November 18th Prayer Update
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Happy Thanksgiving week! Thank you to all the people who came to NorthCreek Church this past Saturday to drop off your donations as part of Hope for the Holidays. We are grateful to God for His provision for our ministry. At the same time, our teams trudged through rain and mud on Saturday to offer hot coffee, food, and the gospel to all they encountered.
If you are considering a one-time donation for Giving Tuesday this year, please consider giving to Hope680. We have a goal of raising $15,000 for our ongoing ministry. This would help to meet the needs of the maintenance of our RV maintenance as well as other expenses associated with our office and additional supplies for distribution.
Please be in prayer with us for those mentioned within this newsletter. Our teams found a number to be open for extended conversation about the gospel. Of course as customarily, there were some conversations that were short where food and other supplies (via blessing bags) were still given along with most importantly the gospel message.
RV Bible Study
Our team helped one of our Bible study participants, Heather, gather up her things and her dogs and make her way to our RV for the Bible study. Though it was raining and her belongings were getting wet, she nevertheless was not deterred. She came immediately when the team arrived and had her Bible ready. It was a great encouragement and demonstration of an open and willing heart to study God's word.
The Bible study was focused on the holiness of God, why a holy God must punish sin, and why Jesus' death was necessary. The team reminded Heather we are saved by faith and not by works. She was very focused, attentive, and appreciative of the study and expressed, "I've never heard it explained that way."
Please be praying for Heather that God will use the things that she is studying with our team to continue to draw her to the Lord in true saving faith.
Heather with Carolyn and Chip studying God’s word together.
Granville (below) is someone we've built a relationship with over time. He has come a long way from the grunt responses that he gave in our initial interaction with him years ago. On this occasion, he was open and conversational concerning the historical accuracy of the Bible. The team has built enough trust to be very direct about the need for repentance and faith in Christ alone for true salvation. Granville shared his dog of 15 years had recently died and that was really on his heart. We are praying this loss will be used by the Lord to draw Granville to himself.
North Concord Team:
The North Concord team had an unusual adventure to reach a group of homeless structures. It involved a white horse, a rainbow, going under and over a bridge all during a light rain. It turned into a 20-minute walk and God blessed their efforts. At the end of the journey, the team found Steve, Scott, and Crystal and were greatly encouraged by the conversation.
Steve (below) is a really sweet guy that shared he is an out-of-work carpenter. He said and the team perceived he has a genuine belief in God. He lost both his daughter and wife from an overdose of prescription medicines. He wants to get back to work and asked us to pray for a job. He was offered and received a number of things and he expressed an interest in our RV Bible study. We took down Steve's phone number and hope to connect with him soon. Steve's friend Scott didn’t speak much, but listened to the whole conversation.
The team was blessed to have an extended conversation with Crystal (pictured below) who was genuinely happy and appreciative of the effort to reach her. She said, “Kindness and the thought that you aren’t forgotten means everything to us." Due to a drug-related house situation, she has lost three children. She admitted she is a drug addict. She said she enjoys going to church though she also admitted, “I just need to be able to forgive myself to get over my drug addiction." The team presented the gospel showing her need for forgiveness comes from God alone. She was given a booklet on freedom from addiction as well as a Bible. It's our hope to study the Bible with her in our ministry RV.
Once the team returned to their vehicle they moved on to find a couple of other folks they could converse with. Eric and Micky accepted food, Bibles, coffee, and prayer, but were not open to a conversation.
Gina is a woman that we've interacted with before and on this occasion, she sat with our team and had a 10-minute conversation. She told of her struggles with addiction and accepted a hot cup of coffee and food. Our team gave her a Bible and shared with her passages from the book of John. We continue to pray for Gina's salvation.
Central Concord Team
Our Central Concord team interacted with 10 people on this outreach. Their initial and short conversation began at Aaron's tent. He was happy to receive a blessing bag, coffee, lunches, and water. We pray he reads the gospel tract included in his blessing bag.
The team continues to work on a relationship and trust with Anthony who was presented with a cell phone so that we can connect with him to attend another RV Bible study.
When we interact with Mike he generally isn't open to the gospel. Mike is estranged from his daughters, who live with their mother in Gilroy. He is happy to receive what is offered to him. Our prayer is for God to open his heart to the gospel.
Please be praying for Alexander and George who is waiting for a restaurant job, as well as Eddie and Chris. These four men were not interested in having a Christ-centered conversation but were willing to receive what we offered by way of food and other items.
Jacob only spoke Spanish and our team wasn't able to have a conversation with him. He was very grateful for the food and hot coffee provided on this rainy morning.
Jasmine doesn't have the mental capacity to have an in-depth conversation likely from lots of drug exposure. Joe is an older man who looks after Jasmine making sure she is safe. Joe has never been interested in having a gospel conversation.
Martinez Team
Roger started a conversation quoting Bible verses to our team saying he has a Bible and reads it. His concern is with "end times prophecy" but it is unclear as to whether or not he has genuine faith in the Messiah. The team attempted through prayer to encourage him.
Rich was sitting in his car when we approached and said he is a military veteran who struggles with nightmares from his experiences. There was no evidence of his being a Christian, yet he asked for prayer for what is happening in the Middle East.
Steve was very kind as the team approached. Steve said he recently got Reggie (his dog) after his last dog died. He created a memorial of flowers and photos of his previous dog. The team used the opportunity to pray the gospel message with Steve who happily received the food offered to him.
Leland exhibited strange and angry behavior particularly related to influences he is open to. He was not interested in listening and only wanted to vent his anger. Please pray with us for God to do a work in his heart and mind and for him to turn to Christ.
We were blessed to be able to spend nearly 20 minutes talking to Laura (pictured above). She shared that she is 32 years old and has experienced a lot of addiction. She went through the Teen Challenge program but ended up back in her addiction. She was given a freedom from addiction booklet, and highly encouraged her to seek out help at the Bay Area Rescue Mission. The team prayed for her to be free from her addiction as well as for her salvation.
Please also pray for Jackie (Steve’s wife), Robbie, Kevin, Daisy, Nicole, and Jim who had limited interactions with our team.
JOIN US!
Our Next Outreach is December 2nd
Please consider serving during a Saturday Outreach in one of the following ways:
1) Prepare Lunches
2) Serving at the Homeless Camps
3) Volunteer Breakfast
4) Cookies for Volunteers
Our ministry is a labor of love with the main purpose of providing gospel hope through practical means to the homeless. Thank you for serving alongside of us!
Thank you again for standing with us in prayer! And a special thank you to the people who are generous to supply the food and coffee that we distribute.