Brockton - February 2, 2025

It was a cold day in Brockton, where we served 54 of our friends a meal of stuffed peppers, fresh fruit, home baked goods, and we had a lot of warm clothes. We had team members serving from Church of Emmanuel, South Shore Community Church, and Grace Chapel Foxboro. Some other ministries had been serving earlier in the day so we didn’t serve as many as usual but we had some great moments of prayer.

One of the frustrating things we encounter is the language and cultural barrier with some of the people living in the shelter. They can be quite insistent about receiving additional winter clothes, even when they are well dressed compared to others. This is one of those times when we must be discerning and patient as we try to explain how our system works (those in the greatest need get first choice).

After serving at the park, we found no other people to serve and so it became a shorter day. (We avoided DW Park because it has been closed to avoid the spread of bird flu.)

Here are this week’s prayers:

- Don asked for prayers for his mom (cervical cancer), his girlfriend (pancreatitis and breast cancer), and that he can be an encouragement to others

- Kevin is excited to now be in an apartment.

- Bob doesn’t know what to pray for, but God does.

- Maria is praying she can stay away from frustrations and to get housing

- Seth is recovering from heart break. I’m praying that he finds a place that serves good bean water (coffee) so he can learn the joys of black coffee. (LOL)

- BP is praying for safety as he is new to the streets

- Rebecca is praying for the homeless and those less fortunate

- Mary (blonde hair) is praying for peace

- Francisco, we didn’t see him but we heard that he finally got his hernia surgery (after more than a year) and looks wonderful!

- Michael & Bethany want prayers for the health of Bethany’s father and step-mother in New Mexico

- Kenney finally got an apartment. Praise God!! We were serving him in the woods a few years ago.

- Derrick and Kim are living outside in a tent and need prayers for safety. (We bundled them up with clothes and blankets.)

- Sal was so full of joy today singing about God’s goodness and grace.

- Freddy spotted us as we were pulling into downtown and was excited to be our first customer.

It was a really good day (even though it was shorter than usual). We had a good amount of time for prayers and were well-received by our friends.