October Combined Prayer Update
Praise God with us for deep extended gospel conversations we were able to have over breakfast at Martinez. At least 4 folks have expressed a desire to do a bible study with us there.
Carolyne and a gentleman reading through a gospel tract "Vitamins for Troubled Hearts" over breakfast
Pastor Weary sharing Jesus over breakfast with one of the Martinez encampments residents
Martinez team praising God and praying for those we shared the gospel with, after the breakfast in Martinez
Outreach Teams
We had 4 teams going out twice in October. Our Oct 15 group is pictured below:
Members of the Central Concord Team met Brian and Lorraine again behind Costco. Brian asked for prayer for part time work and painting supplies. He has been reading the Bible we gave him, and we encouraged him to continue in this. He particularly enjoys Proverbs! We also gave him some bike tubes which he appreciated.
Rico and Sally asked for prayer for housing and the health of their son David. We were able to share the gospel in prayer with them.
Sophia had her baby a month ago (put into foster care) and is back on the streets, and dealing with addiction and missing her baby. Pray she might overcome her addictions and desire to ask Jesus to help her change in His strength, not her own.
Also pray for Anthony who has congestive heart failure, that he might receive a new spiritual heart in Christ. He was also willing to receive prayer.
Brian (left) with Toby and Ebby. Pray for part time work. He was thankful to receive some bike tubes and coffee from our team!
Pat sharing Jesus at a hidden encampment in Concord
Our North Concord team continued our regular search under bridges (literally under the 680 and 4 freeways) as well as finding well hidden encampments. Please find some prayer requests here from our two October outreaches:
Please be praying for Two Knives that he would experience physical healing of his knee, and spiritual conviction in his heart.
Praise God for Cypress getting a job at Union Pacific in Houston. The team was able to read Romans 3, and had a good discussion regarding justification through faith. Please pray that the seeds implanted in conversation might take root in his heart.
Please be praying for Jose that he would read the Bible for himself, repent over his sin, and turn his life over to the Creator of all.
Leah and her husband had a court date set for him, and unfortunately they missed it. He was arrested and allegedly falsely accused. We were able to share the hope of the gospel with them as well as Psalm 63. Please pray that they will, "earnestly seek" the Lord just as David proclaimed in the first verse of the same Psalm.
Please join with us in praying for JR that his heart would be made soft and that he would know the power of the gospel over his recurring meth addiction. We are thankful that the teams were able to share with Him from Ephesians.
We also spoke with Billy who claimed to be in Christ and seems to know the Bible really well. He shared a self-examination process he walks through from I Cor 6:9. Please pray that he will walk out his faith remembering to put off ungodliness as a former way of life, and be sanctified by the Holy Spirit putting on a new way of living.
Please be praying for X-Ray (Raymond). He acknowledges that there is a God, but changes the subject during spiritual discussion. Pray that God might graciously help him to acknowledge his spiritually dead state, and think deeply about his need for rescue and salvation.
Heather believes in Jesus intellectually, and thankfully is not drinking currently. She has severe pain in her neck where she has had surgery in the past. Pray that her desire to follow Jesus would move from her head to her heart, resulting in a decision to repent and follow Him fully.
Praise that we were able to pray with Ariel & Tim and that they both took Bibles. Please pray that they will read them, and that the Lord will open their eyes to His truth.
We saw Sean who was super excited to see us, again. He believed God truly answered our prayers from a previous visit by providing him shelter and job interviews. Pray he might follow Jesus, as God is clearly working in him.
Please pray for Buck who shared many personal struggles. We were able to pray for her and she was very thankful for the lunches and blessing bags we were able to give to her.
Peter and Christian talking with Cypress
Sean thankful for answered prayer, and a blessing bag
XRay received an eviction notice on his chair! He saw the funny side of this. I guess its time for a new chair... Pray he might find enduring rest in the hope found in Jesus.
The DART Team is trying to match a name to their acronym! So far we have 'Doing Awesome Righteous Things' - but only Jesus actually gets the credit for our righteous deeds! Our deeds are like filthy rags before our perfect God. Let us know if you have a better suggestion!
We found Kim on Parkside near the Civic Center buildings. Upon our arrival, she was sleeping but politely sat up to talk. We had previously given her a Bible and asked if she read it and had any questions. We gladly supplied her with food, water, blessing bag, shoes and another Bible. She was guarded with her conversation but mentioned she had been in jail recently and her right ankle is swollen. Please pray for safety as she is alone, healing with regards to her right ankle and anywhere else she might have pain within her body. That she would read her new Bible during those alone times to start to understand that God is with her.
Mark, behind Fry's, was very friendly and open to discussions on a variety of topics. He mentioned he was in prison and released in 2018. His parents were no longer living and he is estranged from his siblings. He talked about good and evil, hatred for the world and appears to be very lonely. He was also open to discuss his addiction and at that point they gave him the booklet 'Cross Talking' by Mark E. Shaw, along with Bay Area Rescue Mission information, and a Bible. Prayers are needed for all of the above life issues he trying to face alone, that God would direct his path through His Word.
Susie arrived in Concord approximately 3 weeks ago from up north. She was open for discussion and told me in the past she completed a program from Salvation Army, which helped to combat addiction. She appears to have the head knowledge regarding scripture but I told her it has to go deeper, to her heart, that she needed to enter into a relationship with Him. She too was left with a Bible, and additional literature. Pray that she uses her time wisely with the her new Bible. Also, she has asked for prayer that she soon finds housing.
Trè knows our group as well, most of us have had encounters with him. We spoke but he was preoccupied with supplies he needed for his tent. Pray that he would see that he needs God in his life, we are only here for a fleeting moment, that there are consequences for every action we take on earth.
Hope680 is trusting the Lord for an additional $800 in monthly donations to cover ongoing expenses and to acquire a facility for our storage and meeting space before the end of this year. Please will you prayerfully consider meeting part of this need so that our fruitful ministry might continue to grow, by God's grace?