about possible places to stay and many shared how they will now have to move every day to other spots to avoid being seen. Now the question you may ask is "Why don't they go to a shelter?" For the women of this city it is impossible to find a place on the weekends because of no weekend intake or they don't meet the requirements. There are places women can stay, but as with other recovery houses it cost money-- about 150.00 a week and many do not have the money and do not have addiction to recover from. Its a very complex issue our city is facing and we need more places, more programs, more beds and more help.

Some of the better news tonight was our friend Jim from the pictures you can see was in dire need of shoes!!! His toes were sticking out as well as his heel on his shoes. Thankfully we had these nice orange shoes and HE WAS THRILLED!! He asked if we would take a picture :) As you can see he was happy and we love him. He is so kind and walking 45 minutes each week to see us sure blesses us!!

Also each week we bring a bin of Bibles and Christian reading material. A man came up with 3 books in his hand and asked if there was a limit of how many books he was allowed to have. We said absolutely not... you can have the whole bin if you want. To that he asked "Really?" I said "Yes" and he took the whole box and was smiling ear to ear!!! He has plenty to read for sure now!!!!

We also were able to celebrate our dear friend Tim's (Chumly) birthday. Again he is a kind man and never asks for anything except a few aaa batteries. It was a pleasure to celebrate his birthday with him and we love him!!

Lastly we spent some time with our ladies at Hobson House...and oh what a blessing they are. One friend has been struggling alot and tonight when we walked in we all agreed she looked so joyful. She mentioned how she had been in prayer about a few things and is working hard to allow God to do His work and it was amazing how her countenance had changed in just a weeks time!!! I just love how God shows up and shows off if we let Him!!!

One more "Lastly".... have to say my favorite part of the evening was at our first step after prayer time we asked Jensen Snyder to sing Amazing Grace as her and her mom Michelle Cole Snyder joined us. She has a great heart for Jesus and an amazing voice. As we sang I was standing by a very dear friend of mine and was blessed to hear him sing. We actually sang all 3 verses to that song and he knew ALL 3! He doesn't say a whole lot usually (unless were on the way to church in my van) but hearing him sing tonight made me so thankful to be standing there. Thankful to hear our friends sing such a beautiful song....friends who had no idea where they were going to sleep. Friends who "Have no where to hide" Friends who are truly FRIENDS and who we love and know God loves them even more!! When you stand and sing songs to God---He hears it as praise to Him from His creation. He doesn't hear "An addict singing", a "A Drunk singing", or even "A homeless person" singing....He hears His creation singing to Him and its all level at the foot of the cross and hopefully we can remember that. No one is more loved by God than another, and thankfully for someone like me who cant sing well He views it as lovely anyways!!

So we had an amazing and hard night!!! We are so blessed to see so many so come out to serve with us... to see people give of their time, their resources, their prayers to those around us and ultimately how they serve God by serving others.

Thanks to Pathway Community Church, Grace Summit Church, Hamilton Church of Christ, Lori Williams, Jacquie Aldrich, Michael Jordan, Kim Ted Shook, Nick Reinoehl, Jensen and Michelle Cole Snyder, Amber Gaskill, Rochelle Bloomfield-Wilson, Wible Realty and Andy Jagoda for the 150 t-shirts they purchased for our friends...thank you

so much!!!!!