Down the tracks

We had another great team in this week staying with us at our Winbourne Dream Center. Harvest Mission Community Church of Chicago sent us 16 of their college age members to help us with outreach, facilities improvement and our after school program. They were awesome...great attitudes, solid skills and a heart for God. What a privilege to serve along side them. Pastor Jimmy and Hannah did a great job leading this fine group of servants.

We tried to get them involved in a little bit of everything we do. On Thursday afternoon we went down to the river bank to take some food and blankets to some of the folks who stay down there. The first couple of camps were empty but on our third stop we found some people to visit with.

Homeless outreach is always a little dicey...very hard to know what to expect and things can change on a dime. As we were walking down the railroad tracks and through the woods I was praying that the visit would go smoothly. The entire Chicago team was Asian and I wasn't sure how we would be received. I went in first and spoke to the three men and one woman who were at the camp in the woods. I told them we had a team in from Chicago that was helping us out. The team filed in behind me and waited. There was a brief silence and one of the homeless guys said, "Any of y'all Korean?" About half the team raised their hands.

I wasn't sure where this was going and I didn't know what I should do...so I prayed. I am seldom shocked by anything that happens on outreach but what happened next definitely caught my attention. The homeless guy smiled and said, "Welcome" in Korean.

We got to visit with them and give them some cookies and tea. We prayed for them and they prayed for us. It was such a blessing. As we were driving back to the Dream Center I was thinking, 'who knew that a homeless dude living down the tracks spoke Korean?'

I am continually amazed by God mercy and His timing. All glory to Him!