Going After Hunger

Our team plus 100 others working in the food bank. 

We went after part of the problem faced by the homeless or near homeless in a different way this morning. After a 20 minute rapid transit train ride, we went to a huge food bank and helped breakdown about 50 pallet loads of food. There were 110 volunteers mostly from the bay area. The GAP clothing store corporate staff had a big work day to end hunger. I spoke with a human resources manager who explained that helping people with much more than clothing has been a core value of the company and this, serving in a food bank, is an expression of that value.

We traveled back to base camp, had lunch, and went to worship time. The teaching today was a continuation of the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Once again, the YWAM actors - us - acted out each of the story. Once again, the YWAM actors brought out nuances we would never have noticed had these actors not brought them out. For example, Joseph's brothers had a Texan accent. Also, the relatively insignificant part of the pack animals carrying the bags for Joseph's brothers played a comic part of the story. Even our own part of the story, when Israel told his sons to load the best of the land's honey, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds, in our version these items popped up out of the ground and had sound effects. Still, the story of God came through. Issues of forgiveness, faithfulness, and worthy living were seen and noted in the story.

After worship, we went into the kitchen and taped printed Scripture verses to water bottles and bread packages. The Scriptures were about Jesus as the Living Water and the Bread of Life. Once completed, we hit the streets again. Our team divided into two groups and offered water and bread to the homeless along the way. Two guys named Tony and "Curly" stood out on this outreach for us. They were standing together and accepted what we offered. Before we could even ask, Tony said, "We need to pray together. Let's pray like Jesus taught us." And then we circled up and prayed the Lord's Prayer. We were told to and did keep our eyes open during prayer. Afterward Tony had a big smile on his face and wanted to know all about us. It was great to see the younger team members talking to him. Curly told us, "I write gospel songs." I asked him to show us by singing for us, which he happily did. He sang one of his songs about how "the church prayed for me today." We all started clapping and trying to sing along. Those two guys were beaming and our students felt connected.  When we debriefed afterward, we heard the other team tell of how they met with familiar faces and a few new ones. One woman was a Jehovah's Witness and didn't want to be prayed for or pray for others because "the end is coming." While we too have a theology that acknowledges a second coming and transformed heaven and earth, what thought most about was how many people on the streets really do have mental issues. We've seen a number of people having conversations with themselves, including one guy boxing the air and yelling at some opponent. Even the homeless around him watched him with anything from wariness to laughter.

Worshipping in Union Square

After dinner, it was free time. We went to a local well-loved coffee place, Philz Coffee, and then went to Union Square, an upscale shopping area. It was such a contrast between the homeless in front of the buildings in the Tenderloin district and the limousines in front of Macy's at Union Square. Hard to process. We went up to the Hyatt Hotel's 36th floor observation room. We had a spectacular view of the bay and the city. Afterward, we headed back to the base, but ran into another team from California (the other Presbyterians) who were singing worship songs in the Union Square. We joined them in leading public worship and passing out flyers about YWAM. On the way home from that, we ran into the Texas team on the way back from their evening out. Texas, California, and Florida all walked back to the base camp.

Energy is high tonight, the students are opening up more and more to God and each other, and the ministry gets stronger each day. Even though it was not as personal today with the food bank work and the limited contact with the homeless with the Living Water/Bread of Life outreach, we did interact with, pray for, pray with, and minister to the homeless today with more comfort than yesterday. It has been a good day.

Grace and peace...