Jesus In The Streets: Clothing Giveaway

Mike Mishler, Deborah Keal-Jackson, Marisha Collinson and I (David Rosenberg) met at the Community Center at 10 AM and prayed for the Lord's leading before we set out on this morning's adventure.

We all felt pretty strongly that we were supposed to head downtown, and Mike suggested we hit the library and the beach, where there were sizable homeless communities.
I was also getting a prompting to stop and get some quick breakfast. I thought at the time it was just a leading of the flesh because I had simply been too negligent to get up early enough to eat, but it turned out that the Lord was able to use it to best advantage (as He always does!).

Instead of going downtown, we got off at the State St. exit to hit Carl's Jr., my fast-food joint of choice. Right at the exit we saw a man with a sign, asking for food. We pointed him into the parking lot straight ahead and he willingly followed us. It turned out that his name was Billy Bob and he was looking for a way to get to Arizona with his girlfriend Vanessa. B.B. told us that he had just been praying to God for someone to send food, and that his prayers had been answered.

While Mike and I talked to and prayed with him, Deborah and Marisha headed off to minister to Vanessa, who was feeling a little shy to mingle with all of us. Both were extremely receptive to our prayers, and Deborah and Marisha discovered that Vanessa had been talking to Jesus for a long time.

B.B. found clothes that were perfect for him and Vanessa, and thanked us with tears in his eyes. We continued on our way after advising B.B and attempting to put him through to some of his relatives in Arizona, we headed for the library.

We were received extremely well in the courtyard in front of the Library, and they were extremely grateful for what we brought, especially for the clothes. We spent some time just finding out where people were coming from, sharing with them, and praying for those who were willing. We met Hannah, a street preacher, and Michael, who took some of our donations to give to the other "children of God" he said he would meet who needed it.

We had the chance to pray for a few people there, and Deborah even taught young 20 yr. old bongo aficianado Cy a thing or two on the bongos! I wish I could have gotten a picture of that, but the photos we did manage to take show that there were a few gentlemen very grateful to receive matching Aloha shirts!

We then headed for the beach, but there was an art show there and traffic was nearly at a standstill. After some prayerful consideration, we decided to call it a day and head home, encouraged that God had once again shown us the value of fixing our eyes "not on what is seen, but on what is unseen"- the reality of God's kingdom in our midst and His love for each and every one of His children on this earth, no matter the circumstances or conditions.