Jesus Was Homeless is a non-denominational organization that seeks to serve individuals and families from all backgrounds. A statement of faith or participation in religious classes or services is not required in order to participate in or receive services from Jesus Was Homeless programs.

We reached the 7000 meal mark last night.  That could never have been done without the countless volunteers that help week-in and week-out.  A BIG THANK YOU to our ever faithful morning leader Doug of Church Army that dedicates every Thursday to organize a group of volunteers into a well-oiled assembly line that puts together the over 300 meals weekly.  He never knows how many people will show up and I know there are times he would rather be sleeping in, as he works a night shift, but he is always there.  Then you have the countless evening volunteers that are there faithfully, even after many have been working a job all day.  It is so cool to see this unique mix of people, from C of O students, retirees, recovered/recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, store managers, real estate professionals, multiple church denominations to basically all walks of life, load up like a band of gypsies in a Jesus van to feed people in need and spread the Gospel, without using words, but purely through acts of love.

I get so humbled and inspired when I am around recovered addicts and alcoholics.  To know that the only reason they are alive today and brought out of the pit of their addiction is because of God’s saving grace.  They have such a deep dependence on God in the everyday things they do.  Having been blessed with organizational and leadership skills, I tend to take my dependence off God and put it on myself and the things around me.  When I have worry and fret, there is always one addict that will usually ask me straight out “who are you depending on”.  Often times it’s that way when I wonder where the resources are going to come from for the next month of meals but if I let God lead and depend on him he always comes through with them.

I am so blessed because every week I get to see HUGE acts of love.  We often times run across people with all kinds of needs and it’s amazing what just a little love, caring and hope will do for people.  We knew a lady that needed a coat.  A recovering addict said she had an extra one, made a special trip back to her house, got the coat and gave it to her.  That was so BIG for me.  If you know about addicts and alcoholics they are the most selfish individuals when they are in their addiction but through God’s transformation she was now unselfishly giving her extra coat away.  A few other of our gypsy volunteers took an unemployed, drunken motel resident to Ozark to have a tooth pulled.  They arranged the appointment so that there was no cost to him.  Now he is being transformed.  He has cleaned up, for the moment not drinking, and has gotten a job.  All as a result of their love (and God of course).  Every week we see these things.

Sometimes you wonder if you are making that much of a difference.  We aren’t like an agency, we don’t really have a plan for getting these people out of these motels and into housing.  We don’t even know how to keep this service going most times as we are totally dependent on God to provide the resources.  Often times many of us are tired from working all day, kids, and life in general.  We never know who will show up to volunteer (we leave that to God too), but last night we had a motel that was concerned because hadn’t arrived yet and they were worried we might not be coming.  When that happens it makes it all worth it.  You see, while the food is important, it’s more about fellowship and relationships with these folks that’s being built.  I truly believe if you have a service, product, food, clothing, etc. the most effective difference you can make in people’s lives is not by renting a building and opening your doors but by going to where they live and providing the service to them in their own environment.  When you do this there is no way not to become involved in their lives.

God must have an incredible sense of humor.  If you had told me over a year ago that Amy & I would be involved in feeding people in our community, driving a band of gypsies around in a Jesus van, watching Jamaicans play Wii and eat jerk chicken at our house and picking people up for church service from motels on Saturday nights, I would have told you to “check into Church Army, they have a great recovery program because you must be smoking crack”.  To think, at that time I wanted to sell everything I owned and ride the Harley to Mexico, live on the beach and open a tiki bar.  Now we want to sell our stuff so we are not held hostage by consumerism.  It is funny how God works.  David must have been saying to himself “you’ve got to be kidding me God” when he faced Goliath.

Imagine….Converting a motel into affordable housing, a weekly motel having their own garden for residents to grow fresh fruit and vegetables, a non-profit ministry that gives fair market value tax receipts for cars to donate to those without transportation, free bicycles to use at all weekly motels, playgrounds for kids at the motels, converting 1 room at each weekly motel into a classroom for life skills classes, restaurants that provide a free meal everyday to weekly stay folks.  When you have a former drug addict giving away a coat, a recovered alcoholic stomping through the woods to leave food at a homeless camp…anything is possible.

There is so much more I could share but this email is already lengthy enough.  Please visit our website, read our blogs and check our Wish List.  Also be sure to read my wife, Amy’s email below.  As always if you would like to learn more about us, see God alive and at work, I invite you to “Come and See” every Thursday night.

I’m not convinced that Jesus is going to say, “When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me,” or, “When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.”  Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity.  He seeks concrete acts of love: “YOU fed me…YOU visited me in prison…YOU welcomed me into your home…YOU clothed me.” – Shane Claiborne’s “The Irresistible Revolution”

I arrived at our weekly Jesus Was Homeless Thursday night meal delivery with a very heavy and saddened heart.  A very close friend of mine had just been deeply hurt by someone whom she loved with all her heart.  It really affected me to watch her absorb this difficult and unjust pain.  I arrived feeling a million miles away but knew, as always, that God would meet me there.  The night began with a very loyal volunteer pulling me aside and giving me a substantial check to help with the ministry.  Being on the end of this outreach that knows the financial situation, that was a huge, “Thank you God!” moment.  Having to rely on God to provide the people and money to keep this going has been eye opening for me.  Our second hotel that we stopped at has a young woman living at whom I had previously heard her testimony at church detailing her drug addiction.  She had, at one time, been a paramedic working with life flight in a neighboring city.  She had shared how her drug addiction had cost her everything, including her career.  When we got there, she was waiting for us with a beautiful smile and spirit. She was excited to share what God had been able to do there at the hotel through her willingness.  She had been able to love, pray for and medically help the hurting right there where she lived.  Wow, to see her excitement and total dependence upon a living God was all inspiring.  We talked about her future plans and she began to share how she felt that maybe God wants her to stay right where she is so she can continue to reach out to those right there around her.  Would I be willing to stay living in a weekly hotel (if I didn’t have to) in order to reach people for Christ?  Hmmm…On we went to one hotel after another, seeing God show up in each one.  My little Jamaican friend shared how her work had slowed down but that it was ok because it gave her more time to spend with God.  I was secretly thinking, “oh no, what about your paycheck?” but saw her dependence upon God to meet all of her needs and that thought quickly went away. Whew, the lessons God teaches me every time I go to be with those “less fortunate” than myself.  I can’t forget to mention the weekly warriors that I am so blessed to serve with every week.  We have such a mix of friends who help with this outreach ranging from recovering addicts to C of O young people (with amazing character) to a local church group, my in-laws (how blessed am I?) and just everyday people who want to serve God. I can totally relate to Shrek when he tells Donkey that, “Life is like an onion-it has many layers”.  This outreach is like an onion with layer upon layer of blessings and spiritual lessons that God is showing everyone involved.

Thank you Jesus!

I just knew it was going to be an amazing night when my day was filled with several phone calls about Jesus Was Homeless.  I love being able to share what God is doing with this out-reach, that when I do, my passion about the problem of homelessness and hunger in our community begins to pour out of me.  I don’t think that’s what the caller expects to hear about, especially if it’s a wrong number (lol).

When I got to Church Army tonight to begin putting sandwiches in the bags, my friend Clyde, offered to help.  It was awe-inspiring to see him willing and wanting to help.  Clyde has struggled with addiction off and on but this time I’m seeing God begin to transform him and his heart, it’s so awesome to witness.  Just that simple offer to help made such an impact on me, that I wonder if I do it enough.  We have said all along that this is our “communities” out-reach.  That it’s not mine or Amy’s or any one church, that it’s for whoever wants to serve.  I think people are really starting to embrace that now.  It’s so exciting to get phone calls or conversations from people saying “I talked to so and so and they want to help out”, or “so and so that I know wants to buy the chips this week”.  I tell you I am constantly blown away by the folks at these motels.  I talk about wanting to do “community” but they live it.  One motel had several residents that had pooled their groceries together and were all sitting around a table having dinner together.  Another motel was having karaoke together and yet, another had just fired up the grill to begin a bbq.  This is week in and week out.  I know we don’t do that on a regular basis with our neighbors, do you?

I was so honored tonight and yet so out of my element and comfort zone.  I met a gentleman a few weeks back at one of the motels and over the course of the last few weeks have always made it a point to talk with him.  Tonight he called to see if I was coming because he was depressed and struggling with a teenage son that was being disrespectful.  I was very honored that he called me of all people but felt so unqualified to be able to offer any advice.  But what God led me to do was listen and pray with him.  I don’t know about you but I find it so humbling when God chooses me to be the one to do that.  It’s like Garth in the movie Wayne”s World, “I don’t feel worthy”.  But as God does, he shows me something.  Our friend Carmen who’s been coming with us now for several weeks and has this HUGE heart for people (she wants to save them all) was so excited tonight because she got to lead and pray for some people.  Now if you knew Carmen you would know this is totally out of her comfort zone, much like me, but her excitement and enthusiam for what God led her to do got her so past the uncomfortableness.  Seeing that excitement in Carmen gave me ease that God works us through our uncomfortableness.

We delivered over 320 meals tonight and still ran out before we were through.  Just think, there are over 35 weekly or extended stay motels and we are only able to reach 15.  I still continued to hear a lot of requests for Loaves & Fishes, especially the bus, no pressure Abby, so start making plans if you’re not already.  If you go to church and even if you don’t, but want to do something or you want to be involved in your church more but it just doesn’t offer the right fit or you just don’t know what you want (check our wish list page)…I invite you to “come and see” with us every Thursday night.

It’s official…We are now a 501c3 non-profit organization!  We received our letter on Saturday.  Our hope is that it will open the door for food vendors to be able to donate products.  We really want our more than 300 weekly meals to be well-rounded and nutritious.  We also want to begin providing a toiletry bag, with such items as toilet paper, soap, shampoo, deodorant, tooth brush, tooth paste, etc.  We have really seen a spike the last 2 weeks of people that have lost their jobs.  We have a fear that the winter months could be very lean for a lot of people, but as I am learning to depend more on God then on myself, I know he will provide.  We have already had many people asking about Loaves & Fishes.  I know a lot of people are not only looking forward to it but depending on it as well.

I encourage you to take some time to read the previous stories on our blog.  We have had some amazing experiences and lots of “community”.  I would also encourage you to read the following 2 books if you haven’t already, *”The Irresistible Revolution”* by Shane Claiborne and  *”No Perfect People Allowed”* by John Burke.  If you have been a church goer for years but still feel like something is missing and can’t quite put your finger on it, these books might help identify it.  They did for Amy and I.

As we move forward, our first edition of  “Motel Microwave Cooking” cookbook is nearly complete and we hope to have the first version ready to pass out with our meals in 2 weeks.  We would love to help get “Recycle Your Bicycle” started with 10 bikes.  Wal-mart has single speed bikes available for around $90.  Our vision is to put these out at a few motels, track their usage and see if we can make a case over time for a transportation grant.  Another “test” project we would like to do is to put on “Life Skills” classes at a few of the motels.  Knowing that the majority of folks that live in the motels do not have transportation, we feel as if we have to be the “feet on street” and take things to them.  Basic life skills is something that is in dire need, from filling out applications to monthly budgeting.  We are also getting geared up for our 2nd “Love Your Neighbor” Thanksgiving Dinner.  We have partnered again with the Boys & Girls Club of the Ozarks, Branson Unit and Autumn and her staff are very excited, helpful, and willing.  Our 5th t-shirt design is now available but not yet up on the website, “Preach the Gospel always and if necessary use words” by St. Francis of Assisi.  It is a dark brown color with white lettering.  We sell our shirts for only $10 but all the money goes back into providing meals and 1 shirt will feed 4 people.  We would really like to find stores willing to carry our shirts if at all possible.  I know it could be a headache for inventory but I think it’s for a good cause.

Finally, if you do read the blog, you will only get a tiny glimpse of what is going on in our small community of Branson.  If you really want to learn, serve, love, give, then I invite you to “come and see” every Thursday night 6-9.

God continues to amaze me.  He just never fails to show up.  We meet at the Church Army Branson center each week to organize the food and get ready for delivery.  Tonight we had a “friend” show up that we have come to know from our motel deliveries.  He sought Amy and I out to see if we could help him get into Church Army’s classes.  He wanted to make sure he would be accepted and that it was ok to attend.  The thing that is AMAZING to me is that he felt “safe” with us because of the relationship we had established by delivering food each week.  God continued to amaze as I was able to have a long conversation and start really building a friendship with another gentleman that has been somewhat stand-offish.  Then God showed up in a big way.  A lady with a HUGE heart called out for Amy or I and took me into her office and donated money to help continue our mission.  Everytime I worry about how we are going to continue to hand out over 300 meals a week God shows me that it’s his deal, not mine, and he WILL provide.  I then got another glimpse of community at one our next stops, a group of people that live at the motel were all hanging out and singing Karaoke songs.  They invited me to sing, I of course, had to graciously refuse as I didn’t want to give the motel a bad name.  What blows me away everytime I see stuff like that going on, is that these folks have “community” happening right there.  You will probably never see Karaoke going on in my neighborhood and I haven’t seen a neighborhood gathered around a grill like I do at these motels.  It really makes me wonder if our houses and fancy stuff is really worth it when we become isolated from our neighbors.  If you want to see GOD, I invite you to “come and see” with us each week.

Good stories by KY3 about the rental vs. income problem we have in the Branson area.

Renters rejected at Branson Apartments

Manager overcomes red tape to fill Bull Creek apartments