The River Bank

Saturday morning we had a really interesting outreach. A church in Baker had contacted Alliece about bringing their youth group in for an inner-city experience. The kids had made blankets and wanted to give them out to the homeless. I suspect they got more than they bargained for.

It was cold outside. It was really cold riding in the back of a pick-up truck driving around looking for people who don't want to be found. (Hats off to all of our volunteers who braved the artic wind and still had a smile on their face.) We found our first group of people living under the overpass downtown. Tucked in beneathe the concrete, roaring traffic overhead, they received the food and blankets with genuine thankfulness.

We then headed down to the riverbank where we found a few of the camps. They aren't places you would stumble upon accidentally...we had to be very intentional in our search. As always, God pointed the way for us. As our team carried water, snacks and blankets through the underbrush I wondered what they were thinking. Many of them had never seen people who live like this. I suspect that some of them are still working through it today. One of the youth group leaders told Alliece through her tears, "I drive past here everyday; I had no idea there was anyone down here. I just drive right past them and don't even think about it."

Our last stop was at a trailer park in north Baton Rouge. These people aren't technically homeless, but only because they have a physical address. Many of them live without heat, electricity or running water. They are hungry, cold and desperate. We give them blankets, food and medicine. They hug our necks; some of them cry. All are surprised to see us.

Our group gathered to pray at the end of the outreach. The youth group leaders hugged us, thanked us and cried again. They said they would come back to help us. They thanked us for allowing them to be a part of what we do. We loaded into the vehicles and headed back to the Dream Center. We were cold, wet and muddy...and all of us had a home and a hot shower to look forward to.

Something to think about: But for the grace of God, there go I.
All glory to Him!