Jesus on the Streets (double header weekend) - August 21-22, 2021

It was a hot and humid day in Brockton on Day 1 of a double header weekend. We served 94 meals of pasta salad with lots of chicken and veggies (provided by The Fellowship church) across 6 locations throughout the city. Many of our friends were asking if we would be serving tomorrow in the hurricane/storm. YES! And it looks like the storm has turned west so it should be mostly rain.

As we prayed today I was asking people 2 questions: where did you see God at work yesterday? How have you served God today? It made for some really interesting conversations. Robert and Paula were blessed with finding lots of cans they could redeem and then blessed others by giving away some of the money. Donna is struggling after having a seizure and now trying to replace her stolen phone. Bianca is praying for recovery for Jon Jon who was hit by a car. Lucy is in desperate need with nowhere to sleep. Santos is struggling with Type 1 diabetes (feet and eyes). Jim, Charlie, and Sharon have been living in a pickup truck since Feb (Jim has a heart condition) and they were low on gas. Geraldo and Celeste wanted prayers for the people of Haiti. Our friend Steve (on Green St) is in the hospital. Kenny (on Spring St) fell, hit his head, and is waiting for doctor’s results. Antonio wanted to pray for us and our ministry.

We finished the day at the park where things were really amped up due to the heat and the bad weather report for tomorrow. People were very rowdy but were quite pleased to receive some essentials.

Thank you all for giving us the ability to serve this marginalized community!

Day 2 of our doubleheader weekend was….interesting. A few volunteers had to cancel (leaving us with 4 volunteers) but with hurricane warnings we figured it would be a light day, in heavy rain, and a smorgasbord of food (meatballs, Buffalo chicken, Mac and cheese, etc.) so we only brought one carafe of cold water. We figured we’d serve less than 40 people (no need to call for volunteer reinforcements). Then, Hurricane Henri decided to turn left, the rain was less than a drizzle, and we got mobbed, and served 84 meals! (We did run out of water.)

Fortunately one of our volunteers, Jason, brought his 2 sons giving us the ability to handle the crowd. The six of us (3 rookies) were hustling but it was so good! We did get a chance to offer some prayers. Michael asked for provision to afford an apartment. Anderson has a CDL driving test coming up. Mo shared his full name with me (it’s our secret). Russell’s hands are very swollen. Eric was prophesying about me (and others) and he’s died three times so, who knows? And Aman is hoping for a 2nd job to afford an apartment.

Although we were slammed by the need, it all worked because we were serving Jesus (Mt 25:35-36). Thank you all for the love and support you share with us!