Exactly one week ago my team and I had the opportunity to walk the streets of San Jose at night to evangelize to the homeless addicts of the city. We also invited them to the ministry we worked with, teen challenge (which is a rehab center).
I wasn’t sure how to express what I saw and learned from the experience, and it’s still hard to put into words.
We saw people at their absolute worst/lowest point. And honestly they didn’t really seem to even care or notice. They were often so high and/or drunk that it was hard to hold any semblance of a conversation with them. They would tell us things about their life, random things, and all the while we told them about God and his love for them. In my mind, it had to be hard for them to hear as they’re hungry, living in a cardboard box, using the street as a toilet, and putting their hope in drugs and alcohol. They would ask us for food, money, and other things. And over and over we told them honestly, that we had nothing. We were walking the streets like them for a few hours. All we had was the clothes on our backs and the shoes on our feet.
I learned the power of prayer and the necessity of spiritual preparation. The first night we went out, I was not prepared and it showed. I was exhausted (which did make some sense since we left the hotel around 10 PM and got to bed around 3AM) and had a hard time interacting and engaging. However, the second night, I was strangely energetic, ready to talk and spread the good news. If I wasn’t directly talking to someone, I was praying for them or my teammates who were taking to them. We had some incredible conversations and were excited to see who showed up at the bus station in the morning with the intention of going to the teen challenge rehab center.
Wednesday morning brought excitement and disappointment. After packing up and enjoying some treats from the bakery, we walked up to the bus station. At first there was just two guys, one of which had slept at the station to make sure he didn’t miss the bus:) A few minutes later we had around 12 people there!
We were pleasantly surprised to find some of the men there that we thought were too high to comprehend what we were saying the night before. It was so fun to see the fruit of our labor from the night before. We also had some disappointment because some people we hoped would show up did not. It was hard to accept that they didn’t come when they had seemed to want it so bad. We also had to watch a few walk away. The leader of the center gave them a talk about what they actually have to do/what is expected of them at the center. Some decided that a bed, consistent meals, work, and a new life wasn’t worth the cost. At the center there’s no tv, no alcohol, no drugs, and there is a lot of reading and studying the Bible. So we watched 4 walk away, deciding that it wouldn’t be fun and would just be too much work. And we had to watch them walk back to life on the streets.
However, we got to see the excitement of 8 men as they got a snack at the station, and a free ticket to Limón. This was easily some of the most challenging days of this trip. But the most impactful. It made me thankful for everything I have, realize the power of prayer, and encouraged me that Jesus can use me as a way to bring people to Him in a variety of ways.
I will continue to pray for the 8 men who went to the center, all the people we met on the streets, and those who we didn’t talk to but need help. I ask that you join me in this as well. We may just change their lives.
