Jesus on the Streets (on Christmas Eve) - December 24, 2023
On Christmas Eve we were honored to be serving over 100 of our friends on the streets of Brockton. We had a steady stream of people waiting for food and prayer, and most everyone was in good spirits and happy to exchange Christmas greetings. Many of our friends kept hanging around to soak in the holiday atmosphere that we were trying to share. Many of our regulars were away visiting family, which must be a bit strange to leave the homeless shelter to reconnect with loved ones, and then a few days later to be back living at the shelter.
We continue to learn more about the growing Haitian population that we serve and it’s been enlightening. For example, we never thought about the responsibility that new refugees carry to support those people in Haiti that helped them emigrate to the US. That responsibility sits just beneath the surface of all our interactions and it must be frustrating for refugees to want to earn money (and give back) but not be allowed to work.
Here are some of the many prayer requests we received.
- Talkative Chris is incredibly sad that his girlfriend Theresa is drinking again. (We keep warning him to guard his heart about her addiction.) in addition, his sister is now in the hospital.
- Bobby & Andrea were both in a bad mood and clearly walking under the influence (WUI). They wished us a Merry Christmas and then left.
- Reschel & Christian are praying that her son stops drinking, that her knee heals, and for Christian’s eye/vision to heal.
- Inventor Chris is happy to be out of the shelter and living in the Towers where he is making new acquaintances. He was super excited that he recently reconnected with his daughters.
- Kettelye is praying to have peace for her future after losing all her documentation while working at L-street mission.
- Polish Michael is sad that his friend died of an overdose and he’s worried that he never talked about Jesus before his friend died. He’s also worried about his friend Erica who has been missing for several weeks.
- GQ John was supposed to be with family in Bangor, ME for Christmas but he missed his train.
- Clean-cut Chris is praying that community relations in Brockton will improve.
- Sal is wondering about being loving, and if we start to become dull to others loving us.
- Jeanette was heartbroken that her friend Rico died.
- Derek is praying for warmth (he lives in the woods) and happiness.
- Elizabeth and Roberto are new to Brockton (from Boston) and looking for a church.
- Russell removed his neck brace (even though his neck is still broken and he’s now in a wheelchair) because it was uncomfortable and made him look vulnerable. It’s really heartbreaking to see the change in his circumstances since this summer when he was walking around and helping others.
We often say that the words “please” and “thank you” are key performance indicators (KPI) that help us measure success for LYNN Ministries. It’s such a small thing but our friends change their behavior around us. We don’t view this as hypocrisy, but rather we see it as a reflection of the person they aspire to be. As an example, one of our friends threw his trash where it didn’t belong, and then saw me watching him. But it was too late because he couldn’t retrieve the trash from the property where he threw it. This man then came to me to apologize and agreed that he knew better than to behave that way and asked for forgiveness. That is one small step of progress.
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and we pray you have a wonderful New Year. Please remember that no matter how much we love you, Jesus loves you more!