Monday Afternoon on the Streets of Durham

I had an interesting afternoon on the streets of East Durham today. It started out with delivering food to Mrs. Allen on Fayetteville St. I found out today that Mrs. Allen's son and daughter in law have been trying to help her but they have has some hard financial hits themselves. The daughter in law has also had some health challenges too.

Mrs. Allen was very low on food. She saw a rotisserie chicken and got real excited. She then told me that she was going to save it until next week for Thanksgiving. I told her that I would attempt to find a church that would supply a dinner for her and her family. (6 people) If anyone would like to take this on please let us know ASAP. We will also be looking for some help with Christmas for them.

Next it was off to Hyde Park & Holloway. I had a bunch of food on the van and once I stopped I was very busy with people needing food. I had an interesting conversation with a young couple which were in a boyfriend/girlfriend situation. The female seemed to have a real attitude problem. They both professed to be Christians. I like to check to see if they will profess to be a Christian so I know how to minister to them. As soon as someone professes to be a Christian it opens the door to judge their lives righteously according to the Word of God.

1Corinthians 5:12 It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

John 7:24 Do not judge according to sight, but judge righteous judgment.

I said to them again "now your Christians and living your lives for Jesus right"? They again said yes then my next question to them was "are you having sex"? Their answer was yes and I then told them that they were not living for Jesus but their were living in sin. Wouldn't you know it, the female said "you are not suppose to judge". I then told her that I am not judging her but the Bible judges her lifestyle. She said I didn't need to tell her anything because her daddy was a preacher. I told her that evidently nothing he has said to her was working. She then changed her mind and said that she was not a Christian. I said "ok, now I will not judge you according to God's Word because you are under the guidance of her father the devil. She said that just because someone isn't a Christian doesn't mean that they are of the devil. I then told her that a person either lives for Jesus or lives for the devil. There is no in between.

John 8:47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don't listen because you don't belong to God."

We were behind a building and I was the only white person so she must have thought that I was going to back down because of her attitude. She was not happy but I was able to talk to her boyfriend and tell him that he needed to start truly living his life for the Lord. Another guy that had been listening also came to me after they walked off and told me that he was sorry for the way she acted. I told him that I appreciated it but there was no problem and that I am not going to sugar coat the Word of God making them think that it is ok to live that type of lifestyle and be a Christian.

Next if was off to the corner of Alston & Main where a bunch of guys were flagging me down. I ended up ministering to 6 people here as they got some food. As we were talking 5 rounds were fired off nearby. It is so awesome to feel the peace that comes with walking with the Lord as others get scared and nervous. On this corner it was so sad to see all the people that are having their lives destroyed by alcohol and drugs.

Next it was off to Urban Ministries to drop off bread and the remaining food. Many people come to the van when we go there. Most are wanting sandwiches and sweets which I did not have. I told them that we would be back tomorrow to give them some. It was sad to see a mother that we know from the Hoover Road Projects. She is in her late 40's or early 50's and to see her homeless and living in Urban Ministries is too bad. She asked if we could help her out with a suitcase so she can lock up her belongings because people steal from each other there. So tomorrow will be ministering on the streets prior to ministering at the Durham County Jail. We look forward to it!!

Update on our stores....we just lost our 2nd store of 3 today. One of the employees from the store we lost today said that she thinks it is the same lady that was trying to scam letters to do the same thing last year. We are not going to go down easy on this. I will be meeting with the manager of this store tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I am going straight to the Food Bank. I do not see how when I have Food Bank ID that someone else can just come in the door and take over after we have been getting the food for 10 months. The real bad thing about this whole situation is all the people that count on this food on a daily basis. Please pray for favor for us. Thank you & God Bless!!!