Blue Suede Shoes.

“A Man will be satisfied with Good by the WORDS of his mouth, and the works of a mans hands.” –Proverbs 12:14

Today has been such an awesome day. It is so hard for me to blog about my experiences on our outing, because I wish so bad that you guys were there to experience it firsthand! But I will try my best to replicate the feelings that I had today.

This morning, at 7am we headed out to the Salvation Army in one of the worst parts of down town. A couple of us stayed behind to help sort clothes while the rest of us went walking on the streets, handing out bread to people on the streets. I wanted to bring my camera, but was advised that I needed to leave it at the store because you never know what could happen in this part of town, so sadly I didn’t take any pictures, but will also never forget these faces...

So as we were walking the streets of this neighborhood, with each passing street it was progressively getting more populated and the trash was building. This specific part of their town was known (in our native tongue) as the ‘Red light district’ area; filled with homeless people and prostitutes. We stopped at a bakery and loaded up on loaves of bread to be handed out, as a way to start conversations with the people, and of course feed them. Usually I would be a little fearful of the encounters that were about to take place, but I was totally calm, tranquil and eager to talk to these people. Not too long after we started we spotted two ladies (most likely prostitutes) sitting on the street corner. “Quieres pan?” We asked them, they accepted with minimal eye contact, “Como estas?”, “De donde eres?”, etc.....these were questions we asked to break the silence between two strangers. As the ice breaker questions were beginning to run out, I felt the need to tell her, “Do you know how much God loves you? Do you know that you are treasured by God?”...It was such an amazing feeling to tell her these things, most importantly; I started seeing this woman the way that God sees her. --There is something to say about sitting down on a street corner with two ladies and feeling the love of God consume you so much that it pours out to others, it was truly powerful. After we prayed for them, they were grabbing our hands and smiling, it totally made my heart smile!

Walking a little ways, there was a man sitting on his clothes, with no shoes on. Jimmy and I engaged in conversation, Jimmy translating and I speaking of English of course;  finding out things about his past, why he was on the streets, how many kids he had, etc... Deepening into the conversation he told us that he did not have a Father growing up and he still had a lot of pain from that. Jimmy immediately related because of his absent Father in his life. I first hand witnessed how God truly uses our own sufferings, pains, loss and sadness and turns it into something good, something purposeful—a way to reach people.

As the conversation was flowing, It is amazing how much people tend to open up when you get on a level with them that they understand. When your hurt is their hurt, when your pain is their pain...there is an instant connection between two people that is more than just a surface relationship, it is an intimate connection. So as Jimmy continued talking with this man, words coming straight from his heart, the man started to cry because he so desperately wants to be a good Father for his children, but feels weighed down by his drug addiction and no work. And just by just looking at this man, his face said a thousand words. You could just tell that he was tired; tired of living his life this way, tired of not being able to see/feel God’s presence, tired of not being the Father that he knows he can be and tired of living on the streets. After we talked to him for awhile we needed to go back so we prayed for him-- praying so desperately for God to move in super natural ways in this man’s life, that he would somehow feel his love today, that God would do something to convince him that he IS ALWAYS there....

Coincidently, the other team that was sorting clothes back at the store, they were now sorting shoes. Jimmy immediately asked if we could give a pair of shoes to the man that we were just with so without hesitation we walked back to that corner with such excitement--shoes in hand. As Jimmy gave this man this pair of shoes his face just lit up. He was so happy to have shoes again and we were just as happy that God provided and confirmed his love for this man with this simple pair of shoes. That by giving him this pair of shoes, he was filled with hope....

....even if it does only last a couple minutes, an hour, or even a day; there was still a glimpse of hope that he knew how much God loved him.

It was beautiful to experience God's love like that. 

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven togetherin the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.  

Psalm 139 13-18