11-4 and lovin it!

Last week we did a 'Lewis and Clark' outreach. (For non-history buffs like myself, Lewis and Clark were explorers that went into the unknown in search of new frontiers. I only know that because I lived in St Louis for a while and they were popular there, although I still don't know why.) So last Friday a group of us met at 11pm at a bowling alley (yep, that's just how we roll) and went in search of new people to serve. We walked through bushes, climbed under overpasses and searched the levee looking for someone with whom to share the love of Christ.
I got home about 4am. I was tired, dirty and wet. My jeans were soaked up to my knees and my shoes were covered in mud. In the five hours we were out there I only talked to one person. A young woman, probably early twenties, was working in front of a motel on Airline. She was a little nervous and more than a little high. It was clear by the way she dressed that she was selling herself. She wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't take a card and didn't want anything that I tried to offer her. All she wanted was to be away from us. I wished her a good night and watched her disappear into the shadows. As she walked away I prayed that she wouldn't get beat for me talking to her. Prostitution is a brutal business.
One of the volunteers asked me what we do now. I told him we pray...and that we keep coming back. Eventually she will talk; or at least let us feed her. It's always a process, and it's always slower than I would like it to be.
Riding on the shuttle I was thinking about our team. I realized that on our team, at 2am, there were people from 4 different grants. We had Aaron from Victims Services, Charity and Jillian from Street Outreach Program, Joey from Prisoner Re-entry and Miss Alliece from Human Trafficking Coalition. It made me think about God's creativity and how He has positioned Church United and Healing Place Church for such a time as this. On our team we had people searching for victims, homeless youth, ex-prisoners and prostitutes. It made me wonder how many other organizations were searching for those particular people.
I am so glad that Pastors Dino and Delynn allow us to go into the streets in the middle of night to seek that which is lost. I believe, with everything in me, that's what Jesus would have us do. Sometimes on outreach we see miraculous healings and salvation. Sometimes we get home, at 4am covered in filth, and wonder if we made a difference. I don't know if we touched anyone's heart on Friday night but I believe God will honor our effort. And, if nothing else, I got to spend the night with some of the coolest people on earth, doing exactly what I love to do. I love my life, I love my church and I love my God. All glory to Him!