Brockton - September 1, 2024

The first Sunday in September was overcast and humid as we served 99 of our friends a meal of chicken and macaroni salad on the streets of Brockton. We had some excitement from one of our friends and another was in a severe health crisis with infections in her hand and thigh. We continue to see growing desperation on the streets with addictions running rampant. As we walk through some of the parks people are not even trying to hide their drug use. The current epidemic of addiction is the worst we’ve seen in almost 14 years of serving and there seems to be nowhere for people to go for help or housing. (For many who are forced to live in squalid conditions, drugs can be a common form of escape.)

This week we also gave out some extra gifts. Sadly, after 10 years we must vacate and scrap the LYNN Ministries trailer as the new owners of the property have plans for the land it sits on. We are thankful for the time we had it but it was in need of an overhaul and it woudn’t survive being moved, therefore it’s not worth trying to keep it. Later this month we will be moving all the clothes and provisions from the trailer into a facility in Walpole where the landlord is giving us two rooms for storage (on a temporary basis). Due to the amount of clothes we collect and store for distribution we will need to rent additional storage because the new space, while extremely generous, is not enough to replace our previous storage (almost 1000 sq ft between the trailer and another donated room in Foxboro).

Here are some of the prayer requests:

- Wilfredo asked that we pray for people living on the streets.

- Jean-Pierre, Gadneau, Midi, Louisena, Ronaldo, all just asked for prayers of blessing

- Greg asked for prayers for his friend John and the bad choices he’s been making

- Mike is asking for prayer for shelter and also for some legal problems

- Jay was helping our blind friend Brayden,

- Francisco is still two months away from surgery and his hernia looks really bad. We do not understand the delay.

- John is praying for his kids (ages 9 & 13) as well as his girlfriend Ashley.

- Anthony hopes to be returning to Georgia this month to be with his girlfriend Stephanie and her son Nicholas (4 mos old).

- Charlie is pleased the tent we provided is holding up well, even with all the rain.

- Junior now has an apartment so we are praying that he can adjust to it, follow the rules, and be able to stay there.

- Dan is praying for his mom who has cancer.

- Prophetess Ikaiah is asking for prayers over the city.

- Christina was very loud and vulgar. It’s sad that some people seem to like to spin her up by leveraging her mental challenges for their entertainment.

- Rafael is praying that he can be helpful to others.

We are so thankful to all those who support this ministry. We are praying for the success of the new shelter being built in Brockton and that critical services, like the Champion Plan for drug rehab placement, will resume and/or expand operations to help those in desperate need. We are also thankful to Church of Emmanuel for renovating the kitchen and allowing us to use the facilities to continue to serve the least of these in surrounding communities like Brockton and Attleboro. Please be praying for our friends on the streets.