Bringing the Hope

Street lights shine into the darkness of the night all around the city. Above, the sky is sparkling bringing off the radiance of perfection, but down below, I don't see perfection, but pain and brokenness everywhere I look. I see broken families, wounded hearts, addictions, homelessness, lost souls looking for some comfort, but unsure of where to find it. Hunger coursing through their bodies, holding on to the little belongings they posses. 

Most of my life, I have been pretty sheltered from a lot of things, including homelessness. You briefly see a homeless person sitting alongside a building, but most times you pass by not thinking much of it. A lot of the darkness is hidden away from the eyes of the public throughout the main streets you drive or walk on everyday. When you don't intentionally go out looking for the people who are living on the streets, you won't see it and most times it will get pushed to the back of our heads. 

I was given the opportunity to go out with an evangelism group into the streets of Saskatoon at night, driving into the alley ways looking for people living on the streets who need to hear about the love God is offering them. We brought donuts with us and walked through the dark alleys, being watched by the eyes of lost people. It was a cold evening, and as I stood out there handing out donuts and praying for the people we found, my heart just broke into a million pieces, feeling how cold my body was getting, and thinking how I had to walk away after, leaving these people in the cold, unable to help them any further. I understood there was homelessness all over the world, but until you get down into the dirt and experience the raw deal of it, you don't fully understand it.

We were able to touch a lot of lives that night by sharing Jesus with them and praying over them with the power of the Holy Spirit, and even though as much as we wanted to fix their problems and provide them with warmth and food, we couldn't and we had to walk away leaving them at the feet of Jesus, with the faith knowing that we planted the seeds in them and it was now up to God to guide them closer to Him. Leaving, knowing you have a warm home to go back to, creates this fullness of gratitude and thankfulness that we have been blessed with so much and take it for granted, not realizing that many people sleep out on the concrete grounds every night, vulnerable and alone. I think this is something everyone should experience and take the time to get down to lowest parts of cities or towns to pour into the lives that are so lost and are in need of some light and hope, feeling unloved and unwanted. They are all around us whether we realize it or not, and out there, there are people created and loved by God who need to be shown the love He is offering them.