Are we grateful?

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A Street Ministry

We are dedicated to bringing hope and recovery to people engaged in at-risk activities by sharing Christ’s love, compassion and forgiveness.

Abide Ministries 70x7 Street Outreach is a ministry working directly with people on the streets of North West and Central Detroit. The Street Outreach team uses a van as their mobile base. From the van we provide sandwiches, juice, hygiene kits, prayer and a list of referrals for services such as shelter, food, and rehab. Our main vision and purpose for this outreach is to show people of all walks of life that God loves them, without bias and desires a relationship with them, to encourage them and to give them hope.

Our focus is primarily women engaged in prostitution, and substance abuse. We also reach out to others engaged in various at-risk activities.

For More information contact:

Donna McCauley
313-801-2204
70x7outreach@comcast.net

Are we grateful?

This week’s email is from Terry, a wonderful Monday teammate!!!

On Monday night when we passed out our lunch bags and hygiene kits we came to a familiar house with familiar people. It’s an Adult Foster Care for Men. One man in particular has been pretty grouchy the past few weeks. Could be the heat getting to him, could be because their house had been fire bombed, burned up all his clothes and blew out all the windows. The men living there have been obviously suffering emotionally since the fire.

Monday night he was really grouchy. He looked in the van and saw the two young men that go out with us and started talking about how he wasn’t going to be ‘talking to no young bucks’, he was 62 years old and he wasn’t going to listen to no young bucks. Cindy prayed with him and gave him his bags, he always asks for two. Then he wanted to know “What kind of sandwiches are these? The same kind you always bring? Don’t you have something different?” Nope, just the same sandwiches. He took his bags and walked away grumbling. I saw him take the sandwiches out of the bags and he walked behind the building. Donna could see him, he threw the sandwiches in the field. I was almost shocked by his actions. If he didn’t want them why didn’t he give them to one of the other men? That is just not right!

I was talking to my son tonight about the whole situation and how I don’t have much mercy or compassion for that type of behavior. And he said something I hope I always remember. He said we should have compassion & mercy and be gracious ~ look at how many times we throw away the sandwiches God gives us and he remains gracious toward us and keeps giving us sandwiches.

Lord, help me to be more like you, to give away my sandwiches freely and not throw away the sandwiches you give me.

Blessings,

Terry Staples

P.S. Thanks for all the back-to-school supplies we have been receiving. We started passing them out this week and it’s been a chaotic joy!!! We still have a lot of kids to give supplies to so anything you can help us with would be greatly appreciated.

P.S.S. I was so grateful to receive this note from Terry that I almost didn’t write my email this week but before I could send this out I felt the Lord telling me to ask everyone to pray from some of the ladies on the Tuesday route. The last few weeks we have been meeting more and more young and I mean very young ladies out working the streets. Some of these girls look like they are still in Junior High School, all fresh-faced, pony-tailed young ladies. Please pray that we can bring light into their darkness and convince them to go home or if it is an unsafe home environment that they will seek the protection of a Godly shelter.

‘Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell, I wish to open a rescue mission within a yard of hell.’ (C.T. Studd, 19^th century missionary)

“Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” Deut.28:6