The following is an unedited email I received from my little buddy,Aaron Snow. Aaron and his crew are doin' the stuff! (here is a shot of Aaron hitting on a girl in Vietnam when we were there in the spring)
Hey guys,
If you were with us last night you know about this. For those of you who were not, and would like to hear what happened check it out: Last night a group of us went to eat dinner at Uno's Pizzeria in downtown Ft. Worth. We planned to eat and then go back out to where a few of the night shelters are located downtown. We had some jackets, coats, gloves, socks, and water-proof parkas to give out. It was about 38 degrees last night, and raining. I'm sure the thought had crossed some minds earlier that day, "hey, are we still going out there tonight? It's raining and cold outside." What a thought! These homeless people live in the rain and cold! Isn't that just like us! We're such comfortable and neat little Christians. We love to do ministry…but what if we get cold? What if we get wet, stay out late, and lose some sleep? For the majority of us the rain and cold was a
motivating factor to going out there. We were determined to be obedient, and do what God has so blatantly called us to do in Scripture…even if it makes us uncomfortable:
"My brethren, count it all joy when you face trial of many kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."(James 1:2-3) "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."(2 Corinthians 12:10)
"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."(Acts 14:22) "You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary."(Revelation 2:3)
The need was great last night, and we wanted to do what we could to see that need met. You see, at ten o'clock the Night Shelters close their doors, and stop letting anyone in. Hundreds of homeless men areleft out in the rain and cold. We're learning that homeless people love a hot $1 double cheeseburger from McDonald's, so we chipped in a few bucks each, got fifteen burgers, and fifteen waters.