street witnessing

Today we finished the practical ministry side to Transitional Youth. With our man power we painted their clothing closet, a hallway, assembled shelves, organized and sorted all the piles of clothes for the clothing closet, and sorted our 46 boxes of supplies. All this would have taken the 2 or 3 of them the entire summer to do. In two afternoons we did it and blessed their intern, Steph, and the youth. It has freed up those who live and serve to do the ministry God has called them to without being weighed down.

For dinner our team had a cross cultural experience. We went out and had Lebanese food. It was soooo good. But most people had no idea what was in the food or what they were going to be getting. It was interesting to see expressions when it was set before them on these elaborate gold leaf platters. We loved it. The Turkish coffee was especially a fan favorite.

I have been so blessed by the students and the changes God is working in their hearts and lives. Each one is leaving touched and changed by God. This has been my heart's fervent prayer for this trip. The following is Hannah's words on what God is doing in her.

And thank you so much for your prayers. They are felt and needed. We are going to speak with those living in the gutter and have no where else to go. We are speaking to the desperate and broken and for most on the trip this is a whole new experience to street witness. Keep interceding for us.

Tonight was amazing. I was trying to decide how to start this blog entry, and I can’t begin to explain what we witnessed tonight. Our group came across several people who distinctly stuck out, but one man stuck out in particular. We saw how God works.
We met two men sitting close to a bar when they asked me for money. I then offered them food and our conversation shifted from small talk to the Lord. Scotty and Greg are from the South and have been on the streets for years. Scotty said that he needed the Lord. He has stomach cancer and just was released from the hospital after surgery. All he wanted was someone to talk to. He spoke about how he is an alcoholic but he doesn’t care because he knows God loves him for who he is. He is a Christian and he told us how hard it was for him to be surrounded by non-Christians who ridiculed him for his faith. We talked to him about how we all are sinners and we all have been through situations where we have been judged based on our love for Jesus Christ. He had this particular aura, which we all felt. Katelyn asked him if he had a Bible, and he didn’t, so she gave him hers. As he thanked her, he held onto the Bible and cradled it like it was his most prized possession. We gathered around him and bowed our heads as we all prayed together. At this moment, tears began to stream down his face. After looking into his green eyes, our lives were impacted as we saw the priceless emotion. Katelyn said that when they clasped hands during prayer, it seemed like he held her hand as if it was the hand of Jesus Himself. We left and continued our journey, talking with other people.
We met a man named Josh who at first was very timid and quiet, but as Luke brought up music and tattoos, the conversation shifted. He talked to us about how he didn’t want to be judged by anyone. He believed in sticking to your beliefs no matter what. By the end of the conversation, Josh had taken his guard down and really engaged with us. Meanwhile, Scotty was still on our minds and we discussed going back to the spot where we first met him to see if he was still there, but God was already directing our paths to cross again. As we made our way back to the church, we saw a group of people on the corner and instantly recognized our new friend. The tears were still streaming down his face as we continued our conversation. This simple man only wanted a new pair of socks and a bus ticket back home to see his mom before he dies. After our conversation with Scotty and Greg, we walked away changed and in complete awe of our Savior. We realized God is constantly at work in our lives, and no person we talk to is an accident. For the first time in our lives, we feel like we actually made a connection with someone who doesn’t have much time left on Earth. If he dies tomorrow, I would be glad we had the opportunity to talk about Christ in his last day of life. As we met back up with the group and began to tell this story, Katelyn, Luke, Krystina and I all had tears in our eyes as we realized that God worked through us to perform somewhat of a miracle tonight. Words cannot fully explain our experience, but this trip has been the most rewarding experience of our lives.

Hannah

hi everyone!

this is amanda with an update. today was amazing... First of all, we got to sleep in :-) and we did devotions in the morning, which i thought was cool because it really helps me prepare for the day.

we wet to the farmers market to just hang out and invite some people to church. ont he way there, we were waiting for the max (a city train) and danielle thought some guy was pinned under the train. it was really a dummy (see image) and the firemen were doing a safety drill, but danielle didn't know that, and she gathered everyone together to pray for the dummy pinned under the train. it was really funny.



Anyway the famers market was pretty cool. there were alot of people there and lots of fresh fruits and vegitables. they had the biggest rhubarb that i have ever seen. we invited a lot of people to church. on the way home we gave some homeless people some fresh fruit cookies. i love giving them food, because they usualy realy appreciate it.

also today we finally got to painting. Alyssa, Christina, Hannah, Delane, Kendra, and i all painted room in the dor church, while thee rest of the group painted at transitional youth. so that is out of the way.





my favorite part of the day was fellow shippping at the transitional youth . every monday, wednesday and iday they have a fellowship night and we went to help serve food and hand cloths out. there are so many amaing people there! it is great to be a part of a safe place for these people where they can just be themselves and learn about god. i have alread seen god work in peoples lives.



one of the things i have come to enjoy on this trip is prayer before, i would pray for five muinets and it seemed like forever but last night i prayed fr like 20 min ad i looked at m watch and said to myself, 'it did not seem like that long.'

i love korean style praying, where everyone prays aloud all at the same time. we always pray before going out and while we are out and when we go home. its amazing.

with that in mind, spend more time in prayer enjoying everyithing that god has said to you and telling him everything that you enjoyed in thee day and dont forget to keep us in mine and pray for us,





peace out.

Day Two

Our first stop today was the church building. They had been moving all of their furnature out of the building for the past couple of weeks to their new building which is much closer to the youth shelter. We came along for the ride and helped move everything five floors down to a lobby where we pilled everything into a U-hall. Pops to Luke and Daric (might be with a K) who carried a large couch down five flights of steps because the couch would not fit inside the elevator.

After we were done with the move we went back to the house where we had two hours of free time. Most of us took the time to take a quick nap as we are still getting used to the slight but noticable time difference.



Latter that night we went downtown again to street witness. However, we took a different approach to the normal 'walk around with your bible routine.' One of the biggest things that we noticed yesterday while we were pretending to be homeless was that people ignored us, it was really hard to ask someone for change and have them completely look the other way, like we did not exist. We took that experiance and used what we had learned from it today. We Endeavored to recagnize the homeless people on the street, stop and talk to them, show them that they are loved with no strings attached.



Most of the teens that we came across were sceptical at first as to why we wanted to talk to them, but they quickly warmed up, and at times we could not get them to stop talking. These kids are so starved for someone to care that they littleraly pour out their whole heart when someone does care. One of the things that stuck me is that 95% of the kids on the street don't want to be there, but being on the street is one hundred times better than what they had at home (drug addicted parents, beating, molesting ext.). After this trip i dont think i will ever look at a homeless person and ask why they dont get a job. Most Try, but, lest be honest, who is going to hire someone as dirty as these teens?

Mother Teresa

"Homelessness is not houselessness, but unwantedness."

Day Uno

We arrived in Portland safely. A little late (only an hour which is good.) We are staying in a house where there is no furniture. There are a couple of mattresses so we are taking turns. It's pretty posh when you compare it to living on the streets with no bed or even blanket. 

The day started with everyone asleep and being awoken at 7 AM. This was the beginning of a street simulation. They were given a list of tasks which to accomplish and clothes from the clothes closet. It took the team out of their frame of mind and began to understand how people look at them.
So much is said with a look or lack there of. And to think Jesus went beyond a look to reach out and touch the lowliest. We may begin to understand hunger or what these kids here in Portland live through every day of their life for just a moment. It was shared with me we can never understand the depths of their pain, addiction, and abuse, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I can not even begin to fathom the depth of their experiences in this life. We heard from a wonderful woman, Sara, who used to run one of the houses. God started using her and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. He can use anyone who is willing. Her eyes saw the kids not as street kids and homeless, but with God lenses as Princes and Princesses. Truly amazing. Talk about love.... that is it at it's peak. Seeing someone as God sees them and not as the world sees. 

Luke's perspective on day one.

"Ever since we got out of the airport, you can sense the different lifestyle. While we were on our way, we saw a group of kids running around on the streets. This morning we all woke up to a surprise. We were told to leave all of our belongings a the house. We went downtown to the Transitional Youth center and we all chose a new set of cloths and got in our groups to go on a "scavenger hunt" across the city. We were given a paper with a list of things to do. Basically we turned into the street kids and had to live like them for five hours. My group was myself, Cristina, Katelyn and Hannah. We experienced things that I never thought I would. We had to find resources on the street, collect cans, ask for change, and find helpful areas around town. I learned a lot about these kids. We went back to the house and spent time reflecting on what we experienced and praying for the kids. We then came back to the center for a program that is every other day. The kids come in as they eat and can take food with them, which is a big deal. My group was working on putting shoes on a shelf by the clothes the center gives away when I met a id named Cyrus.



He is 19 years old and homeless. He explained his story of how he got to Portland from Wyoming. He and his fiance are making a documentary on street kids. All the teens we met had such amazing and sad stories. Some of the testimonials we heard were some of the most incredible i have ever heard. you can see God changing this every minute. It is amazing what is being done in this city. "

Portland Info

Portland has a population of 1.5 million people. They have the largest street youth population in the US, and estimated 3,000 youth ranging in ages 12 - 25.  There are three different types of homeless street youth. 

Portland Street Kids (PSK) - these are kids who live on the streets in Portland year round. They generally don't travel to other cities. Methamphetamine is the most common drug used in this group. They beg for money, prostitute, and are small time dealers. Generally not violent.

Gutter Punks - hardcore street kids who are generally involved in violence and crime. Hardcore drug users, gang activity, and drug distribution.

Squatters - seasonal travelers who move up and down the coast depending on weather. Same attributes as PSK, but are more transitory. This group hops trains to move to other locations.

75% live on the street year round. Sleep outside. Live under bridges, sleep in parks, or wherever they can find.

25% are couch surfing. Moving home to home until they are evicted.

Majority of these ids have been through the foster care system and end up on the street.

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We will be working with Antioch Community Church, now known as "The Door." We should have known that they would be great partners they changed their names like us! It's the basis of a amazing churches. Their website is www.antiochpdx.com. The other is Transitional Youth, www.transitionalyouth.org. Transitional Youth meets 5 times a week and provides food, clothing, housing, and couseling. Meetings are called "street church." The goal of street church is to connect with homeless youth, build trust, offer guidance, and establish lasting bonds in their lives.  

Hey I'm Hannah and I just wanted to thank everyone for supporting us on this trip with their prayers and funding. When I first heard of the opportunity of the Portland Mission, I instantly felt God's presence on my heart telling me to go. So I filled out the tear out in the program requesting more information. Now, months later, I'm completely excited for this trip. We leave in just six more hours and the anticipation is overwhelming. I can not wait to see the ways in which God will work on this trip. I am so happy to finally be able to do something for the Lord, because he has done so much for me in my life.  I am so happy to be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and try to continue his work on Earth. I have learned that everything in this world is only temporary, and Jesus holds the key to the purpose of life.   

Thanks again. God Bless

-Hannah