email about homeless outreach

I was unable to go downtown last weekend, but received this encouraging e-mail about recent events I had to share~

Today my church worked along side MHMR on serving Thansgiving Dinner to those from our city. There were several individuals I recognized and was able to speak with because I met them when I went down with you guys from Celebration. I did see the woman known as Red today. Kristi she wanted me to let you know she moved into her own home in East Austin and God is truly blessing her. She said God was blessing her with the different furniture that she needs and she was very thankful and excited to share with me. I wanted to let you know that victory report and let you know you have truly touched so many hearts. I wish you both well and a Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully, I'll see you guys in December.


Be blessed!
Virgil

Missions Monday - Mission Possible

This coming weekend, is our first fall outreach.  We will be passing out tons of fall clothing including jeans, flannel shirts, jackets and long-sleeved shirts.  I AM IN NEED OF A GREEN or CAMOFLOUGE BLANKET.

Mission Possible is who hosts the church services every Sunday morning.  Church Under the Bridge (CUB) takes place at 7th St and IH-35 on Sunday mornings. You will find live music, testimonies of changes lives, and a down-to-earth message for Austin's street population. Church Under the Bridge is a place where the Body of Christ in Austin can build relationships with those living on the streets. Volunteers at CUB tangibly demonstrate the love of God to others through a corporate worship time, the provision of hot meals, clothing, blankets and sleeping bags. CUB meets every Sunday morning at 7th Street and IH-35 across from the police station. The service starts at 10 a.m.  Lunch is served one time per month at 12:30 p.m.

You're invited...

...to a real blessing.
October 17th, 9:30 a.m.
Downtown Austin, under 6th Street Bridge

Help distribute breakfast, Bibles, blankets, sleeping bags, jackets, socks, fall clothing & toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Children welcome. 

If you ever wondered what we do, this is going to be the outreach to attend.  We have a new team assembled, but looking to watch it grow.  You will not leave without being blessed.  If you are unable to join us, please use your social networks and friends to gather any of these items. 

Celebration Serves

In honor of 9/11, our church wanted to have a serve Saturday where they honored different public servants in the community. The project continued to grow and I was asked to lead a new team downtown to distribute toiletries. I had almost 50 people sign up and all signed up to bring some kind of toiletries or food. However, on Saturday morning, of those 50, only maybe 5 showed up, but 20 others "just showed up". Unfortunately, most were empty handed b/c they did not know what to bring, they just wanted to serve. As I was loading the car with the very few supplies, I just prayed "Lord, please stretch this. I have never been downtown on a Saturday, so I just don't know what to expect. But as always this is your project not mine, so I am gonna trust you." When we arrived, a few men were setting up sound equipment for a church service. I introduced myself and he was so excited to see us there. He said no one ever comes to help on Saturday mornings especially not people with things to distribute. Ok, Lord, once again this is yours not mine, you gotta stretch our resources. I have 20 brand new people who have never been downtown, I don't want them to think this is what an outreach looks like, Lord please use us! Let them see what this ministry really looks like.Within half an hour, another church showed up with snacks and soft drinks. We had both of our tables out, but they were just sitting there with nothing on them. A man walked up with a large bag and dumped clothes on our table. I thought well, he is from our church, but no, he was part of another group. Within minutes, 15 more bags were dumped on our tables. Then this group, just stepped back and let our team help distribute the clothes.
I am not sure why I am ever surprised how God works, but He always provides. And almost every person asked, when they could do it again, what did we need, how could they help. It was one of those moments, when you know you are in place, I just had to be available. No planning on my part could have made that happen. It was all God.
Funny Antonio story...He came up to me and said "Miss Kristi, you're having a baby! I thought you were just eating too much. I was going to tell you, you needed to watch what you eat b/c you are getting fat, but now I see, you are having a baby!" I love what I get to do.

no ordinary kid

"It's our responsibility as parents to instill a spirit of excellence in our kids and excellence is only obtained through sacrifice".

It is hard to keep it a secret from the girls when we are getting ready to head downtown.  Our house turns into Grand Central Station with clothes and food that weekend.  They want to go, they "want to feed the people who do not have houses."  So, if there are enough hands then they get to go.  This month, we passed out gogurt that the church had leftover from a special speaker & juice from my mom.  We gathered clothes from Pam's outreach, jeans from my mom's boss' dumpster dives, and new clothes from a clearance sale my friend, Melanie had found & other miscellaneous items from friends.  We even took a large bag full of dress slacks and dress shoes to the ARCH for the men's job interviews.

August Outreach

Another great month - thank you to everyone who contributed.  We could not do it without you. 
Next outreach - September 11th and 19th. 

good with the bad

I hate to share ho-hum news, but unfortunately when it comes to dealing with people I have learned you have to roll with the punches.  This past outreach was not one of my more favorite moments being downtown.  We had plenty of food and plenty of clothing, but the overall vibe of the morning was off. 
Every morning, when we arrive we first get out the food and after everyone is served we then get out the clothing.  This month, we took my mom-in-law's truck, so they saw the clothes and shoes before we were ready to get them out.  They just encircled the truck, would not eat and would not listen to me that I would get the items out after everyone had eaten.  Their eyes were on the shoes and did not matter one thing I said.  It was as if they stepped away I might give them to someone else.  It was very frustrating.  We also encountered some other attitudes, but I can only imagine the sleepless nights they spend on the streets so I try to look past it.  I saw a lot of new faces, and a lot of familiar faces.  We were able to pass out deodorant and lots of jeans.  My cousin's husband brought several decks of cards which they were so excited about.

I am creating a new project and a new blog, as soon as it is up and running I will share with you the big news.  Please pray for us & this project, b/c it could literally change lives.

pic of the day

This was the shot of the day, that I had to make sure you caught it out of the collage.  (I also had my mom's camera, so I took a lot more photos with her's b/c it is not so obnoxious looking - hopefully she will blog some of her's too).  Everyone was so grateful for the change and the opportunity to choose something to eat.  We had multiple types of drinks and an assortment of chips.  The chip of choice - BBQ.  Isn't it crazy the things we take for granted each day?  Once again I say thank you.   
Next outreach - July 25th.  Hoping to take deodorant for all, will do hot dogs again b/c of cost and the amount of condiments I have left.

hot dog outreach

We had the most memorable 4th of July this year. Ben and I took the girls, Lindsay, Troy, my mom and some friends I have known since we moved to Austin 10 years ago with us downtown to serve hot dogs. My mom sent out an e-mail to everyone she knew and the biggest outreach was on. We collected enough money to purchase chips, drinks, hot dogs and condiments for 240 people and a new table. She collected a garbage bag full of socks (that still was not enough), we had jeans 36x30 that the men were so grateful for. Three ladies who I never have clothes for were in Heaven with their selection of clothing. I had enough Bibles, that I brought 3 home. I was able to set up a men's table and women's table to "shop". My girls served hot dogs, my brother commented how surprisingly grateful everyone was, Lindsay never stopped smiling, all were blessed. It was the best day I have had downtown and I basically just got to stand back and watch it happen. I am so grateful to all of you who contributed and to all who have contributed in the past.
I have set aside a large shelf in our garage that I am continually collecting items for. I have loads of winter stuff already and starting collections of toiletries. I had several requests that I would like to pass on. I met Carl this weekend. He is in need of a backpack and sleeping bag, everything was stolen. Red needs some size 4 jeans. Michael requested a pair of size 12 shoes and we received requests for Spanish Bibles.  If you ever clean out or see a great deal on items, please call me and I would be happy to take things off your hands. I also have room in my kitchen for multiple bodies to make 250 hot dogs on a Sunday morning if you ever want to join us.
On a side note - the blessings came pouring in that Saturday that we all knew the Lord's hand was on this particular outreach. The Butter Krust Store had the exact number of buns needed - 31 pkgs on sale for 78 cents each. Cases of drinks were buy 3 get 4th free at grocery store. Chips were on sale, and they had the exact number of bags needed.

heartbroken- updated

I will begin going downtown on the last weekend of the month for the next few months in hopes to get something more established with Church Under the Bridge.  There seems to be more a need that weekend.  However, my friend, Lindsay and Troy will be here this weekend and we are going to make an unscheduled trip.  If you are interested in any weekend, please let me know.

Remember Antonio?

I told you about Antonio a few months back.  He was hoping to find some work mowing or in construction.  A couple of months ago I saw him when I was serving dinner at the ARCH and he was wearing a button-up shirt and khakis.  It almost brought me to tears.  He was in the student-work program and had been at class.  This morning, Antonio brought me his tassle and diploma, he graduated from ACC last night.  It was the most special moment to date for me to see his accomplishments.  I cannot wait to see what God has in store for him now.

Ron & Gina's story

This month's outreach was incredibly difficult for me.  It was amazing too though.  First of all we were short team members, which meant it could have been short resources.  There was less than 100 sandwiches and only 3 cases of water, but yet there was enough some how.  Someone donated 4000 t-shirts so I took about 150 and a trash bag full of socks.  The socks were a huge hit, I wish I had twice the number of socks, I brought home about 25 shirts. 
As we were packing up to leave, a team member told me she needed me to meet a mom of 5 kids.  Ron is a builder and has not had work in months.  They were leasing a home on someone's property.  The landlord had not been collecting money for the electricity and then one day wanted $1,000 for the utilities.  When they could not come up with the money, they were evicted.   They tried staying with Ron's mom, but the step dad kicked them out b/c 5 children was not part of his plans.  They have been staying with the Salvation Army for the past 2 weeks.  None of them were wearing socks and all were wearing clothes that did not fit.

honorary team members

We have been telling the girls about the people that Mommy and Daddy go to help each month. We have been praying for them and Landry usually has questions about them.
This month, I decided it was time to get them involved. They helped us make the ham sandwiches and they did an excellent job. Bella snuck a bite of meat, thankfully LE caught her before she made a sandwich with a bite out of it.

new team members

My dentist, a friend and his 10 yr old son and my mom joined us this month. It was my favorite outreach to date. I cannot wait till next month, we are going twice! Going to start collecting underwear, belts, hats and socks soon.

Deanna

When I leave downtown Austin, to head back to my comfortable home with my warm BBQ lunch cooking on the grill I always struggle to fight back the tears.  This week the tears flowed downtown; I could not even wait to get in the car. 
I met Deanna this month, a young girl who was previously a prostitute.  I have never met a prostitiute before, except for Julia Roberts anyways.  The life is not nearly as glamorous as Pretty Woman.  I saw her crying multiple times that morning.  I finally got the confidence to approach her and she told me her story.  She is broke, she has a home, but it is too far to get there each day.  She has a boyfriend who starts a job on Tuesday, so they need to stay downtown until he makes enough money so they can commute to their small home near Bastrop.  She is pondering the thought of going back into prostitution so she can make enough money to get a car.  I usually just listen, but this time I pleaded with her to not go back into that prison.  I encouraged she had a great boyfriend who loved her and he needed her to trust him and keep herself for him.  It was the hardest meeting I have had to date, but I think she impacted me more than I her.
Earlier that morning during my quiet time, I was thinking about how I keep going back into my sin, the sin of anger, jealousy and unforgiveness.  Am I any different than she?  Sometimes it seems easier to live in sin than to just trust. 
She asked if she could borrow my phone to call her mom and tell her she was ok.  I sat and watched the tears stream down her face as she told her mom it would be different this time.  I just have to pray for her and believe this time it will be.

homeless outreach

I know what the disciples felt like on that day when they collected 12 baskets leftover.

When we left for downtown this morning, we had no idea how many people would be there, how the toothpaste and toothbrushes would be recieved, nor how many tubes of toothpaste we actually we had. I just put it in the Lord's hands and prayed there would be enough.

Every single person recieved a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.

Some took 2 for family members or friends who were not there, and I came home with 6 boxes of toothpaste and toothbrushes. We also had 2 new families join us this morning who said they would be back. We gave out over 300+ sandwiches, we did run out of water today, which I always hate to have happen, but they were all fed.


It was an amazing morning, I heard new stories and I would like to share them, just have to process them for a bit.

and He delivers...

Wanna know what 200 toothbrushes look like? Yep, yesterday morning a child in my class walked in with 200 toothbrushes for the homeless outreach! His Daddy is a dentist in Leander and wanted to help out.

Thank you Dr. Tucker and Shannon!
Tucker Family Dentistry
www.tuckerfamilydentistry.com

reminder

Homeless Outreach - Sunday 9 a.m. - 6th Street Bridge
Bring a case of water, or 3 dozen sandwiches and toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you have any clothing or items you want me to take down, leave me a comment so I can make arrangements to get them from you. My mom is leaving Kerrville Saturday a.m. so if you have anything please make arrangements to get them to her by then.
This is going to be the coolest outreach, I cannot wait to see their faces when they see we have toothbrushes AND toothpaste for everyone!! And I am believing God for toothbrushes and toothpaste for all 200!!

next homeless outreach

Our team is collecting toothbrushes and toothpaste for our next homeless outreach. If you are interested in picking up a couple of brushes or paste, we will be going downtown February 20th. Kerrville folk, you can give them to my mom, she will be coming into town that weekend to join us. If you want to meet us downtown Austin send me a message and I will give you info.
If you know a dentist who can donate any items, please pass the word on. Thanks!

thank you

Thank you for all of the encouragement, calls, & e-mails about the homeless outreach. We have definitely come to a cross road in how the outreaches are/have been/will be here on out. It is so great to see people are touched by these "untouchable's stories". I wish nothing more to make a difference in a life, but to know that some of you are reaching out to them to make that diffence, it brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.
We are his hands and feet.
You know you are, really thanks, xoxoxo!