Street Stories - A Ringside Seat To Over 4 Decades Of Taking Jesus To The Streets Of The World

continued into the night. We asked Jesus to lead us to those who were most desperate. I didn’t realize the event that followed on this challenging evening would be an experience that would change my life forever. We drove to the outskirts of downtown, leaving the city street behind us as we jumped the curb in our van and ventured out under the overpass of two interstate highways. We found ourselves under the bridge of I-45 and I-30. It was so dark and ominous under these freeway bridges, we felt we had left civilization behind. As I stopped the van and we spied out the land, we noticed the most heart-wrenching sight. Two homeless men were huddled near a rusted out 55-gallon barrel, fighting desperately to warm themselves with the flames coming from the fire they had built inside the barrel. I had never in my life seen such a tragic picture of hopelessness. Suddenly, nothing mattered more than helping these men. We didn’t care about the near zero temperature outside. We didn’t care about the lateness of the hour or the possibility of personal danger, we were in a rough part of downtown. We had to reach these desperate men while there was still time. The tragic forecast we had heard earlier echoed in our ears. The bright headlights of our van cut through the darkness as we drove up close to the two homeless men huddled around the makeshift campfire. As our lights shone upon them, they looked startled to see anyone out in such a forgotten area of town. I’m sure t hey feared we were authorities who had come to question them and roust them about. Their fears vanished as I stepped out of the van and shouted my appeal.

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