May 4th Prayer Update
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
We praise the Lord for our faithful volunteers who were willing to come out during the heavy rain of May 4th. We never know exactly who we'll find on these rainy days. We prayed for quality gospel conversations with those we encountered. Many were highly encouraged and thankful that our team demonstrated genuine care, by coming out in such a downpour. We are thankful for these opportunities to show, even in the smallest way, the love of Christ to those on the street. As you read through this report, please keep those who are named in your prayers. Many received Bibles and we are hopeful they will see their need for God.
We experienced a homeless death in a highly personal way this weekend. One of our teams arrived first on the scene after Wanda's passing. Her tent mate Tray believes it was due to Fentanyl. To our knowledge, Wanda never made a decision to follow Christ but we feel confident that, through our efforts, she was exposed to the gospel message both in conversation and printed material. It is so hard to watch people who are addicted to drugs make it the focus of their lives. We know that the gospel is powerful to break the power of sin in addiction. This loss helps to renew our urgency to share the gospel with people each day.
Wanda’s Story
We first encountered Wanda in May of last year. Wanda was a very pleasant 72-year-old woman that we originally found lying on the ground. She confessed that she took fentanyl to dull the pain from a large and painful cyst. The team shared the gospel with Wanda and prayed God would give her relief from her pain. We encouraged her to consider going to the Bay Area Rescue Mission. We took down her number to follow up with her. She didn't have a tent and was fairly helpless. We prayed she would be moved to accept the help that was available to her.
On January 20th we met up with Wanda once again. We were thankful to see her up and mobile with a walker. At that time she told us that she had started receiving help from a younger tent mate named Tray who helped to look out for her. We were thankful to have another good conversation with Wanda and continued to encounter her but she became less open or talkative on other occasions.
On May 4th, our Central Concord team encountered several challenges on this particular Saturday morning. They had to contend with heavy rain, a flat tire, and discovering the loss of Wanda.
When the team approached Wanda’s tent they were able to rouse her tent mate Tray, but Wanda herself was non-responsive. The team called the authorities. While Wanda never made a decision to follow Christ, we are confident she was exposed to the gospel message both in conversation, printed material and other necessities of life. We spread the gospel seed but God is the Lord of the harvest.
Our volunteers called 911 and waited for the authorities to arrive, take their statements, and remove Wanda from her tent. Please pray for Tray that through this experience he will seek God.
Irwin’s Story
Irwin responded positively to a gospel conversation we had with him recently. One of our volunteers noted God seemed to be actively working in Irwin's heart. He told our team that he wanted to repent, he wanted to believe, and he wanted to go to church. Our prayer for Irwin is for him to follow through on those things and take the time to do work with God.
As for an update, we are encouraged that Irwin has been drug-free for one month, and has been attending NorthCreek Church for the past month. He has a desire to get involved in the Biblical counseling program. He has also secured a job and is living again with his wife. Pray for Irwin, his recovery, and for his faith to prove to be genuine.
Lonnie’s Story:
We've been connecting with Lonnie and his wife Nikki for over a year. We've prayed with them, provided them with Bibles, addiction booklets, food and blessing bags. We were encouraged that on our last outreach, Lonnie and Nikki agreed to participate in our RV Bible study on May 4th. It took the RV team some work to locate Lonnie and Nikki. Nikki wasn't willing to remain for the Bible study but Lonnie took part.
He shared he has been married to Nikki for 18 years. They have children that span ages 18 to 13. They used to live in Shasta but Child Protective Services (CPS) was called because they had a mold issue in their home. The children were brought to Concord to live with family and Lonnie and Nikki relocated to the street so they could be near their children. They have some access to visit the children but the relationship is strained. Lonnie shared he had a rough upbringing with a drug dealer father.
The RV bible study volunteers proceeded to study the Bible with Lonnie and covered a passage in Psalms. This led them through the attributes of God and His judgment of sin. Lonnie was moved to tears over the sacrifice of Jesus and the team was encouraged by his response to the gospel message. He expressed an interest in doing another Bible study and attending church on Sunday. Please pray with us for the gospel message to continue have impact on Lonnie before we see him again. There is desire and hope to make a way for Lonnie to get to church.
Lonnie's prayer request was to find a car and a job. He believes he can find a job with a concrete pumping company that might also pay for housing.
Pray for these individuals who took Bibles. We ask that you pray that they would read the Bibles provided.
Paul - addict
Lydia -addict
Bobby -appreciative, previously in prison, accepted coats, coffee and food
Nicole - accepted a pocket Bible
Donny - heard a full gospel presentation
Gentlemen at the Concord Shelter - specifically interested in receiving a Bible
Jason - long conversation
Bethany
Linda - mental health struggles, and addiction
Pray for these people who were friendly but declined Bibles. We pray that they will be more open on our next outreach.
Steve
Lisa - 6 months homeless, Jewish background
Nacho - Spanish speaker
Kareem
Ray - some strange ideas about the Bible, not receptive
Rich - shares positive updates about an addict friend getting treatment
Chris - church background
Zach - health issues
Klaus - artist in Todo Santos Plaza
Shamra - seems to have started to soften some, took a track
Nikki - Lonnie's Wife
Ron
Greg
Vanessa - lives in the RV pictured above
Tom - previously heard the gospel from us, not open on this occasion
Gloria - asked for prayer for peace in the household (Vanessa's mother)
Romeo - believes that Jesus is Rasta
Christine
Kim and her husband
Pray for these people who were closed to a conversation that God would work to soften their hearts before our next outreach.
Cynthia
Steve's Wife
Chris
Nikki
JR
Steven
Steven's wife
Dominic
Jennifer,
Jay
Joseph
Bo
Please put May 17th on your calendar! It's time for us to gather more supplies to build another 600 blessing bags to get us through the next season of ministry. Help us spread the word so that we can fill all the slots on our sign-up. For those desiring to help us pack the bags, that will be happening on Sunday, May 26th.
JOIN US!
Our Next Outreach is May 18th 2024
Please consider serving during a Saturday Outreach in one of the following ways:
1) Prepare Lunches
2) Serving at the Homeless Camps
3) Volunteer Breakfast
4) Cookies for Volunteers
Our ministry is a labor of love with the main purpose of providing gospel hope through practical means to the homeless. Thank you for serving alongside of us!
We continue to pray for those who might be able to contribute a small additional monthly gift of $25 or $50 a month to help with ongoing Hope680 expenses, including our ministry supplies, offices, and RV maintenance. We are trusting God to continue to provide through you!
FYI Our Executive Staff and Leaders (including Toby and all team leaders) are unpaid volunteers - all donations go 100% towards the running of Hope680, including administrative contractors, our facilities, and RV maintenance costs, as well as ministry supplies.