"Jesus Is Always Welcome Here!":

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Matthew 25:34-36

A big "Thank You" to everybody that gave food and clothing for us to give away. We went out today not really knowing what would happen and who we would meet, but the Lord proved faithful and directed us where we needed to go. I'll give you a quick picture of how the day went.

David Rosenberg and I met at the Community Center and after a short prayer headed out to see who we could find that could use some food and clothing. Really we had no set agenda other than to share physical and spiritual food, so we were just going to cruise by some of the places that Jerry mentioned where we might find some needy people. We had a list of about 5 places to check out but didn't really feel like we needed to hit them all. We were just going to go out and mingle and see what God would do.

We headed to Ralph's first and immediately ran into a man who was living at the Rescue Mission. He didn't want anything we had but encouraged us to keep doing what we were doing as there were so many people out there that needed food and clothing. We talked for a couple minutes and turned and left wondering if we should have done more. Our first meeting and he didn't even want anything. Hmmm...was there something else we should have done? Did we miss something Lord?

We decided that there really wasn't anything else we felt we were supposed to do, but there is always this nagging in the back of your mind that you should just force the door open.

We ended up driving around the back of the stores and were just about to get back on Hollister when we noticed two men sleeping right by the side of the road not even in the bushes. At first I only noticed one guy and my first thought was that he was dead. It just looked so unnatural to see someone lying there right next to the road.

What do you do in a situation like that? Do you wake a person up or just keep driving by? We couldn't drive by, but could we wake them? So, I guess in a situation like that you take it one step at a time. We stopped the car. We talked. We prayed. It just didn't feel right going up and waking them, especially since there was ample evidence around that they would be hung over when they awoke.

We felt led to just put some food in a bag and walk over and leave it by them so they would have a pleasant surprise when they awoke. We figured that there was a good chance they would wake up when we got up close and if they did we would take it as a signal from God that we should try and minister to them. Well, we walked up and put the food down right next to them and they just slept right on through it. We got back in the truck and drove off praying blessings over the sleeping men. I hope they had a nice surprise when they woke up.

It really is a dilemma when you go out with an image in your mind of how things will unfold and the reality is nothing like the picture. Jesus tells us to preach the gospel, but he also asks us to simply feed and clothe those in need. We are called to love people selflessly without regard to the outcome. Is it only valid if the people respond in such a way that we "feel" like we accomplished something? What about if they don't respond at all? How about if they never even figure out how the blessing got to them?

God shows mercy to the just and the unjust. He blesses mankind whether they accept Him or reject Him. Whether they believe in Him or not. So many people are asleep in the bushes and God drops off bags of blessings. and they never even know how it got there.

Next we headed to McDonalds to see if we could find anyone there. Nope. Then it was off to Goleta Beach. Jerry warned us that these are "some bad ones in this bunch" and to be careful. Undaunted and with most of our stuff still in the back of the truck we headed to the beach.

We immediately found a group of about 5 guys hanging out shooting the breeze and having a couple beers. We walked right into the middle of their campout and asked if they knew of anyone that could use some food, clothes or blankets. One guy (Donnell) wanted to know if we had any jackets and Life just started to unfold.

We gave away quite a bit of food and some clothing which was definitely appreciated, but our real goal was to give out the bread of life. All the men were thankful for sure, but each had a varying degree of receptivity. It eventually became apparent that Dennis, Donnell and Albert were the most open and so we just naturally focused in on them.

Donnell was well versed in scripture and said with conviction that if he could have a million dollars but never be allowed to read his Bible he would never give up the word. He said that the word of God is his inheritance. He literally received a Bible the day he was given over to a foster home and rejected by his natural family and the scriptures are what sustains him. The word of God became his comfort. He prays for his homeless brothers and tries to walk in love and forgiveness. His eyes sparkle when he talks about his Lord.

Dennis seemed to be the unofficial overseer of the camp with a heart to help and see that his buddies were taken care of. He wanted to make sure that everybody got what they needed from us and even tried to contact some other guys that were close by so they could get some supplies.
Albert had had an especially rough upbringing and confessed to David that he was having a tough time forgiving people and it often resulted in anger. He also had some other issues he didn't know how to confront and asked David what he thought he should do. With wisdom from the Spirit David said that we should pray and ask God for his wisdom and intervention in Albert's life.

So, with heads bowed four pilgims prayed to the God of the universe in the middle of the parking lot at Goleta Beach and the Spirit of God brought love and compassion. After we prayed hugs were exchanged and more encouraging words were spoken. Eyes were shining and I believe angels were singing.

As we prepared to go we told them we would be back with more "stuff" in a couple weeks. A chorus of men voiced their approval, and as we turned to leave I heard someone's voice call out, "Jesus is always welcome here!"