Hey! Thanks for checking in! We received the following email update from the folks who passed out food and clothes to the homeless Downcity this morning:
We had a very Blessed day in the Lord at KP today.
We were able to pass out coats and clothing, socks, toiletries and lunches etc. Lidia brought clothing and homemade cookies Barbara brought coats and clothing as well. and many were so blessed to have received the much needed items and also the coffee that Chuck and George always faithfully provide as well as all the sandwiches that every one of you provide for them. we ran out of food pretty quickly tho… many hungry among us today. So surprised to see many new faces so sad really to see more and more homeless on the streets of Providence. many looked lost and seemed in weakened condition… maybe from an illness, a cold, or the flu, or maybe just weary from struggling to survive out here in the cold and brutal weather.
There was such an unsettling spirit there today many just seemed restless, irritable and, I don’t know just difficult in some ways.
We love them anyway on good days and bad… .when they are on their best behavior or not.. who can blame them what do they have really? many have even lost their hope. ..Just difficult to see and witness. we pray with them and offer encouragement as best we can, we tell them we love them and share with them God’s love for them.
It must be a very difficult time of year for them, so many have only the clothes on their backs . how hard it must be for them knowing they have nothing to give to their loved ones family and friends. and many have no family to love on them and share the joy of Christmas with….no one to share…no one to care.
The sadness in their faces says it all and it is heart wrenching to witness. We offer and are able to provide these little bits of comfort for the day. Only wish we had the means to erase all the pain and provide homes jobs, family restorations, and so much more, We leave them there and promise to pray for a better life for them. It is so hard to leave them , and go home….. your mind and heart repeatedly reminding you of the sadness of their plight.
Please keep them all in your prayers God is able to turn things around for all of them and I know that if my heart breaks how much more our God for He loves and cares ever much more than we can even imagine, for he is their heavenly Father.
Didn’t get too many prayer requests today…. so busy… and the hustle and bustle is sometimes overwhelming and just difficult to get everyone to share whats on their heart. but we pray for each and every one and God knows all their needs.
Here are they prayer requests the homeless had for us today:
- Michael thanks God for everything!
- Ray needs pray for his kids family and friends
- Wayne has cancer of the lung and has just found that he has heart problems as well
- Allen He is there every week, needs so much
- Kevin Housing and all his needs
- Brian asked for prayer for all the people in New Town
- Lilly Andrews Her children
- Girl in the pink coat so very distraught this morning
- Katherine a beautiful woman said she needs a home ,lives at the shelter
- Gary Brooks 3 months clean and sober… Praise God! wants prayer to quit smoking
- Steven Head problems…. his wife gave us this prayer request speaks broken english so it was hard to understand her but able to get that she needed us to pray for healing for his problems in his head
- Darnell So grateful for all the much-needed items that you all donated and gave to Sharon for his apartment
- Ken God knows
- Julia her children, finances etc
- Jason Clean and sober 16 months now. He was on a news segment a few days ago sharing his story of how 16 months ago he was in the hospital in a coma and almost died as he was a victim of taking/buying that new drug on the street that looks like oxycodone but is like 100 times more potent and many have died right here in RI from this drug. This drug is still circulating and being sold to many homeless and addicted individuals who do not know the dangers of it. jason said he will be on the news again on a special program but I cant remember what one. anyway he will share his story. He said that he is people to survive after taking it
- Frances Comes to pt faithfully and helps us every week at KP he has many needs as well. protects and brings things under control when needed.
- Judy Walking/limping with a cane… needs healing in her leg
- Carl God Knows
- Bernard and Lois God knows
- Jack God Knows
- Gary said he’s broke and his check was delayed in the mail. concerned because he borrowed $20 from a friend and wants to pay him back asap
- Raymond Healing, finances and family
- Gloria finances, family
- Helen her children, finances
- Richard God knows….. He is a great guy loves the Lord and helps us and protects us and helps to provide a calming spirit to those who are restless.
Prayer for all our homeless:
- Addictions to be broken
- healing for all in need of physical ailments, disease or afflictions of any kind
- restoration and reuniting of families and healing of hurts
- Housing for the homeless
- Financial blessings to those that need
- Jobs for the unemployed
- Joy and happiness for the downtrodden
- Hope renewed for all those who have lost it and can’t find their way back
- Abundant Blessings to all of you who provide so much and pray for our precious family at KP
- comfort for grieving hearts
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please let me know if you would like to donate. This team needs help with sandwiches, drinks, snacks and hot coffee…they are out there every single Saturday of the year – rain or shine, warm or cold…or, let me know if you’d like to volunteer…
Well, Tuesday nights are cordoned off for me and my wife as “date night”, and we got to spend time together tonight filling backpacks for the homeless…
Every year the Dream Center hands out about 300 backpacks filled with winter necessities to the homeless in Providence, and tonight was the night they were filled. This year we filled 301.
There are any number of people who have been working diligently all year to make this night a possibility, and to them I say thanks….and Saturday morning when the backpacks are finally given out to people who really need them – your whole year’s worth of hard work will come to fruition.
It was a little crazy at first when we got there – lots of work to do and soooo many opinions on which was the most efficient way to organize the stuffings and fill the backpacks…but once we finally got going we had a blast…all the volunteers ended up working as one cohesive unit within an hour and we were buzzing like super busy bees in a beehive…it was pretty cool, because even a couple of the volunteers were formerly homeless – it felt special working side-by-side with someone who used to need this backpack I held in my hand knowing that this year he is on the other side…this year he is helping fill it for someone else!
So, in closing, I hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed my date-night with my special someone!!!
Dream Center Diaries 