August 28, Ministry Update
Praise God for another chance to share the gospel with over 40 homeless folks in Concord and Martinez. Please find many stories and prayer request below.
One additional praise is that we have received our official 501c3 status from the IRS - we are now a registered tax-exempt non-profit organization! Praise God!
West Concord Team
We started out near DVC and found Carrie (pictured) and her pitbull mix trying to settle down after thieves had stolen her belongings over the night.However, she was most worried about finding a place to live and for healing for ankle surgery she had two years ago that left wounds. We gave her a Bible when she said she would love one and she promised to read it. May she do that very thing!
Then we ended up waking up Ron who was half-awake and hungover from drinking overnight. Normally, we can encourage him in the Word, and maybe we did as we read Romans at his request. May the Word not return void to Him who sent it! However, nearby was Kevin who also claims to be a Christian still has his job at McDonalds, had all his belongings stolen while in the hospital with a sickness, still was able to purchase necessities, and loved to pray with us. We love his smile! Nearby, Lauren whom we have never met because she is verbally abusive, whose mind is not stable no doubt due to drug abuse, we had once again to pass by. May God give us the chance soon!
Later, on we ran into Christian who says he is still reading the Bible we gave him. He asked prayer for his sick mother and we prayed that he would believe the true Messiah, not the false messiah of Mormonism he was raised to believe. We ran into John whom we had not seen since the spring and he welcomed us back to visit after we prayed for him. He says his sister is a missionary, but I know he has a hard time believing the Bible.
On our way back, we ran into Ray and his girlfriend Natonah who still had not moved into an apartment as they hoped. Ray claimed he convinced Natonah to believe in Jesus. We pray that is so. We did not meet Natonah.
"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life." ~ Jesus
East Concord Team
It was a great day. Hot and smokey, but we had many good opportunities to share the Gospel. Thanks to the generosity of many North Creek people, we were able to share many blessings with our homeless neighbors – Lunches, blessing bags, t-shirts, water and blankets. Our day was consumed at only two stops. The first was along the east side of Monument Boulevard between Cowell Road and Systron Drive. We encountered ten people in this area. All of those that we encountered were open and friendly. We talked about Jesus and prayed with several of them.
Our second stop was at the Highway 242 over crossing at Willow Pass. There we were able to talk to six people altogether. Some were very reluctant to engage with us, but we were still able to engage with others. It was nice that several of them remembered Hope680 and some of our team specifically. They all appreciated the things we provided.
Please keep the following people in mind in your prayers:
Gus – pray for his brother who has cancer
Teressa – recovery from a broken foot and relief from bug bites
Bob – he is almost blind and very hard of hearing. He is scheduled to go back to jail for parole violations. Pray that he can get some relief from the jail term.
Christine – that she can arrange to get her mother to the Concord area from out of State.
Rico and Anthony – that they can get off the streets and into some long-term housing.
The group near Willow Pass and Hwy 242. That they will open their hearts to the gospel. That their physical needs are met. That they stay healthy through this period of poor air quality.
If you are please able to prayerfully support our ministry with a small monthly donation of $25 or more for ongoing supplies, please can I ask you to set that up here? You will receive a tax deductible receipt. Thank you so much for enabling our work for the gospel in this way!
Toby Weiss, Executive Director, Hope680