We have been back from our youth trip to Seattle Tacoma now for 4 days. It has taken this long for me to post all we had experienced because I do not want to leave a detail out. This post will be long and maybe boring to some, but for me and the people I experienced this with it is a beautiful and amazing thing....
Lyndsey and I went into this kind of blind not knowing what we were doing while we were there. The first night was Friday night and for the duration of the weekend we would be staying in Our Saviors Baptist Church. We had the boys in one room, and the girls down the hall in another. 5 girls total which was really nice because we were able to get to know one another very well. There were no showers so we just freshened up daily as best as we could out of a restroom. I think we did pretty good considering :)
Lyndsey & IBefore we went to bed on Friday night we had a brief introduction as to what it is that we would be doing this weekend, and the people who made this possible. Chris & Amanda are the head of "Here's Life Inner City" Seattle/Tacoma. They are amazing people, with hearts for the poor, brokenhearted, and homeless. These two inspired me so much. Just to see how strong their marriage was because they were pulling for the same cause and working hard to help so many through bringing not only blankets, scarfs, and gloves to the homeless but HOPE and the word of JESUS CHRIST!
Chris & Amanda with HLIC!
In this brief meeting before bed on Friday night we were given the do's and don'ts of being out on the street with the homeless and underneath the bridges. We learned how to speak to them about their situation and learned to establish a relationship by LISTENING to them and all they had to say before bringing CHRIST into any of our conversations. We were not their to preach. We were there to help , give hope, and use our goodness and love for a greater purpose. If they brought up prayer or wanting to know CHRIST then that is where we would come in with prayer and acceptance in inviting JESUS into their hearts. Under a bridge , in the middle of the park, or on a cold sidewalk as they lay there in a sleeping bag trying to stay warm. It didn't matter whenever the question was asked about JESUS we took the time to do the best we could to explain and invite him in their hearts if that is something they truly wanted.
Saturday morning we headed to a low income apartment complex in the projects on the south side in order to clean up a mess that had been left behind from a previous homeless family that lived their. Our job was to clean up ankle deep trash , black mold, sweep, mop, scrub , and more scrubbing to get the apartment ready for another family that is ready to come off the street and get a fresh start. Our youth boys and girls did an amazing job jumping in and helping get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Who would have thought that cleaning something that dirty could make you feel so good inside. Looking back before we shut the door it was a good feeling to know that we did a little something to help the next family that was to soon live there.
Saturday Evening is when we drove our HOPE bus ( a black and white previously PRISON BUS ) into downtown Seattle and parked right in the middle of the park and near the underpass.
The Hope Bus parked for breakfast at Alki Beach
We were prepared with the proper approach, gloves, scarves, SOCKS, food, drinks, and the word of god. When the bus stopped some of the homeless people came running to the bus with open arms ready to hug us and receive our goods. They were so thankful that we were there. We were all crammed up in aisle and didn't know really who was going to get off the bus first. I can say though that as soon as we got off that bus we were all in our element doing what we were there to do. It was like we had the power of GOD and the protection of him behind us fueling us to serve a purpose. We met so many AMAZING individuals who all have a story and a reason for why they are where they are today. This was my favorite part. Getting to know them and all they had to say. Lyndsey and I would meet with people and later get on the bus to share stories and just be in awe of some of the struggles.
Every time we got on the bus to go-to another location I would write down the name of who I prayed with and spoke to so I could remember this experience in the most personal way possible.
My favorite of all the homeless men and women we met was a man I will call P. P was Colombian from Miami and involved with the trafficking of cocaine in the Colombian cartel. He spent 17 years in prison to leave prison to come straight to the cold streets of Seattle. He sleeps under the bridge and has quite a cute little set up. He smelled so nice , contrary to what one might think of a homeless person. I asked him what he was wearing and he said Giorgio Armani that he stole from Macy's! hahahah that is his personality so flamboyant and in your face. His first question to me was if I believe in Humanity. I responded with a huge yes and said why else would I be out here today under this bridge in your space sharing stories and bringing you socks to keep your feet warm. He got angry and started to go into how he gets treated by people walking by saying get a job, not even acknowledging his presence or making eye contact with him. I think the example he used was if they just pretend to not see you than I guess you dont exist. Evan (one of the youth boys) and I spent a good 30 minutes under the bridge with P talking about whatever he wanted to talk about. Towards the end of our conversation he told me this is where he wants to be. He knows when he is ready he will take the steps needed to get off the streets but for right now this suits him just fine. He loved our conversation as did I and our willingness to accept him for P the funny flamboyant Miami native and not for what he did. Before I left him under that bridge to sleep for the night I asked him how he made his money out here and he said without hesitation, "I sell drugs!" His honesty, his heart, and his willingness to share his story with me made me feel special to be in his presence for that short 30 minutes.
Our last day in Seattle we attended The Cross Church which is a church for recovering addicts, presently addicted addicts, and those who want to experience CHRIST in service in a place where they feel comfortable being themselves. Walking through the doors of a Sunday church service loaded on drugs is often times not the norm. At the Cross Church they accept you and celebrate sobriety through CHRIST. It was a beautiful experience to say the least. To see these young youth kids from Grays Harbor walk into this church and take up the first 2 rows of church pews , going completely out of our comfort zone to experience things that others who struggle with addiction experience. Their service was intoxicating, uplifting, and exciting! I would love to go back someday soon as I promised one lady there. Her name was Melody and her testimony of life before CHRIST and life now was such an eye opening reminder of how God does have the ability to change our hearts and minds and everyone should be given a 2nd chance.
Our weekend was filled with so much more than just what I have typed but this is the basic rundown of what our trip with "Here's Life Inner City" was all about.
Something I want to leave you with is something I learned this weekend in our study. The 2nd most talked about subject in the bible is the poor and brokenhearted. There are over 500 verses to back this up. Why would the Bible or any book for that matter concentrate so highly on a certain subject? To grab the readers attention! To teach! To enlighten and to bring awareness to the fact that God loves everyone even the poor and brokenhearted. This is just a small example that really spoke to me. More than just that the homeless give us an avenue as Christians to love God! Through our actions we take care of those who God loves and talks about abundantly in the Bible.
I feel so inspired and more educated on homelessness. We will ALWAYS have homeless people and people who are poor. We cannot go out and change that no matter how hard we try. The one thing we can do is bring HOPE to those who are brokenhearted by listening, and little things like socks to keep their feet warm and clean.
The lessons we learn from our failures-------- Are Lessons that help us succeed---------And if we are wise to heed them---------Then failure is just what we need!
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Judge Less!
Amen :)
