Since the colder weather has arrived, we have an indoor lunch for the young men (ages 18-25) as opposed to the regular outdoor grilling. When we switched over to serving lunch indoors, I wasn't sure how it was going to work. Most of the guys we serve lunch to do life on the streets, many of them selling drugs, so they don't want to leave their corners for more than a few minutes. I knew that coming to eat lunch indoors would require that they leave their "post" for more than a few minutes.
We have been serving lunch indoors for a month now and the first three weeks, we had three guys come. Today, we had six guys come and this was a breakthrough! The extra three guys who came, were ones who rarely come off the streets. When they walked through the door, the volunteers and I were shocked and so happy :). They sat down to eat, all of us at a big table together. We talked about their Thanksgiving, their plans for Christmas and they raved on and on how much they liked the nachos we served. Even though sitting down and having a meal with a guy who sells drugs or a guy who just smoked marijuana before he came may sound simple, even in it's simplicity it is very powerful. Jesus sat down with sinners. The Pharisees were even mad at Him for eating with guys like this.
I recently had a conversation with a young man who I have mentored over the years. I met him when I was serving at the Los Angeles Dream Center. He was 14 when I met him and living on Skid Row with his family, now he is 21 years old. This is what he told me, "When I lived on Skid Row as a teenager, some of the memories that still touch my heart today was when I could go somewhere like my Aunt's house to sit down and have a meal with someone." Then he said, "Even the other day, my roommate and I sat down to have a meal together and we didn't even talk, we just ate together. That really meant a lot to me. We didn't do that when I was growing up and you don't get that on the streets." So, needless to say, those few sentences that he shared with me summed up what this ministry is all about.... we sit down and eat with people. And today, we served six young men who desperately need someone to sit down and eat with them, showing them the LOVE of Jesus.
We have been serving lunch indoors for a month now and the first three weeks, we had three guys come. Today, we had six guys come and this was a breakthrough! The extra three guys who came, were ones who rarely come off the streets. When they walked through the door, the volunteers and I were shocked and so happy :). They sat down to eat, all of us at a big table together. We talked about their Thanksgiving, their plans for Christmas and they raved on and on how much they liked the nachos we served. Even though sitting down and having a meal with a guy who sells drugs or a guy who just smoked marijuana before he came may sound simple, even in it's simplicity it is very powerful. Jesus sat down with sinners. The Pharisees were even mad at Him for eating with guys like this.
I recently had a conversation with a young man who I have mentored over the years. I met him when I was serving at the Los Angeles Dream Center. He was 14 when I met him and living on Skid Row with his family, now he is 21 years old. This is what he told me, "When I lived on Skid Row as a teenager, some of the memories that still touch my heart today was when I could go somewhere like my Aunt's house to sit down and have a meal with someone." Then he said, "Even the other day, my roommate and I sat down to have a meal together and we didn't even talk, we just ate together. That really meant a lot to me. We didn't do that when I was growing up and you don't get that on the streets." So, needless to say, those few sentences that he shared with me summed up what this ministry is all about.... we sit down and eat with people. And today, we served six young men who desperately need someone to sit down and eat with them, showing them the LOVE of Jesus.
1 comment:
that is AWESOME! Praise the Lord! we are believing that more breakthroughs will come through these indoor meals!
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