Snaggle Toothed and Bald Headed...

Friday night...let's see.

It was the second week...so the new people to the AOM got to switch areas...so they can experience both the Underground and Little 5 Points..

So this week...it was David, Whitney (she's not new...but she took a break last semester...so now she's back!) and myself...

Underground was packed. There were so many people it was a little overwhelming. It isn't normally packed...so it was a little bit different. The people that come to Undergound to hang out are mostly African Americans...youth...20s, 30s...and a few homeless. So we stick out pretty bad...ha.

Well, tonight one such homeless guy started talking to David. He wanted to buy a cigarette off of David...but of course he didn't have one. Well we kept walking and he walked with us and talked to David...David ended up buying him a Snickers. We figured the guy just wanted someone to talk to, to listen to him. After David bought him the candy bar...we asked if we could pray with him. And there we stood in the middle of Underground with people milling around and we prayed. David prayed for him...and then the man prayed for us. It was humbling.

Well...Whitney had some contacts that we 'reunited' with. Two ladies that work at the African Pride shop...Funka (pronounced Foonk-A) and her mom who are from Nigeria. It was really cool talking with them...they mainly caught up with Whitney. Talked a lot about the economy and jobs and such. Interesting coming from an immigrants perspective...

After that we went and talked with Sarah for awhile...she's struggling spiritually. She needs some encouragement. We talked a lot about how she met her fiance--they've never actually met face to face. They met online. He's from Pakistan...it's really all quite interesting. He's a Christian too. Well...we prayed with Sarah and then headed out to George's.

At George's....we met up with Houa, Moua, Ben, and Jimmy (the rest of the team). We talked together for a bit and then some random guy came up and started talking to us. He was pretty high. Okay. He was REALLY high. And he talked for awhile...we nodded. He left.

And then...we met Matthew. "like in the Bible." well Matthew was a character. He came up right after the high guy left...and asked us if anything that guy said was truth. And we said probably not...well Matthew told us to be careful about people that spill out crazy talk like that other guy. Well, Matthew was a little crazy himself....but at least he was coherent. He was pretty funny...he talked about Obama and Bush (who he called a not so nice name "pardon me ladies...")...He also said "Snaggle toothed and bald headed...but I'm still your brother."

What an interesting comment to bring me back to reality. As he was speaking I was more distracted by his sense of humor than the fact that he may be a brother in Christ. He said he knew the Lord and loved him...sometimes I get so distracted by the outer appearance (he really was bald and had maybe 4 or 5 teeth) and the smells to notice the living soul standing in front of me. Matthew then preceded to direct us to the people who would show us what to do (I don't think he knew that we go there every week...). He thanked us for coming to serve and that by our serving he knew that we were good people.

The meal for the night was hot dogs, chili, chicken, bread, and donuts. There was a TON of food! It was awesome to see all the plates leave full....there were also sack lunches that a church group brought by. I handed hot dogs to Houa who was crazy fast at putting the hot dogs in the buns...it was pretty comical.

I got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Boone. Dr. Boone and his wife are both preachers at a holiness pentecostal church in Atlanta. Pretty much every week Dr. Boone preaches before the meals are served. He is a very loud speaker...but sometimes his messages seem to point to 'health and wealth gospel'..."if you are sick or poor you don't have enough faith" so get some more faith and all will be good...and other times his messages are decent and powerful. After meeting them, they're both very nice, I know his heart is in the right place. I can only hope that the people are hearing the important parts, that God loves them and that He can give them true life even if they don't have a house or money. And that He is the one that can restore them and deliver them from their sins.

Overall it was an awesome night that left me with a lot to think about. I hope I never get to the point where I am no longer moved by the plight of the helpless. I hope I can remember to see people the way Christ sees them, with love and hope.

Michael the Archangel

Last night was an interesting evening...as it always is.

After arriving at Underground David, Sam, Cindy, and I met up with some familiar faces.

We met with a couple of African guys (one was from Cameroon...not sure where there other one was from) who run an African jewelry stand. David and Sam did most of the talking about soccer and Africa (David did his internship in Guinea). We then headed over to see Alfred (also from Africa). David and Sam did most of the talking again. Alfred is in school at Georgia State and he will graduate in December. He told us that he and his wife will celebrate their third anniversary in March.

We then headed over to see Sarah. It was so good to finally see her after being away for so long! She is doing well! Business is still really slow but she has faith it will pick up. She is set to graduate from Agnes Scott in May which is really exciting. Afterward she plans to go home to India to get married to Waqar and then they will return to either the US or Canada. Apparently Canada is easier to get a visa for because the Africans and Sarah all mentioned moving to Canada.

Sarah is having a hard time because her roommate moved out and now she is more lonely. So we could tell that it meant a lot that we didn't forget about her. She laughed pretty much the whole time we were with her. (also 'prophesying' over me that I will get married next year...haha)

After Underground we went to Woodrow Park which is maybe a block or two away. We walked around a bit and then we met Michael the Archangel. He doesn't really believe he's Michael the Archangel...but because his name is Michael he feels a connection to the Archangel...I think. Anyway...we started talking with him and he was quick to inform us that he wasn't on drugs and that is not the reason he is homeless. He is homeless because he is jobless. He was very well versed in Christian theology and the gospel. Michael was an interesting guy. He told us that he was going to ask us for money but that if we said no he would not take offense because he can't control what we do only what he does. When we told him we had no money but that we were going to serve meals a few blocks away (he knew exactly where we where going) he told us that we were still doing the work of God even though we couldn't give him money.

Well...Michael then had us all hold hands because he wanted to pray for us. That was a first. We all kept our eyes open...just incase. Well...he prayed and shouted Halelujah! and then allowed us to pray for him (he originally told us he doesn't let anyone pray for him...) and we prayed. Then some random guy came up and tried to join in but looked confused and then left. And some guy in a car yelled at us asking where the civic center was...it was all a little bit chaotic. Anyway...we left Michael with him asking for money so he could get some food and pay for a room to sleep in for the night...we told him to come with us and we could fix him a plate...but he said no thanks. Interesting.

One thing that struck me as interesting was when he was praying he thanked God for the fact that we stayed and listened to him. How many people only desire to be listened to? How it must feel to be walked by and ignored day in and day out?

Well...after meeting Michael we walked down to George's.

There were tons of people there to help serve meals...which was awesome. It was great to see Will and Stevie and George and his family. However, we didn't see Jerry. I was quite disappointed not to see Jerry. Stevie said he saw him Wednesday night at the safe house...so maybe Jerry was able to get a bed last night too. We didn't see Christian or his mom either.

It was an interesting night. It's funny how you can be gone for 6 weeks and nothing change. I'm hoping that we will get to see Jerry again...I really want to learn his story. It'd be cool if we were able to meet up with Michael too.

Atlanta is a crazy city. God love it.

well.

Tomorrow night is the AOM's meeting for new people...a lot of people from last semester are not returning this semester so we are hoping for a good turnout! This Friday will be our first week back to ATL...I'm super pumped.

This time around my hours in ATL will count towards my Urban Ministry Practicum requirements...(sweet!) so I will be updating this thing every Saturday (because we have to keep a journal for the Practicum)...so be on the lookout for new and exciting (if somewhat repetitive) entries...woohoo.

Things to pray for:

• Money (we need to raise another $600 dollars this semester to pay for gas...)
• Fundraising ideas...
• New connections at Underground
• Continued safety
  
• Deeper relationships with the people at George's
  

Thanks!

Update!

So school has been crazy....but here's an update over the last few weeks in Atlanta...

Ronald: He made it to Arizona! He emailed us when he got there and found a library...said he likes the shelter system...haven't heard anything since then...

Sarah: We took her out to eat..went to an Indian restaurant called Havali....that was a first for me...I absolutely loved it! Sarah was great at helping us out with what to order (actually she ordered for us!)...so good! Business is really slow at Underground so she's having to leave early because there just aren't people spending money...she is still such an encouragement in her faith!

George's Ministry: It was rocky there for awhile...but this past week they actually had more than enough food! Praise the Lord! Everyone got fed and then some! I've never seen so much food there before...Jerry even started to try to give us plates of food! (Jerry is my new friend there...we talk politics! He's really smart...he's also a vet and really nice!)

Christian and his mom: We've seen them at a glance for the past couple of weeks...it's either been raining or foggy and cold so they usually hurry to wherever it is they spend the night. We've actually seen quite a few new young faces recently...some even younger than Christian

It's starting to get cold...really cold...tonight's trip is going to be the coldest weather we've seen so far...in the 20s. woohoo. not really. but hopefully we'll be able to pass out some blankets and coats we got from our clothing drive we had. We were definitely blessed by the amount of 'gently used' articles of warm clothing, new socks, and new blankets...we also got some handmade wool hats and scarves! so cool! hopefully it will be a big blessing to the people of atlanta experiencing homelessness this winter...

In observance of the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov 16-23): some random stats and facts

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless...

Atlanta is the 4th "meanest" city to those experiencing homeless by criminalizing homelessness and enforcing anit-homeless laws.

40% of the male homeless population are veterans

23% of the homeless population are families with children

42% of needy families in the metro-Atlanta area make the choice between food and housing

1/2 of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence

3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness in a given year

"Doin' good in the 'hood"

this week's trip to ATL was really good...

Last week while I was home, David and Selah met up with Ronald.

Ronald is headed for a program in Arizona this coming week. A ministry in ATL is buying him a bus ticket to head to a transitional housing program of sorts. So they planned to take him out to eat for a mini-goodbye party.

Ronald wanted BBQ so he led the way to the food court at Underground. We had Ronald get whatever he wanted and it was our treat (well. David's...haha). He was really thankful because last Saturday the cops kicked him out of his van with the option of jail instead. So Ronald lost a lot of his contacts because he left the van. He's been staying under the MARTA bridge and had only eaten 3 times in the last week. So...Ronald was very grateful to say the least.

He's pretty excited to head out of ATL. He says the cops are starting to crack down on homeless guys. His friend Dave went to jail for panhandling. He says he's ready for a quieter city with a better shelter system. (Apparantly the ATL Union Rescue Mission has terrible food...)

After eating with Ronald we walked down to George's. This was the first week we've gotten to prep the plates. I dished up about 200ish scoops of mashed potatoes. They didn't run out of food this week. Praise the Lord. I served alongside of Lyndell...the master of plating chicken! He was funny! Also, Stevie was there...he's a really funny guy that knows how the line is supposed to work and made sure Selah and I knew what we were doing!

It's pretty cool to see the homeless take pride in how meals are served (Lyndell and Stevie are there every week making sure plates get the right amount of food and everyone has gloves on)...it's pretty encouraging. Also, George's grandson, about 6 or 7, was out there with his dad (they're not homeless) learning about serving...he was a really cute kid in his baseball uniform handing out plates...

We didn't see Christian or his mom this week. Hopefully that's a good sign that they've gotten some help.

Next week is fall break so we won't be going to Atlanta. The next week after that we are taking Sarah to dinner because she finally got her greencard!

Continue to pray for Ronald and his bus ride to AZ and George's ministry that they'll continue to have enough food to meet the needs of the community.

Are you my friend?

This Friday night excursion into Atlanta was different. I'm quickly learning that every week will bring new encounters and different experiences.

We started at the Underground as usual. Selah was sick so Amy came with David and me. We met with Sarah (the watch/bling/grill-selling Muslim turned Christian lady who happens to be awesome) for the first 20 minutes or so. Amy is considering starting a disciple-type relationship with her. It's pretty exciting.

David and I then went and scouted out the area for potential new relationships....we shall see.

Around 8 we went to go meet Ronald (see 2nd post). Though we didn't actually catch up with him till around nine, we did get to meet George. He's the guy that brings the u-haul type truck to the parking lot every week. He's a large Hispanic man with a thick accent and a compassionate heart. This particular night we stuck around for the whole process.

Lines begin to form around 830ish. George speaks to the crowd and then a pastor gives a short sermon and a time of prayer. This night George spoke about how there has been a short supply of food for the past two weeks and he would like prayer for that. The pastor spoke about the power of restoration through Christ and urged the people present to allow themselves to be restored. It was pretty powerful.

It was also pretty awkward. Amy, David and I just stood around for awhile not wanting to be rude...but we also wanted to meet the people. We ended up getting to meet quite a few. I met Jerry and Gloria. Jerry helps out with the set up and tear down every week. He's homeless. Gloria is a mother of 6 and this particular day she did all of her family's laundry because her daughter is expecting and due any day. Gloria was pretty cool...she also towered over me by more than a foot. I felt reasonable safe just because Gloria was standing next to me.

Once the 200 meals of chicken, bread, and cookies were passed out...my eye caught something I did not want to see.

it was in the form of a 4 year old little boy wearing an ATL braves hat, spiderman shirt, and bob the builder back pack...

I know the face of homelessness has changed from primarily single men to families. But knowing it doesn't make it sting any less.

We approached the area where he was standing with his mom when he turns around and looks at us and says "Hey!" Around a mouthful of chicken he begged us to play with him. He didn't even have to beg. David and I sat with him on the ground as he rummaged through his back pack and pulled out a plastic box containing 6 matchbox cars. He then plopped down in my lap. Turning around, he looked up at me and asked "Are you my friend?" Yes, yes Christian I'm you're friend. He asked David too...and of course David replied in the affirmative.

We played cars amid the broken glass, trash, and needles. My heart broke.

We played with Christian and spoke with his somewhat out of it mom of 22 for the next 45 minutes until it was time to go...he didn't want us to go. I didn't want to go either.

Walking back to the van, Amy, David, and I debriefed the time with Christian. It was interesting to me how deeply it affected all three of us. I can only imagine how much more it breaks the Father's heart.

Part of me hopes Christian is there next week. But a bigger part of me hopes that he and his mom have found a safe haven of rest and no longer need the identity provided in the streets.

Street Skills 101

The student advisor of the AOM is Beth and she's amazing. She let the new members (Selah and myself) take the first 2 weeks to decide where we want to be...

Week 1: Little 5 Points

I decided to check out L5P for the first week to get my feet wet in true street evangelism. The evangelism we use is pretty atypical comparitively to the "normal" way of reaching people for Christ. No tracts. No mention of Jesus until a relationship is formed. Who are we to judge and condemn in the first 5 minutes?

The group I was with was Paul, Danielle, Brittany, and Me...we met tons of super cool people. People that I'm pretty sure I would never have been brave enough to talk to pre-internship. I'm still amazed how God has changed my view of people. So...we talked with Jonesy the artist, a rap artist, the lady from Senegal that owns an African shop (she was amazing...she has young two daughters...she showed us how to play the Jimbay and her daughters taught us an African dance/game)...we then met Robin and Joe. We met Robin because we met Joe.

Joe. He was wasted. "I ain't drunk! God still wit me sos I ain't drunk. If'n I was drunk God wouldn't be wit me...so I ain't drunk!" "I done had bout 15 beers...hehehehe" so...it was intensely intriguing watching Paul try to talk about God with Joe when Joe was not even close to being able to comprehend. But he was able to curse up a storm and share some truthful insights about his own spirituality....Robin told him he was blaspheming. And proceeded to defend Christ to Joe...it was all very lively involving lots of spit and curse words from Joe and lost of peace and patience from Robin.

Robin has 5 kids. and a black eye. she just got a job at Philips Arena. Despite peace...she had an overwhelming sense of sadness and despair around her.

That night gave me lots to think about. And pray about.

Week 2: Underground/Ronald

This past week I went to UG. My group was David, Selah, and myself. David gave us a tour of the UG and introduced us to his African friends and Sarah (converted Muslim to Christianity from India). It was fun being able to meet people that already had a relationship with someone in the ministry...we also got to pray for a couple of them as well...

but...the real fun began when David introduced us to his friend Ronald. Ronald. Ronald. Ronald.

He's a homeless guy that lives in a van about a thirty minute walk from the UG. The company who's property it's on let's him stay as long as he watches the building. Pretty cool. According to David...Ronald got really sick awhile back and went broke because of medical bills. He can't work...so no work means...no money...no money no house/food/etc. He's also a Christian and well educated...Well...Ronald gave us lots of tips as we walked to where he lived...

• don't go past the '45' sign under the bridge...that's where people are always getting shot
• just say 'I'm Straight' if anyone asks you if you need anything, otherwise they'll misinterpret anything else you say (saw two drug deals that night...hmmm)
• never come here alone
• don't stand in the same spot too long (cops will bother you. drug dealers will want to sell to you)
• stay by the lights

Ronald was going "canning" that night. 26 cans equals 1 pound. 1 pound equals 62 cents. He was saving up to buy a thermometer. the hospital won't admit him if his temp isn't over 101. He says it's around 100.9. He doesn't dig too deep in the trash cans...just the tops...or picks them up from the side of the road. When we were with him, he asked the garbage truck guys to throw down any cans they had...they threw out 2.

Ronald says the hardest part about living on the streets is if you hurt your leg or if you get sick and if your leg hurts and your sick...you're screwed. You have to walk everywhere. if you can't walk you can't get water. If you can't get water you get dehydrated. and so on and so on...

Halfway between Ronald's van and the UG is a huge vacant lot that some guy comes to every friday with a big u-haul type truck and feeds the people. There had to be about 200 people waiting on the way to Ronald's and about 200 people spread out all over the place with plates full of food on the way back.

I've decided to stick to the UG and Ronald's hangout. David, Selah and I decided that we would help feed the people with the guy with the truck (I think his name is Gary...or Greg...anyway apparantly he told them the first week that we could help them anytime). I'm pretty much really excited about this.

Could definitely use some prayer for more relationships...safety....and open hearts...

I'm just happy that my internship wasn't all for naught....that the change that occured because of it...is a lasting change....