October 7th, 2023 Prayer Update
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
We were excited to be able to have a team of five students from UC Berkeley join us on our outreach Saturday. They serve with a ministry to the homeless of Berkeley and looking for mentorship to enhance what they are doing. We are thankful for them and pray the Lord enables them to move forward in sharing the gospel with many there.
On this particular outreach the Lord allowed us to give the gospel to 42 people. Through direct conversation, or a gospel tract in their blessing bag, much gospel seed was sown. 13 large print Bibles along with smaller New Testaments and other gospel materials were distributed. Our earnest prayer is for those who received the word of God to read and have their hearts and minds illuminated with the truth of His word.
Concord - RV Bible Study
We had the privilege of hosting Heather and Billy for a Bible study in our ministry RV. It was challenging for them to come and keep their Bible study appointment. We are grateful they valued the time in the Word enough to put in that effort.
We spent about an hour with them reading God's word and having them consider His truth. Billy was brought to tears several times throughout the study. Our team had great opportunities to help dig into some questions they had about about Jesus. It turns out that Heather and Billy knew much more about the Bible than we had expected.
Our prayer is that they would continue to meditate on God's word, our study with them and want to engage in future study.
We are extremely encouraged by having this new facet of ministry and ask you to pray with us for God's help to see it grow in its impact.
North Concord
One of the first people our team encountered was Pete. He doesn’t really want to hear about the Bible but does enjoy a debate. We continue to show Pete love and compassion. Jonny told our team that he already has a Bible and reads it occasionally. He likewise was not interested in talking to our team about spiritual things. Please join us in praying that God will soften their hearts to the truth, that they would repent of their sin and turn their lives over to the Savior.
Darryl was quiet today he is usually loud and combative. On this outreach, he was more quiet and didn't try to challenge our team and just stayed in his tent. We continue to pray for him.
Gino had a prayer request for housing. He had his own mortality on his mind after seeing friends die. He was willing to pray with our team.
Jesse told the team that he has continued reading through the book of Revelation and we had a good conversation. It's possible he would be a good candidate for our RV Bible study. Please pray with us that the logistics would enable us to spend more time with him studying God's word.
In the past, Gina has shared her struggle with drugs, and usually looks pretty dirty and unkempt. On this occasion, she was more put together and clean. We hope to have further ministry to her to help her understand the gospel, her need for salvation and following that up with her desire to be baptized.
Paul is very respectful and was kind to our team. He is an out-of-work general contractor, age 73, who has been on the streets for four months. We had a good gospel conversation and offered him a Bible which he accepted.
Leah is a very talkative 32-year-old woman who shared her struggles with drugs. She has been fending for herself for six years. She accepted a Bible from our team and it's our prayer she reads it.
Not every one that our team encounters is homeless. We met a young lady named Kelly who lives in a rented room in Concord. We had a gospel conversation with Kelly who told us that she has believed in God since the age of six but has lots of people in her life who have tried to convince her that God doesn't exist. She was very open to talking about the things of God. She asked prayer that her house-cleaning business could be established. Her final word to our team concerning our conversation was “I needed this.”
Please also pray for Alex, Alejandro, and John.
CENTRAL CONCORD
Anthony had a Bible study with us a month ago and he expressed an interest in doing it again. He asked if we were coming out next week and looked genuinely disappointed when we told him it would be two weeks. We do have a desire to offer our Bible study more frequently if God would provide the volunteers to go out weekly.
Anthony (a different gentleman) while not very conversational with our team leader was open with one of the other volunteers. We are grateful for different personality types God provides that enables us to minister to those who need a different approach. Anthony shared a lot of hard stories. Our team prayed for him and offered him steps he can take to take advantage of the joy of salvation.
Julia was very scared when our male volunteers tried to approach her and wouldn't talk.
Mike has been homeless a long time. He has traditionally been resistant to the gospel as well as to prayer. It seems each time we talk he appears to be a little more open, more conversational, and softer. Today he seemed to be calmer, engaged in dialogue, and accepted prayer. We are thankful for the progress.
Rich was an individual our team had not met before this outreach. We pray that the gospel seeds were planted in his heart.
Our Spanish-speaking volunteer engaged with Nacho and Jaime and had good conversations.
Mark was happy to listen to the gospel and told us that he already has a Bible. He claims to be a Christian.
Eddie is someone who was grateful for coffee and the large print Bible given to him.
PITTSBURG ANTIOCH TEAM
We have found a shopping center in Antioch that is a good location for gospel conversations. We suspect it's also an area of town that has a lot of drug traffic because there are times when our team pulls in that several cars pull out and people scatter.
Our team had a good conversation with Jay. He shared some family problems and we prayed for this family. He didn’t want a Bible at first but ultimately he took a small New Testament. He was shown the index which can direct him to some topical verses.
Jason is a father of four kids who have two different mothers. He requested prayer for a running car and a better relationship with his kids. He expressed an interest in being brought to church given his car situation so the team took down his phone number. One of the challenges a homeless person faces is being able to keep their cell phone charged. We will see if in fact he will follow through when he is reached.
Roy expressed interest in Bible study and this would be good for him since he expressed some very strange ideas about the scriptures. The team gently reminded him to look to the gospel for the truth. He wasn't interested in prayer but was grateful for water that was given.
We found Larry living in his car, which is not currently operational. Larry was very friendly and open and was tracking along with everything the team presented. He was grateful for a Bible, food, water, and a shirt that was given to him, and was very responsive to the gospel message all the way through to a prayer leading to salvation. God knows hearts and whether or not Larry repented of his sin and is truly saved. We took down his phone number, although he isn't current with his phone bill. We hope we might meet him again, find a way to encourage him, help him get connected into a church and grow in faith.
Wade was very receptive to our team and was grateful for food and t-shirts that were provided. He shared he on a housing wait list and his next step is to meet with a counselor. The team prayed that his meeting would enable him to get into group housing. We provided him with a pocket Bible and encouraged him to read it to find his hope and peace in Christ.
We've met Bobbi before. She always shares with our team about her desire to locate her daughter Christine whom she hasn't seen in a year. She also asked for prayer for an arm injury. We again prayed for her and her daughter and the team was intentional to give a clear gospel presentation.
Please also pray for Tinisha, Jamie, Ben, Brianna, Heather, and Corey.
Martinez
Joe (above) received a gospel presentation. It's his contention that everyone has their own opinion of God and Jesus. The team clearly told him the Bible isn’t an opinion, it's God's truth revealed to man. Joe's biggest struggle is addiction though he also has health issues. We hope and pray that some of what was spoken to Joe would resonate with him.
Shim Shim had some strange ideas about God and the Bible and was more interested in talking than listening. He said he knew of Hope680 and it's our prayer that his familiarity will encourage his building trust and that over time his heart will be softened to hear the gospel message.
The team had a good conversation with Jason who was rather quiet. He shared that he used to pray when he was younger but after four bad marriages, he doesn't pray anymore. Our team shared the gospel with him and shared that God is the one that helps us to change and we can’t save ourselves.
Franky seemed to have a good understanding of God, is familiar with the concept of repentance and commented it's a hard thing to do. Our team quickly agreed. Franky shared that he grew up going to a Christian private school but experienced abuse from his parents. He seemed to have a lot of head knowledge of the Bible but no real desire to follow after God.
Gigi is pretty talkative and requested prayer for her mom and she initiated prayer. When it was our volunteer's time to pray they inserted the full gospel message into the prayer. We pray seeds were planted.
Noelle believes in a higher power and that we are all gods but doesn’t want to hear about the true God of the Bible.
Please also pray for Steve who kept his headphones on and wouldn't engage with us and Ron who stopped by briefly on his bike and was only looking for food. Both of them received a gospel tract and we hope in the quietness of a solitary moment they might be drawn to read it.
Please consider signing up for our next few outreach events.
October 21st
November 4th
November 18th
December 2nd
We have open slots to bring a breakfast item, pack some lunches or bake some cookies for our volunteers. We greatly appreciate your help.
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, included our 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.
Thank you for your faithful prayers, support and encouragement! We are so thankful for each and every person who reads and prays through these updates! You're a crucial part of Hope680, and you bring Glory to God through your prayers and service!