I've been traveling to Santa Barbara every Tuesday for massage therapy and each week has brought different blessings. I'm sure it seems weird to travel an hour for a massage but my friend who does massage there does the only type of massage that has ever helped with my migraines and I finally decided it was at least worth a try and if helps definitely worth making the drive every week. Not to mention it's a beautiful drive and I have great friends to visit with in town...Tuesdays have turned out to be a sweet blessing.
Yesterday, I decided to attend a class at Reality Carpinteria called "Renew" the topic of the evening was human trafficking and slavery one that I am well acquainted with. But let's back up a bit and talk about Ben... I stopped at a gas station in SB on my way out of town and first saw Nickie, an older homeless man who had obviously been drinking and asked me for a dollar for a beer (its' funny there is this idea that if you are honest about what you want to do with a stranger's money they will be more likely to give it to you even if it will just make things worse...although I guess a lot of people wouldn't even take the time to ask...) In the midst of talking with him, Ben walked up. Ben is 22, an alcoholic and living on the streets of Santa Barbara. My heart broke instantly for him, he is just a kid and feels as if everyone in the world has given up on him, even the sober-living home he had tried to check into. I asked him about his story and then began to tell him that Jesus was a sure hope, someone who could give him the power to overcome his sin, someone who had already done that on the cross, he needed only to repent and believe. Ben had no problem believing that he was a sinner (which admittedly, was refreshing), but he wasn't sold on who God actually was. Sure, there was a higher power, a creator but he wasn't ready to call Jesus Lord. I challenged him that if there was in fact a Creator, there was likely just one and He probably had a name, this he responded well too...maybe that was true.
When Ben first approached me, he asked for a hot dog, sadly the gas station was all out but he settled for a cheese danish, we got one for Nickie too.
So, what's the point? There was a time when I might have feared such an interaction, I'm not sure I would have so boldly conversed with 2 homeless men on my own but now...I don't know how I couldn't. I have met so many broken hearts in the last few years as we do outreach on the streets of LA, so many who have no glimpse of hope in their present lives and yet I know the greatest hope of all....the hope of life in Christ. I have seen Jesus pull so many out of the depths, including myself and I can no longer keep this hope inside all to myself.
I'm so thankful for what Jesus has done in my life and I long to see others walk in the hope, joy and freedom that is only possible with Him.
Please pray for Ben and so many others like him that they would come to a saving knowledge of Christ and their lives would be radically changed by Him.
After this I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to class in Carpinteria. I didn't really know what to expect... I knew the topic and who was speaking but had no idea how much I needed to hear what was being said. Human trafficking and slavery is what I am faced with every week as we reach out with After Hours ministry and as I mentioned in a previous post we are sort of at a standstill in our ministry...not that we aren't doing any but we are feeling that God is asking us to take things to the next level and we are unsure what that looks like. Hearing from the staff worker with "Not For Sale" began to spark vision in me for our next steps. There is so much I want to do and I have no idea how it will all work but I am excited about the possible opportunities before me.
We are meeting this Friday, our normal outreach day, to simply pray for the ministry (we always pray but this is specifically focused on moving forward) and what God would have us do next. If you have read this, would you pray for us, that we will hear from Him and have the faith to move forward in the things He shows us.
The speaker also talked A LOT about Cambodia, a country and a people that are so near to my heart. As we are planning to head back there this Christmas it only lit the fire in me more to go and be effective in the things God has for us there.
Thank you for reading and thank you for praying.
Blessings friends!
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