What’s the Difference?

I find myself asking that question often these days. What is the difference?

I was so angry this morning as we were heading downtown. I’ve wanted to take a camera down with us for the past few weeks. The trees in the park are really changing colors right now and the scenery is pretty spectacular right now. Now, it’s not North Carolina spectacular where the trees are an absolute painted canopy, but it is still beautiful in its own way. Its own Omaha, Nebraska way! So as we were pulling on to the freeway this morning to go downtown, I realized that I’d forgotten the camera once again. So we called mom. To the rescue once again! How many times in my life has mom come to my rescue? Well, obviously too many to count. What a rock in my life she has been. So I call her and ask her to bring her camera. She says something about batteries and such, but she’ll bring it. Cool.

So we get down there and we start our deal. Our homeless friends are always waiting to help unload. And in a matter of minutes, we are in business. Mom gets the camera to me, which within those short 10 -15 minutes that it took us to get into the downtown area, I forgot again that she was even bringing it! Imagine that! She had to remind me that she had it! Good grief! And then she mentioned the batteries. Now you have to know my mom. I love you mom!! But I may need to invest in some Energizers! So I give the camera to one of the young fellows who was there to do some community service work and ask him to take as many pictures as he could. Well, a few minutes later I see Robin with the camera. Huh? Seems I forgot one important aspect of what it is we do on that corner. Respect. We’ve attempted to be very respectful of all the people on that corner. All the people we share that community time with. We never want to take advantage or make it seem like this is some sort of project. Why are we taking pictures? Several reasons to be honest. I love to be able to put faces to names. One of the things I really strive for is to remember names. Some are easier than others for whatever reason. Pictures help in that regard. Another reason is I just think it’s important to occasionally capture some of these moments in some format or another. Video. Still pictures. Whatever. Just a little reminder of where we’ve been and where He’s leading us. So when he started taking pictures, someone called him on it and he gave the camera to Robin. She then gave it to me and I started asking and receiving permission to snap pictures pretty much at will. One of the most interesting things to me as I came home and started looking at the pictures? Smiles. All around. Smiles.

As I look around on the corner on Sundays, I’m reminded of a song that I really love these days. It’s called the Table of Grace and it’s on a Phillips, Craig and Dean CD – Restoration. The song speaks to God’s amazing Grace. Uses metaphors to describe the awesome Grace that flows so freely…the cup’s always full…the plate’s never empty…everyone’s welcome…at the Table of Grace. Every time I hear this song, it reminds me of our corner. God’s corner. Where the literal cup never seems to run out. We always seem to have enough. Now I’m certainly not equating what we do to God’s Grace. Just that the imagery of the song puts me there. And when we are there, such as today, the mood is always one of cheerfulness and fellowship. And smiles. We prayed together today. Before we serve our Sunday meal, we always pray. Or at least I usually say a prayer offering thanks for all the blessings He sends us with each week. But today we said the Lord’s Prayer. All of us. It was moving to me, to say the least. I can’t describe it. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:00 a.m., which isn’t so unusual for me these days, but the first thing that popped into my feeble brain was to say the Lord’s Prayer with our friends. At 4:00 in the morning. Can’t those kinds of things come at say noon? Anyway, we prayed together and it was very cool.

So what’s the difference? Between an older fellow and a bunch of us from suburbia? What is it that makes our lives so different? I took a bunch of pictures today. But one fellow seemed to show up in several of them. Harry. Great guy. Interesting stories. Tells me he loves the Lord. I have no doubt. Has a drinking problem. Of that I have no doubt either. So what makes us different? Or are we really that different? I mean, I have my issues for sure. I don’t run in the same crowds as Harry obviously, but there was a time when I might have. So what is the difference. Harry is the guy in the picture. With my beautiful little Erin. Is he any different to her? Or is it just my view? And is he really any different? The camera doesn’t lie. Harry is the same kind of different as us. I borrowed that from a book I read recently. But it’s true. He’s got his issues to be sure, but he’s no different. None of these guys are. They might make choices that are obviously not good ones, but haven’t we all done that from time to time? I talked with a young lady today whose story absolutely blew me away. Beautiful, long, red hair. Very pretty. Early 30s maybe? First time I’ve ever seen her. As we talked, and she told me more of her story, it got more and more interesting. She asked for blankets for her boarding room. But only if the guys that lived in the park didn’t need them. Starting to get cold here in Nebraska. Going to be brutally cold on that corner in the coming months. So as she told me more of her story in the approximate 5 minutes we shared, she told me of an abusive relationship…a much publicized trial…a sentencing…involuntary manslaughter…a prison term. Now? Trying to get it back together. So what’s the difference? Is that what it takes to make it to our corner? But she knows the Lord. Praise God. She struck me as someone who will get out of her situation. Harry? Not so much, but who knows? We’re not naïve enough to think that all of these guys will somehow get out of the situations they are in. But some of them will. Of that I am sure. Just want to be there to see it and hear about it.

I guess that’s the difference. We get to be there to hear of the failures and the successes. We get to be a small, small part of it all. Of God’s plan for our friends. We get to go to Tuesday Bible studies with any of them that want to go. We are blessed with the wisdom that comes in droves from some of our friends. Life’s wisdom. God’s wisdom. Occasionally someone will say something to me on that corner that blows my mind. Usually something really simple. But almost always very profound. That’s the difference. I am so in awe that we are getting into deeper fellowship with our new friends and we are so blessed to be the recipients of their love and His love. So in the end? There is no difference. We just take our troubles to different resting places. Us to our quaint little suburb. Harry to his tent down by the river. Physically? Way different. But I look at the picture and I see the two worlds colliding. And I realize that there really is no difference. And Erin will tell you so.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

A 700 Pound Gorilla?

Another great day today. It was an interesting day for us as a family. Our normal Sunday routine involves Robin cooking something on Sunday mornings for our meal with our friends in the downtown homeless community. This week? Not so much. No cooking in the Laney household today. Our great friend Clark offered to cook the entire main course. It was because of his generosity that we were able to alter our normal Sunday morning just a bit. And here’s why. You see, when we began this adventure almost a year ago, I’m not sure we ever went so far as to think we’d never be in a church again. We just knew at the time that God was steering us in a bit of a different direction. In His time. And He still most certainly is. But after a year of God selling His vision to people, His vision of getting out in the world and taking His love and His message to our friends in the park downtown, we have gained quite a few folks that are willing to show up with us on Sundays and help do the work that He first led us to do. So because of this, our family has been able to miss a Sunday here and there and have someone cover for us and it’s worked like a charm so far. One of the things we strived to do in the beginning was make this thing we do so easily duplicated, if we missed a Sunday or ever felt led in a different direction, someone or a group of someones could easily pick the ball up and carry on. It’s certainly not rocket science. Anyone can do it. Just takes a little initiative I suppose and the desire to fulfill what we believe to be God’s plan for us. So this morning? Since Clark offered to do the main meal and we had no cooking to do this morning, we did all the other prep work yesterday and finished up early this morning. Around 10:00 this morning we headed out to the downtown area. Now we normally leave our house around 11:30ish. Not this morning. Our destination? Church. Yep. We darkened the door of a church this morning.

We’ve been meeting with a group of folks on Tuesdays for a few months now. God’s plan for sure. Bible study…missional community…small group. Call it what you will, but we get together and talk about God stuff. Life application of God stuff. It’s a great group of people and a great time for discussion. It’s a pretty eclectic group of people. Drug addicts, recovering drug addicts, alcoholics, recovering alcoholics, some of our homeless friends from the shelter, a pastor and his family, and just about everything in between. The Vine. That’s the name of our Tuesday group. It’s definitely an interesting mix of individuals, couples, etc. But they are a community that comes from the church community we visited this morning. For the most part. And they’ve completely accepted us into the group which is very cool. So we decided to visit their church community this morning. As we were pulling up to the chapel where they meet, one of the kids said “Hey, there’s Peter”! Peter was a fellow who went to our church in Charlotte. Young, extremely talented, with a fresh look on life and the world, and driven by Gods’ vision. In fact, there were a bunch of Peters. And KBs. And Mats. And Roberts. You could have taken any one of them out of this church and dropped them into our church in Charlotte and they would have fit right in. The point is this was familiar to us. It was good. And because of the way God has blessed us lately with people willing to jump in and help out, we were able to join in with these guys and have a great morning of worship. So maybe we can do this once or twice a month. Who knows? We just had to get to a point where God would send enough folks to help out so we could keep this thing rolling and maybe find ourselves in community again.

EDIT ADDED 10-22-07

Disclaimer...What I meant to say and should have said...

As I read through this blog again this morning, something struck me. When I mentioned us being in a church and being in community "again", I guess what I meant to convey was it was just nice to be involved in more and different community. You see we definitely have a community. That community meets every Sunday at noon in the park. And that is definitely what I would call our primary community. Those we serve and those we serve with. Because there are people who give of their time and effort tirelessly and it is such an immense blessing to be in community with these great people. And they know who they are. I could certainly go through and name them all, but they know. And more importantly, He knows. The church we visited was simply an opportunity to fellowship a little more with folks we've been meeting with on Tuesdays. Our schedule allowed us the time to do it, so we did. The building is just that. A building. The community can meet anywhere. Our wonderfully devoted community just happens to meet without a building. In a park. So maybe in the future, we can do a little of both. If we can make it work, we surely will.

So I just wanted to say what I meant to say and what I should have said...

END OF EDIT :)

So we were able to go to church this morning and do our other gig with our friends downtown. What a great day. My aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins joined us from Iowa. The usual suspects were there. Serving. Being served. Ugu was back and again telling me how we were there in God’s image. We are now bringing music to add a little of God’s atmosphere to the corner. Something about music that just brings that corner to life for me. In fact a couple of guys were asking if they could rent our equipment for a night. I told them they could rent it for free every Sunday from noon to 2:00. More people from the county doing community service hours. And that is so cool to me. Most of these people that come jump right in and get at it. And most of them are younger kids. I also met a lady from Arkansas named Lorraine who had the most beautiful smile. Not homeless, just there for the opportunity. I talked to a lot of different people. Saw guys shaking in the wind because they didn’t have coats. Winter is coming. Right around the corner. People need winter gear. It’s heartbreaking to see someone who is just cold to the bone. Know that feeling? I’ve been pretty cold before, but I’ve always had a place to go warm up. Some of these guys are out in the elements all day and it breaks my heart to think some of them spend their nights out there also. It’s tough. I had a lengthy conversation with a young couple who need rent assistance. They stay in a weekly boarding room and have fallen behind. Needed help by Monday. Lots of help. Broke my heart to tell them I didn’t know how we could help them. I can certainly pray for them and will. May never know the outcome of that one. Angie and Bobby. That’s who I’ll be praying for, along with a host of others.

The gorilla? 700 pounds? Well, as I was talking to a fellow I’ve really grown drawn to, he mentioned this very thing. Said he had a gorilla on his back. Not a monkey, he said. A gorilla. 700 pounder. Alcoholism. I know that demon. And he wants it off his back. As I look around down there on Sundays, that has to be the overwhelming factor that gets most of these guys to this point. Whatever the addiction is, that would seem to be the most significant factor that contributes to these situations. Seems that way to me anyway. How in the world will these guys ever be able to conquer these demons? Many probably never will. Surely some of them can. By the grace of God. And that’s where we come in. We obviously can’t do anything to “help” most of these guys. But we can certainly be there to try to offer what we know. And what we know is God is waiting for them. With wide open arms. We simply have to be there to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em all about His amazing love …forgiveness…grace…restoration. It’s all there for the taking. We just have to be there to let ‘em know about it. And we will be there. Every Sunday. Noon. Till whenever. And if any of the guys want to “rent” our equipment for the night? Well….

I could go on and on with these weekly journals. I simply try and capture a moment in time for what it looked like from my perspective. That’s all. So much happens on a given Sunday. I could not possibly recount all the things that happen. The conversations that take place. The fellowship that is shared. To think that God took a chance on a family such as ours to be involved in a mission as great as this? Unbelievable. Another fellow, Menelik, was telling me how he walked from the Open Door Mission to meet with us today. That’s a good hours worth of walking. What a deal. What a community. And they are great people to be in community with. Some are a mess. Aren’t we all. I certainly am. Give me a mess any day. That’s where I believe some of God’s most amazing work takes place. Right in the middle of the mess. Yeah…give me the mess.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

God’s Window of Opportunity

As we geared up to make our 15-20 minute drive to our downtown meeting spot this morning, the rains fell off and on. More on than off actually. In fact, about 3:00 a.m. this morning, the rains came down pretty hard. My Cornhuskers have been losing in pretty impressive fashion the past few weeks and yesterday they experienced their worst home loss since 1958 , so it was only fitting to wake up to rain this morning. Now last week I mentioned how blessed we've been in this regard. Rain is good. But not when you are trying to serve a nice Sunday dinner to 150 or 200 folks on a given Sunday afternoon. And not when you are trying to meet those folks where they hang out most days. Outside. In a park. In downtown Omaha. That's when rain is not good. So today? Looked like it was going to be not good. As we loaded up and prepared to head out, the rain started to come down a little steadier. As we got about halfway to our normal spot? The rains picked up. As I looked out and around at the skies? Didn't look good. At all. We were pretty socked in and had some fairly ominous skies pretty much as far as we could see in most directions. And we have no protection for the serving tables. No type of canopy or anything of that nature. Each time I think about going out and getting one, I ask myself why? Do we not have faith that we can do this thing without cover? Does God not have us covered? Have we been rained out yet? Nope. Sure haven't. So would today be the day?

As we continued making our way downtown, the skies were really not on our side. But strangely enough, as we pulled up to our corner a funny thing happened. Now I'm telling you that if I were to ever question God on this whole outdoor ministry thing as far as weather was concerned, this would be the day. For sure. But as we pulled up? We get out of the van and it's still spitting a little. But then it broke. And stopped. For about an hour and a half, the rain stopped. It was overcast, a little chilly and definitely damp. But the rain stopped. God put out a cover for us. We prayed all the way down that he would let us get in and out and have a Sunday to remember. Of course He did. Doesn't he always?

And today was another birthday Sunday. We were able to celebrate birthdays in the park for those having October birthdays. May seem like not so big of a deal, but the folks on that corner sure seem to like it a lot. Heidi is a lady that we've known for a while now. Turned 49 on October 9th. Today she got to celebrate her birthday with a piece of cake and lots of friends. And lots of love. Because God was there. Blessing us with cover and love. Amazin'!

I was talking to another friend today. Ugu is his name. We've only known Ugu for a few months now. Shorter fellow, from Nigeria I believe. Thick accent. Always smiling. Just a great guy to chat with. After we put out the clothing and things, he came over with a pink stocking cap on. Getting a little colder here with each passing day. I kind of smiled and still do at the thought of him with that pink stocking cap on. Lots of these guys make me smile. In fact as I made my way through the line today greeting all of our friends, I was reminded of how these folks are generally in good spirits on Sundays. And they certainly have reason to not be. Lord knows they have reason. By choice or by circumstance, they have reason. But for the most part, as I have the luxury of making my way through the line and greeting each and every one of them, I almost invariably get a great handshake, a warm hug and a smile. And with the weather today and the possibility that we might get rained on, I wasn't even sure how many people would be there. All of 'em I guess. That line was long! And that was a good thing.

Back to Ugu. As he approached me in his pink stocking cap, he thanked me for all we do. All of us. As he was talking to me, I looked to the area where people are getting plates of food and I see people on the serving side of the table, shoulder to shoulder. It was so weird. It's like they compete to get a spot to serve. And most of them are there to serve because God told 'em, to. He's amazing like that. So as Ugu is talking to me, he thanks me repeatedly. As I always try to do, I tell him not to thank me, but offer thanks to God. Without Him, none of what we do is possible. None of it. And his response to me? I have to paraphrase here and I wish I didn't have to, because Ugu said it so eloquently. He said to me "Dave, you are Him. Because He created you in His image, you are Him. And you are here serving us. You are an image of God in what you do and how you show up every week and serve us, the poor and homeless." What do you do when someone says something like that to you? Besides being humbled? Beyond your imagination? I just smiled really, really big inside and thanked him. Because that is what it is all about. That someone could see God, through one of us, even on a cold, overcast, rainy and dreary afternoon. Even in the midst of what I imagine to be one of the more trying times in Ugu's life? That for a moment on a downtown corner, there would be a bit of brightness that would shine through one of the many people that serve in His name. And there was enough light to brighten that corner from about noon until around 1:30.

And then God said pack it up boys and girls. And the rains started up again slowly. We got our wonderful trailer packed up and I thank God for blessing us with that. What a blessing! And as we stood in the rain chatting with our friend Bill, who always makes sure to show up and hang around until the end, I was reminded once again how blessed we are to fellowship with our friends each Sunday. I am reminded of this often, but when we are standing on a corner and the rain is coming down and we're in no big hurry to leave? He's got us covered. He gave us an hour and a half to do His work today. I wanted more. Don't we always want more? He gives us just what we need. Always. People might think I'm crazy. But I know that He stopped the rain today so we could do His work. The look in Bill's eyes was priceless. We told him it rained on us all the way from our house to the downtown area. It stopped when we got there. It started up again when His work was completed. At least for this day, for us. What an amazing God we serve. Let me say that again. What an amazing God we serve. Thanks God for that window of opportunity today. It would have been easy to half step it. But not when we are serving You. No way. Thanks God.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Community…

I am constantly and continually amazed at the happenings on our downtown corner each week. This morning we pulled up to that corner and it hit me just as it always does what is happening. Each week we have a brand new opportunity for fellowship with people who are ready and willing to hang out with a bunch of suburbanites. It's really strange if you think about it. Robin wrote something this week that explained it so well. 11 months ago? We knew none of these people. In fact, back then, if I would go out for a walk in the afternoon from my office, I would usually avoid them just so I didn't have to deal with the situations that would inevitably arise. You know...got a dollar? Got any change? I'd just as soon avoid the park in those days because I was always confronted with the inevitable. So what was I doing to make a difference for Christ? What was I doing from my nice warm, comfortable home in the United States of Suburbia to really go somewhere and tell people about a love like no other? What was I doing period? Nothing. In fact, I was avoiding the very people that Christ would probably seek out first. The least of those. The poor. The less fortunate. Created in the image of God. Such different circumstances than us, yet so unbelievably just like us. So what was I going to do about it? Well, 11 months later I'm still not sure we can answer that question and that’s probably ok. The beauty of it is that now when I go for a walk on a given afternoon, I go in the direction I avoided just last year. And what a community of individuals we've come to know in just under one short year. It doesn't seem possible that this has been happening for almost a year now. And you know what? I probably shouldn't say this so as to avoid jinxing our weekly outing, but we've not been rained out yet. We even had one of the guys call, give us a weather report of rain all day on Sunday, and ask if we were still coming? Huh? C’mon man. We’ve not missed one yet have we? Now that may not seem like a big deal, but it is amazing to me that not one time in the last year have we been shutout due to weather. We’ve seen blistering heat, arctic cold, blizzards and everything in between. But God has seen fit to allow us to get down there each and every week to fellowship with a community of people that continually amazes me. Now next week we’ll probably have torrential rainstorms, but I don’t think God believes in jinxes. :) And today? No rain. Just great community fellowship.

For instance, today I chatted with a young lady who is going in for surgery tomorrow (Monday) at 11:30. Tumor. Now this young lady was scared. I sat on a wall with her for a bit this afternoon and she was visibly scared. Playing with a plate of food as if she were a child. Pushing her food around and telling me about her situation and all the while, I’m thanking God for placing us in this position. Placing us in the position of sometimes simply being there to listen. Later on before she left, Robin and I prayed with her. The power of that moment is undeniable. The fact that we were blessed to be in a place to pray for this young lady is simply amazing to me.

I stand on that corner sometimes on Sundays and I look across the street at the office building I spend one third of my time in and I wonder if we can do more. Not necessarily from a physical standpoint. That’s important stuff. But from a spiritual standpoint. From an eternal standpoint. I mean, obviously we can do nothing in that regard except offer the window of opportunity. Be there to listen and pray. Offer a Bible to a fellow if the desire is there. I spoke with a friend today who is continuing to read a Bible that he got recently. He’s finished John and Galatians. He’s now reading Matthew. I asked him if that was something he would have been doing maybe a year ago. He looked at me for a minute and shook his head. Now what does that mean? I have no idea. Except that he’s now seeking a little more maybe. And if we can be there to listen occasionally and gently prod some folks in these situations, then you better believe we will. And this in no way diminishes the rash of issues that permeate that park. That corner. It’s almost like walking into a different world sometimes. Crazy. God’s world. Each of them and us created in his image. How amazing is that?!

One thing that I talked about last week with a couple of the guys was the growth that we’ve experienced. One of the fellows that come down on a pretty regular basis was asking how many people help each week. How many people do we bring down? You know what? We never count. Don’t have to. We make sure that the food preparation is taken care of and then we wing it. Every week. And every week we have at least enough people to make it work. If not more. This guy was reminiscing back to the first time we came down and I mentioned that seemed like a lifetime ago. And they were amazed at what it’s grown into. A community. Now the community was always there. Loosely. God just had a way of pulling it together for a couple of hours each Sunday. All we had to do was be available. Be the runners as my friend Bill says. While the park and that corner may have been new to us that day last November, this was where lots of these folks spent lots of their time. Lots and lots. When we showed up, word began to spread. God has a way of doing that. There’s no other way to say it. And now we have some of the most amazing people showing up for community fellowship and I am in awe of the things that are taking place. We are picking friends up at the shelters for group discussions and Bible studies. People that we didn’t know a year ago. Friends that we met on a corner in a park in downtown Omaha. We are attempting to share the love of Christ with our friends in a different type of community setting than I’ve ever been involved in. Yet somehow it works. Again, God has a way of making this work. Just needs vehicles. Runners. Legs. Hands and feet.

And now we are also involved with another community of people who God hooked us up with in a big way. Our Tuesday group at the Vine. A great group of people who seem to be on the very same tracks that we are on. Where will it lead? Who knows? But we’re on for the ride and it has been an amazing journey so far. Best thing we can do? Buckle up because it seems seat belts will be a community necessity for this trip. :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Getting there…

I have to tell you a story about what happened this week. Robin and I go to a Tuesday bible/group study at a place here in town called Mosaic Community Development. This is a place that has a lot of the same goofy ideas that we have. Like, helping the less fortunate and sharing Christ with them and crazy stuff like that. :) Just kidding…kind of. So we’ve been going there for a few months now. Great people. Even greater fellowship. And yet still greater deep discussions about the real and important stuff. So last month Robin volunteers me to help drive a van to the Francis House to see if any of the ladies or gentlemen would be interested in coming to join us for the evening. It’s only about a 5 minute drive from our meeting place so it certainly makes complete sense to go and see if there might be any takers. I went that first time in late August with a fellow named Tyler. We got to the shelter and tried to round up some of the guys. It was my first time at this place other than dropping off leftover bread on Sundays. This time, I saw my friend Bill outside the shelter. He had a bed for the evening and was going to get off his feet. Broke his ankle a few moths ago and in your mid 50s, it just doesn’t heal like it used to I guess. So Bill took a rain check. Now I’ve mentioned Bill numerous times. Office Bill. Bill is a guy I just like. Something about him. So I try to get him to come with us but no go. Meanwhile Tyler is inside the shelter trying to round up some folks to go but has no luck. So it’s time to head back to our group. Well little did I know, Robin has volunteered my services once a month. So I’m thinking why not? I know lots of these folks. That was the point of doing what we do. Get to know them. Right where they live. On the street corner. In the shelter. Wherever. So, last Tuesday, I’m on “van rides” again. This time it’s me and another fellow. We head out and get to the shelter and this time we both go in. Right away, I’m seeing all kinds of people that we have grown to know over the past 10 or 11 months.

Ok. This is what it’s all about. Getting to see our friends wherever they may be. I start asking guys if they want to come with us. Where? To a Bible study. Now understand, by this time of the day, we’re talking about the possibility of various states of inebriation. First guy I run into? Irish Joe. U.S. Marine from South Carolina. Dying of cancer. He needs to talk to me. Joe always needs to talk to me. Needs a prescription filled? Not sure if I can do that Joe. We’ll see. So he agrees to come with us. Regardless of his state, which is somewhat intoxicated, he agrees to come. So I head out through the bunk area to see if anyone else wants to go. I run into Dan. Dan worked at Union Pacific for over 30 years. Took a buyout back in 2002. Went to Vegas and blew it all. Now? Homeless. At least until next year when he starts getting his pension. But for now? Homeless. He agrees to come also. With a water bottle filled with something that “clearly” wasn’t water. And Scott agrees to come also. And Harry Horsecloud. Harry told me he needed to know his enemies. So he came. All of them were in. And Charise. She was hanging out in front of the shelter, knew the guys and said she’d like to go also. So we get back to Mosaic a little late. Took a little longer than anticipated. No worries. We made it back. The coolest thing about this whole thing to me besides the obvious greatness that we were getting to fellowship with some of our friends in a more intimate setting was that they participated and seemed to actually enjoy getting involved. We spoke about the Lordship of Christ in our lives and what that meant. Most of them shared in the discussion. I was in awe. We are finally getting to a point in our relationships with these guys that we have always strived for. Sharing the love of Christ with them and fellowshipping with them in ways that are simply amazing. I won’t share anything that was discussed because of the value of their confidence in us, but it was too cool for me to comprehend.

So back to Bill. Bill was going to read the Gospel of John this week from his new Bible. We got downtown today and I could not wait to hear his thoughts. And frankly, to see if he actually read it. He did. :) God is so amazing. It’s so amazing how He works in these situations. I asked him for his thoughts. Remember the first time you read that book? So Bill proceeds to tell me he liked it. With a huge Bill smile. Liked the story. Liked the miracles. The Greatest Story Ever Told, he tells me. Again with a big ol’ Bill smile. And you know what else? He’s stone cold sober. Didn’t drink yesterday. Said he wasn’t going to drink today either. I believe him. What are you going to read next Bill? With Christian, my walking biblical reference by my side, I ask for a recommendation. Galatians? One of Christian’s favorites. Galatians it is. But perhaps the best thing that may come from all this? Bill wants to go with us this Tuesday. And Dan want’s to go back. Tells me he could probably lead the thing. We’ll take it slow. But they both want to go. The fellow who leads the Bible study, well his name is Christian also. He asks me if I want to do the van rides more often? How can I not. These are my friends. I’ll bring ‘em all back if I can. Today? Smiley, our numbers guy tells me 147 or something like that. I wonder if there is room for 147 at the Mosaic?

What a great day and what an absolutely wonderful ministry that God has blessed us with. And you know what else happened for us this week? Someone donated a trailer to our friends. We get to use it weekly, to store it, maintain it, all that stuff. But it belongs to them. Just like all the other things we bring down. All belongs to them. We are simply the blessed ones who get to do it every week. What a country we live in where we can gather like that with music, food, lots of provisions, a van, a trailer and a downtown street corner full of God’s never ending love. What an amazing God we serve. What a deal. I can’t wait for Tuesday!

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Challenges...Part Deux

What an interesting week. More challenging than I would have hoped for, but aren't they all? :) Anyway, we had an interesting week. Mostly quiet downtown today. The usual suspects. Lots of great people. A great family dinner in the park. Lots of full bellies. Hopefully, some full hearts. It is beginning to dawn on me what an awesome responsibility we have in front of us. We go down and bring lots of provisions. And the stuff is important. If you think it isn't just ask a guy who doesn't have a coat…busted shoes…no socks. Even on a chilly Nebraska September morning. Me? I try to hold off on wearing a coat until I absolutely have to. But I have a nice warm house to retreat to. My new friend Gary came back this week for a coat. With his large intestine covered up and put away. Didn't want to see that again this week. Saw more of Gary than I wanted to see last week. If you know what I mean. You should have seen the look on his face when I gave him a coat. The bear hug said it all. You see, we "get" to go down and hang out with these guys on a weekly basis. We get to bring cool stuff to them. Never been about the stuff. Never. But I suppose when you are homeless and have no stuff, stuff matters. You know what it feels like to put on a brand new pair of crisp white cotton socks? Lots of these guys don't. We try to bring about 50 pairs of new socks every week. They go fast. I have a guy that is homeless, but he takes care of the sock distribution for me. And they go quick. And foot powder. These fellows are always asking for foot powder. Another guy, David, who has been coming dawn the past few weeks and helping us out asked me about the foot powder today. David is probably in his mid 50s. Said he's never used foot powder in his life. Why all the requests for foot powder. I guess if you’re on your feet most days, a nice can of foot powder helps keep your feet dry? I don't know. I just know it's one of the hot commodities we have when we do have it. Anybody work for a foot powder company? A sock company? These are simply a couple of things that our friends need. Stuff. And next? Coats and boots. Union Pacific is letting us do a coat drive this week. All week long, they will have large wooden collection boxes in a couple of strategic locations in the headquarters building. There are thousands of people who work in that building. Think they might have a coat or two hanging in a closet gathering a little dust? I think maybe. So it ain't about the stuff to be sure. But when a fellow is sleeping under a bridge in downtown Omaha, it becomes a little more about the stuff. Challenges...

So my friend Bill comes down today. I mentioned Bill last week. Office Bill. He told me today that we are God’s runners. His vehicles, he said. He wanted a bible but the one we gave him had lettering that was just too small. We arranged to meet Monday afternoon so I could get a bible and some reading glasses to him. Did I have my doubts about Bill making our meeting time and spot? You betcha. But I headed out to our spot and guess who was already there waiting? Yep. My good friend Bill. Monday? Bill got a new bible. And you know what he said to me? Said he could have gotten a bible anywhere. But he wanted to get one from us. Said he trusted us. Now I have to tell you I was blown away by this exchange of words. He was absolutely right. He certainly could have gotten a bible anywhere. But for him to go out of his way and meet me and tell me that little tidbit was pretty good news, especially in light of the challenges of the last week. So he got his bible and was off. I saw him today and was anxious for an update. Bill? What did you think? Tells me he made it through the introduction. The introduction? What, Genesis? What introduction? The seekers bible has an introduction and that was as far as he got. But the nice thing? He had his bible zipped up in his inner coat pocket and was determined that he would not lose it. I don't think he will. John this week. He promised me. We'll see. But he has it. He can read it at his leisure. Said he had plenty of time. Don’t take too long Bill. The cool thing is he asked for one. Without us pushing him. Last November? When we first met Bill? I'm not so sure he would have asked. I saw another Bill sitting on the wall reading one of the pocket testaments we brought down. Next week, I'm going to chat with Bill number 2 and see what he thought. Again...challenges.

I met another fellow today. Young guy. Probably late 20s. Maybe early 30s. Been in treatment twice. 102 days of sobriety just recently. But he fell. Don't we all. His name was Wade. I can relate to Wade. I've walked in his shoes, to an extent. So as we talked, I sensed that he was really hurting. Deep hurt. Got emotional a couple of times. I understood. His most recent fall came at the hands of his ex-wife. Now I'm not saying for one minute that she caused it. She just happened to be a trigger. Anyone who's been through any kind of treatment program knows about triggers. Those things that get you deep inside and cause you to lose focus on your sobriety and fall. His ex-wife just happens to be one of his triggers. Asked him where he was staying. Wherever he can he tells me. Lost a pretty good job recently. Making $12.00 an hour. The cause? Drinking of course. I really felt his pain. It was a tough one. I offered to take him to the Campus for Hope right then and there. But you can't force someone into that deal. Have to want it. I gave him my number and he said he'd call me this week. I truly hope he calls. Really. I just sensed, in talking with him, a little something different. Lots of the guys we meet just "seem" to be ok with their situations. Either that or they just cannot figure out how to get out. But Wade seemed different. I am so praying for a call from Wade this week. Hoping he'll make the call. Hoping he'll be up for a trip...to the Campus for Hope. It's a great facility. Robin and I toured it a while back. Great things happen there. I know. Been through it. Wade can too. Just has to want it. Praying for that. Huge challenge.

One last thing. There's a fellow that comes down weekly. His name is Wayne. Wayne brought his son last week. Tyrone. He's a youngster. Early 20s at the most. Came up to me and asked if he could talk to me in private. Said he needs prayer. For his girlfriend. She was trying to get a ride Saturday night. A car picked her up. I think he said there were 3 guys in the car. They raped her. What an ugly, hideous, monstrous thing to do to someone. Can't do it justice with words. What is wrong with some people? Anyway, she was in the hospital and they needed prayer. Sure thing Tyrone. You better believe it and not only from me. If you're reading this, would you pray for her? Please...I challenge you to pray for her...for Bill 1 and 2...for Wade. And for our ministry. We need it. But we did get some good news this week. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you about it next week... :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Challenges...

I spent some time Sunday talking to a fellow named Gary. From Dallas. Chased a welding job here and it didn't pan out. So as we're talking he tells me his story. Now some of these fellows tell me stories and occasionally I find myself doubting some of the details. For some reason Gary had me at hello. Someone introduced me to him, but I can't remember who. Never saw Gary before, as he's only been in Omaha for a month or so. He sleeps in the woods behind the Sienna Francis House shelter. Said there was too much "mess" in the shelter. I can only imagine. So as we're talking, I'm getting parts of his story and I'm wondering how a 58 year old African American fellow ends up here on our corner? Doesn't matter I guess. He's here. Tells me of his medical issues. Missing a couple of ribs. Missing parts of a couple of other organs. And then he shows me something else. Now I'm not easily startled, but this kind of freaked me out. I don't know why. He raises his shirt just enough for me to see, just as he's telling me "here's my large intestine". Your what??!! C'mon man! Put that thing away. Not to make light of it by any means. Just kind of shocked me a little I guess. First time for me to see something like that. Colostomy bag. Yikes. Said a young fellow he knew in Little Rock was being initiated into a gang and this was the result. The crazy thing was he knew this kid. The kid was supposed to work Gary over pretty good as part of his initiation. But Gary stood his ground. Then a few days later, he saw the same kid approaching him and told him to move along. However, this time, the kid had a sawed off shotgun. Place it right in his ribcage and did the deed. Gary was able to make it to a phone and call for help...the only problem was he couldn't talk. Anyway, he made it, but that wasn't the end of the story. He got well enough to confront his attacker. With two 9 millimeter pistols. Had the kid on the ropes and said that God got a hold of him. He said he did not at all understand what was happening nor did his would be victim. With tears streaming down his face, he told the kid he'd better go. Get. Now. He did. Imagine that. So here he was on our corner. Some of the people we meet, I question their resolve. Not Gary. I have no doubt he'll get back on his feet again. By the grace of God. And with a heavy dose of humility and a little "intestinal" fortitude, he'll make it. Said he was coming back next Sunday. Needs a coat. Mornings and evenings are starting to get chilly here. I hope to see him next week. Just maybe not so "much" of him.

Bill was back again this week. Bill is our friend from the Office. Blogged about the office and Bill way back. There's something about Bill that makes me want to continue to try. There are times I see him and I honestly think there might not be any hope. I thank God people didn't think that of me way back when. So I always know there's a great deal of hope even when it seems otherwise. I ran into Bill at the Francis House on Tuesday. You see, Robin and I meet with a small group on Tuesdays here at Mosaic Community Development. Our group sends a van down to the Francis House prior to our meeting just to see if anyone at the shelter is interested in coming to our group. So I ran into Bill there Tuesday night and he was in a good mood. Sober too. That's always good. I invited him to come with us, but he declined. Said he had a bed and wanted to get off his feet. Maybe next time. So we see him Sunday on our corner. He was at the back of the van as we were unloading and had a request for me. Now he's not one to ask for really anything, so when he does ask, I usually listen. Wanted a Bible. Says that several times this past week, and really, I'm sure he hears it often, people would tell him "that's what the Bible says...". Things like that. So he needs a Bible. We always try to have them available. If nothing else, I've found a website that gives free copies of a small booklet that contains the Gospel of John. But we try to have Bibles available. And we did have one for Bill. Just one problem. Needs reading glasses and the lettering is too small. No problem. We make arrangements to meet Monday morning with new reading glasses and a big letter Bible. I have no doubt that he'll read it. He said that he couldn’t just take the word of a "bunch a yahoos", he needed to read it himself. I've always felt drawn to Bill. And I know there's hope for him yet. I think he's in his late 50s. Led a hard life. Lives on the streets sometimes and in various shelters other times. But I just feel as though God has crossed our paths for a reason. I love Bill. I love running into him wherever that may be. I just love the guy. I only pray that he remembers our meeting place and time. Not to worry really even if he doesn't. I know where he hangs out and I can probably find him. The interesting thing about our relationship with Bill is just that. The fact that we now have a relationship. We attempted something almost 10 months ago that was very foreign to us. Going out, meeting people where they were, developing relationships, and letting God work through us. We had a good idea that we could do something like this. But we just didn't know how it would work. Would people trust us? Would they think we had ulterior motives? (well duh...your salvation!) Would they confide in us? Would we be able to meet there needs? Physical? Spiritual? So many questions. Now we are slowly starting to see things unfold that are amazing. Robin is a whiz with all the community connections. She is a social organizing type of personality anyway. Right up her alley. She's starting to get plugged into all sorts of great connections. And make no mistake. We are making connections. Within our community on that corner. Within the socially responsible community of people that want to help. And because of these things, we are starting to make the turn in the first mile of the marathon. When I saw Bill on Tuesday, we were like old friends reminiscing about our first meeting. In the park. About 10 or 15 of us total. I remember him and a couple of the other guys telling us how "they" would run us over in short time. "They" being the homeless community that we are so blessed to serve in our small way. As we talked Tuesday, he commented how he couldn't believe how much it's changed since we started. Well Bill, I guess God has a way of doing that. And I pray that God will shine through us to Bill. He said the only reason he comes down on Sundays is to see us. Like I said, I love Bill. And I obviously don't have any idea how this will end for us and him. But I know he'll get a Bible and some new reading glasses this week. It's a start. A big start. Pray that Bill will immerse himself in John or James or whatever book God leads him to. Pray that the Spirit will lead him and that he will follow. I'll be praying for a deeper relationship with Bill. Has to happen...

And finally, good news. Or better yet, the best of news. We have another friend named Gary who comes pretty regularly. I was just hanging out chatting with a couple of different people when Paul brought Gary over and said he wanted to talk to me. Gary said he wanted more. Wanted things to change. Now Gary had been drinking, which is not so unusual for some of these guys. In fact, rumor had it that someone had literally driven up and "donated" some leftover liquor to our friends at some point Sunday. I didn't see it happen during our time, so maybe it happened earlier in the day? Anyway, Gary was ready for change. Now I don't know Gary very well, and I don't think it matters. I know him well enough to know that he wanted something more. So right there on the corner of 14th and Douglas, literally, Robin and I prayed with him. But more importantly, he prayed for salvation. Prayed for Christ to come into his life. It was a moment I'll never forget. I obviously can't guarantee that Gary will be ok. None of us can. We can only be there for those moments. It's so crazy to me because crazy things have been happening lately. Challenges that I would rather not face. Individuals questioning our reasons for doing what we do. It is almost to the point of being ridiculous. Questioning our family's faith. Questioning the fact that we are not in a traditional church. Questioning our very foundation. It really bothers me that these challenges come from people we know. I can understand people who don't know us and have no idea where we stand in our faith. We certainly don't have things "figured" out. Certainly not. Anyone that says they do should probably be sitting at the Right Hand. And challenges are good to be sure. We are constantly trying to reassess and reevaluate what it is we feel God leading us to do. Sure, we don't deliver a formal message on Sundays. There are lots of things we could probably do differently. But the fact remains that we are doing something. Something for the Kingdom. Something we feel intimately led to do. Something that led Gary to our corner today to ask Christ into his life. On a dirty, stinking corner in downtown Omaha. How can that be so wrong? How? So we're not in a traditional church with all the things that go along with that. Today? Neither was Gary. But he was in our church. So is what we are doing so wrong? So wrong that people will sit in judgment on our activities and actually tell us that we are wrong? Like I said, it's been a challenging week. But we'll carry on. Have to. And I don't expect everyone to understand. It can get so complex that most times I don't even understand. It'll probably always be a challenge. That's ok. We'll carry on. God has led us to this. Of that I have no doubt. And if it were going to be a walk in the park...well, actually it sort of is a walk in the park. Every Sunday. Noon. Next week? I'm betting that Gary will be back for his coat and more. And Bill will hopefully be able to tell us where he chose to begin his readings. And Gary number 2? We'll be praying that Christ did indeed come into his life and that the journey has begun...

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)