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

But Bobby didn’t quite know what to do when he saw that girl crying. He didn’t even go over to her at first. But after he and Dot watched her from their car, he got out and asked her if he could help. This woman explained, haltingly, that she had been beaten by her husband and was waiting for a friend to pick her up. Then she asked what Bobby did, and why he said he could help her. For the first time, Bobby said, as much to himself as to her, “Well , I guess I’m like a preacher, and I can’t do much for you, but I want to tell you about the Lord.” He says he didn’t do a very good job of that, but that wasn’t the point. “To me,” he says, “that was a super confirmation that God had called me to this place.” He is quick to say, though, that he hasn’t got it all together yet. “You get here amidst all the need, he says, “and a certain numbness sets in: ‘Oh well. So there’s eight prostitutes on the street corner. I’m used to it now.’ You think, ‘here’s a girl. She’s 15. She’s out here. She must want to be. She’s probably never been to church. She’d probably not want to get saved if I asked her. So, I’ll just go home.’ Yet. you don’t see how God is conditioning them. Regardless if they know it or not, most of them are praying that they wouldn’t have to live this way, but they are not sure how not to.” Most of them don’t look for help in religion. To them, God is like their pimp, the father figure, the guy who slaps them around if they don’t perform. “We go up to a young kid,” Bobby says, “a 15-year-old girl, who is standing on the corner and is hurt and broke and prostituting herself. And she hates herself already, and we expound great Bible knowledge to her. She couldn’t care less. She wants somebody to say, ‘How are you? Is it possible that I might help you in some way? Are you hurt? Are you hungry?’”

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