Sandwich Day 13: December 4, 2007

I stand in awe of folks who want to help.

Dear Mystery Angel – the tent you left for Tom went to the folks at The Cove. They are thrilled and send a Big Thanks! Jerry got a tent to Tom last week.

At church Sunday, here comes Jersey with a new container of mustard…said that they won’t use it and he thought of Sandwich Day. Thank you Jersey…it will be used!

My friend Jean is cleaning out closets and I picked up a big haul from her Saturday…Thank you Jean!

When I get to my desk Monday morning…Teri has left two big sacks of warm clothing for our friends. Teri is very involved with volunteer work and knows how much appreciated donations are…Thank you Teri!!

Gaye – sends muffins…carrot cake…OK…I had to sample one!

Rick and Jerry are picking up 44 cases of oranges!! That’s right…44 cases!! Thank you City Produce!!

Jerry shows up with a dozen sacked lunches.

Menu: Sacked Sandwich lunches – doubled amount this week – muffins – oranges and grapes.

Sandwich Team: Me, Rick, Jerry, Cameo, and Pete. What a site we are…all packed in Rick’s surburban..pulling a 16x7 trailer full of 44 + cases of oranges and grapes!!

The Cove
Teresa – Vinny – TAZ – Rabbit – Donny – Chris and Susie

So good to see these folks. I got the remaining key chains from Vinny. Sad news about Freedom and Rabbit - they disappeared and left on a bad note. Wherever they are, I pray that they will make peace with God. And for the folks at the Cove...I pray that they practice forgiveness as we are all commanded to do. As it was time to go, Rabbit lead us in a prayer that brought tears to my eyes. It was a very good visit.

The Exchange
Sherry – Linda – Gary – Wilson (Caveman)

Sherry and Linda were waiting for someone to pick them up and take them to where they can take a shower. Linda made a point of saying that she did not want to miss this ride. Nothing like a good hot shower. Everyone got something to eat and a few clothes. Off we go to our next stop.

The Edge
James – Bobby – Robert – Lefty – Another Robert – Sheldon

Rick parked in the Harley parking lot. James rounded everyone up for us. James seems to be the leader here. There is a new guy named Robert. He has been on the streets for about 6 years. At this time, he does have a place to sleep at night which is why he says he is clean. Sheldon was in his usual spot on the corner. He told me that he was set - didn't need anything today. Our friend Robert who has been in such bad shape walked up to the trailer and I didn't even recognize him. He looked great...standing tall and sober. He had been in the hospital for a few days. I didn't get a chance to visit but the transition was wonderful. Bobby aka Toothless Dave was on a roll...telling all kinds of stories and to be honest...getting on my nerves once again. When it was time to go, we gathered for prayer. I was starting the prayer and Bobby interrupted and took over which was fine. Just like the last time I encounter this man...his is abnoxious and a pain to listen to...until the Holy Spirit steps in. The prayer was real and beautiful. I an getting use to God keeping me off balanced. My lesson in judging folks continues.

The Exchange Red Light – going back – Isaiah is flying his sign and finally Cameo was able to give him the coat that he has been waiting on. It was cool to see the happiness it brought to both, Isaiah and Cameo.

The Gap – The Hangout
Tex – Joe – Randy – Robin (new guy on the corner)

The last sandwich is saved for Joe. His hands are looking so much better. Tex took the last of the carrot cake muffins and I can tell that he is looking forward to every single bite. Randy was laying down and didn't get up. Joe asked me if I would take him to church Sunday. I told him yes and he said that he would be cleaned up the best he could be….stay tuned…more to follow about this.

Vicki

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If you EVER want to doubt God think about this: 12 weeks ago we started with 12 sandwiches. This week we delivered well over 1750 lbs of food, clothes and other good to help folks survive and live a better life. The ONLY request we made was of God. We didn't go searching, we didn't ask anyone else to help. We just obeyed and prayed. He did all the work. You work hard, he will work harder. Chicken is good, GOD IS AWESOME!

The route was a little different today. We had to adapt due to the fact that we are now dragging a large trailer full of food! We had picked up the 44, 40 lb boxes of Oranges and about 30 crates of grapes. We had sandwiches and other essential items to deliver to our friends.

We get to Cove and Rabbit, Jack and Susie are there waiting. Rabbit has his "Jesus Inside" hat on and big smile! We had so much stuff for them we asked if we could just go over to the camp and drop it off for them and they said yes and they would meet us over there. More proof there is a God was when we were doing God Bubble u-turns only this time we are pulling a huge trailer. He made it all work out! At the camp we gave them several boxes of the fruit, a tent, sleeping bag, pots left over from the chili cook-off and the Coleman stove we had acquired for that too. Lots of thanks and hugs all around and we asked if we could take some pictures and they all agreed. Nice to finally have some pics of our friends!

The great news from the cove was Taz. This trip he was friendly, talkative and smiled a lot. I think everyone made an extra effort to shake his hand and speak to him. It was a big thing just to see him hang around this time instead of just running like before.

The bad news was Don. Don gets a disability check and had just cashed it. Freedom and Roster had taken his cash, packed up and split. Don was sad they had done that. He had been very willing to help them and knowing these folks he probably would have given it to them if they had just asked. I pray the money helps them with the baby and maybe they will get somewhere so they can get back on their feet. They are both young and have a long life ahead of them. Don said he would be flying a sign a lot this month because of this.

We all got in a circle and Rabbit led us in a beautiful prayer. You always know the Holy Spirit is there, Susie was crying at the end. There is no question the love of Christ is in this relationship!

We got to The Exchange to see Sherry and Linda sitting out waiting on someone to show up and give Linda a ride to a shower. Her excitement showed us how much it meant. She made Sherry go get help to haul fruit because she didn't want to take a chance of missing her ride. The women gave Vicki the numbers to their prepaid cell phones just in case..

Mostly I talked to Wilson. He looks like a cave man, big and bushy. He is smart and well spoken. He has a whole load of signs with funny stuff on them. Stuff like "Want to go home to my planet, need money for fuel". He said he had a special set just for after 10 so he wouldn't offend the kids. Funny they would think, much less care about something like that if you were in his shoes. Jerry asked if he needed a new pair of pants. His looked pretty clean but had huge holes and a very large seam separation. He told us he had more and these were "For show". He said he wore his others when he worked west in the better areas so people wouldn't just lock their doors. These people have highly tuned observation skills and don't miss much. Wilson and I got to talking about downtown and he told stories of how ruthless it was in the homeless community there. Stealing, violence all kinds of stuff. We had just experienced a little of it at the Cove. He said a lot of the times the cops just let them handle their own situations. From the stories he told, homeless justice can be just as bad as anything else.

There was a guy we hadn't seen before headed for the dumpster looking for food. Jerry asked him if he wanted a sandwich and some fruit. He got a bag of grapes, oranges, sandwich and a carrot cake muffin and it sure looked better than what was in the dumpster! As we drove off we saw him sitting under a tree eating his grapes.

We got to The Edge and James ran all over the place rounding folks up. He is a good guy and seems like a real hard worker. Young and strong, makes you wonder why he is out there. We went to the Harley shop so we could park the trailer since Braker has some very limited spaces for parking. I ran a box of oranges into the Harley shop and asked Derrick to share. When I got back everyone was starting to gather. Toothless Dave was the center of the show talking non-stop about something (He rambles a LOT). He did take a liking to Vicki and kept asking if she was married! While we were standing there Robert walked up and people didn't even recognize him. He had a cup of coffee and the only way I really knew it was him was the jacket we had given him. When I commented how good he looked he showed me his arm band from the hospital. He had been in two days and was mostly sobered up. The difference was totally amazing, a lot like Rabbit when he was totally sober.

We all gathered up for a prayer and Vicki started it off. Toothless Dave kicked in with a booming voice and did a wonderful job finishing it off in Jesus' name. He continues to surprise us with these outbursts for Jesus. You would have bet a million dollars 10 minutes before he didn't know Jesus like he does. These folks have much more faith than a mustard seed.

We finally got to give Isaiah the new coat. He always seems so happy. A big God Bless you and when we stopped at the light I left him a bag of fruit by his stuff since he was way down the road. He is always in heavy traffic so it is very hard to get to talk much. Nice man.

Joe, Tex and Randy were at The Gap. We gave the last sandwich to Joe and left oranges and grapes. Tex always impresses me. He is going to call the produce place and see about work. He has been in the trucking business most of his life so he could fit in. Joe wants to come to Church with us. That is a real challenge since it is far and we ride. Vicki had a good idea but I will let her tell that part!

We go back to work and gave the rest of the fruit to folks there. We have so many needy people at work. Many are close to homeless themselves. It was very much appreciated.

It was an awesome day. Again, no matter how stressed you are or what is going, on serving others can really bring you up!

--Rick

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Every Tuesday I wake up and just try to prepare for what I will do and I realize after we go I can never prepare for this. Everyday I go on my mission and get a blessing.

The Cove: Today I got to meet the famous Rabbit and he is real quiet but I sensed a little excitement when we arrived. I met Taz and he just talked my ear off. I love Susie's hugs she is so thankful for everything and her eyes light up when we come. I actually was excited because today Teresa talked to me so much and educated me a bit on the key chains her and Vinny make. I set up a time for her to meet me at the Cove with my daughter (Savannah) who wanted to give some beads. Savannah wanted to help them sell some more key chains by giving them some of her beads. Teresa talked to me about getting a job and told me the story about Vinny's reason for not working. I met Donny and heard about the terrible thing that happened to him and his money. I pray if they ever get to see Rooster and Freedom they show grace like God shows to them.

The Exchange: I got to see Sherry and Linda today they seem to be up to something. Sherry was waiting for a ride to get a shower. We got to meet Gary who was new and most likely will relocate somewhere in the south side of Austin. He is very busy and seemed not really worried about his situation. He stated he just got out of jail. Seen Wilson I always like my conversation with him he seems like a kind person.

The Edge: I met a whole lot of people there and we just parked at the Harley place. Most of the time I was talking to Robert he really likes to make us laugh. He was very flirty with Vicky. I thought all these guys were nice. Robert did not look like he belonged on the street.

On the way back through I got to finally give Isaiah the coat me and my husband promised him. Two coats later we finally see him to give him a coat. He is such a blessing and seems to like working and meeting people.

The Gap: Wow it amazed me how Joe's hands healed but I have to remind myself God is just amazing and every person is just his clay he is working with. Joe loves God so much. He requested to go to church with Vicky and with no reservations Vicky said OK. Amazing may God bless her for that.

God watches these people who have choose the streets to live. It is amazing how they just watch over each other and open their hands to others that are having a bad time in life. They are a family.

I took my daughter to the Cove and I was greeted with a hug from Teresa. Savannah was a little apprehensive but that did not last long when she talked to Vinny. They talked about making crafts. I did not get to stay long because Teresa told me a friend was there and they were waiting for the ambulance he was having heart pains. I did not recognize him. Teresa was sad. I approached him twice and talked to him a little but he was not in the mood to talk. I left when the EMS came. Savannah was thinking Vinny did not know much when she went and was going to teach him something and he taught her.

God blessed me today like always

--Cameo

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Today was the 1st time i joined another christian group and went out to feed the homeless people that i usually see standing at the street corners begging for money. I've never actually gone out onto the streets before to feed anyone. I have gone through poor neighborhoods and given out food, but it was nothing like what i experienced today.

On my way to the bridge, as i ride along in a suburban pulling an 18' X 7' trailer full of oranges and grapes, i was kinda given the scoop on the history of what they are doing and how it started.

I noticed that we took with us many essentials needed, like paper towels, sweaters, blankets and something you would never think that would be as crucially needed by a person that has no home, a tarp.

We drove up to a corner and found a place to park. Three folks came out to meet the group and then they took us to where their camp site was hidden in the woods nearby.

Several folks came out of the woods and the others with me began to talk to them and hand out sandwiches. One lady was given a tent to sleep in which was much appreciated. The temperatures here this morning were about freezing.

I guess there were about 12 to 14 people living in this campsite. I was told that one guy came out for the 1st time that always ran from them and would go hide himself. He said that a man and a woman that was staying at their site stole 500.00 hundred dollars from him while everyone was asleep and when he woke up they were gone.

We gave them a box of sandwiches, a couple cases of oranges and a couple flats of grapes, i think its called a flat?

The folks were asked if they would like to have their photo's taken to be displayed on a christian website and i guess they were fine with it. I took several photo's for the group.

A guy named rabbit just started talking to me alot. He said he hasn't seen his kids in years and doesn't know where they are at. He said to me that all he knows is what hospital they were born in and the names that were given to them and that's all.

I found it absolutely amazing that these guys are so hungry to hear about christ. They absolutely loved to hear about J-sus. It was like if they couldn't get enough. Before we left to the next bridge, everybody joined hands and my new buddy Rabbit led the prayer!

The next stop was interesting as well. I guess just because a person is homeless doesn't mean that they can't have a cell phone. Two of the guys, rather gals, have cell phones! We gave them sweaters and blankets and food as well. It was glady received.

One lady with a cell phone was very happy. She said she was waiting for someone to pick her up and take her someplace to have a shower. She said, "you have no idea how much it means to us to have a shower".

A man said that he had just seen his parents the day before and that they had given him some money. He said he went and bought some of the bare essentials needed. I asked him, what are the bare essentials that you guys need out here? He said toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant, stuff like that. He was trying to get himself setup to get a job soon.

At the next stop i met a man that the others had never seen out around before. For a homeless guy i never seen such a spirit in a man before. He appeared to be so happy and had a story to tell us about everything that we did! lol He was a riot. I remember how his eyes lit up when i opened a box full of muffins in front of him and handed him some.

The last stop kinda struck a cord with me. They want to go to church. They asked if someone could stop by and pick them up on Sunday and take them to school.

I'll just end by saying i am absolutely amazed for their desire to seek Christ.

--Peter

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Every week is different and every week I make new friends in Christ. This week was especially special, because we all have a picture together! A picture can say a thousand words and this is no exception. As much as I enjoyed the picture and the fellowship, I was saddened by the news of the stolen money. It happens there, it happens here..there is no exception to the the war we fight each and every day inside ourselves.

I also was a bit bummed out at the Exchange, not too many folks hanging out, but as we heard most were off flying their signs or picking up some day work, which is always good to hear.

The Edge was an adventure just because we were blessed with Dave, aka "Bobby". I won’t go into why his nickname is Bobby because I am not sure I understand why...Bobby was a happy guy, full of stories and laughter. Most importantly he took over our prayer and blessed each one of us with all of his heart.

A new guy, Robert at The Edge, is a great person to meet. He currently has a place to crash and can get a shower which is why he said he was pretty clean at the time. He also wanted us to make sure that most of the homeless aren't diseased, angry, and unapproachable. I shared with him that he was none of those in my eyes and to God he was his child. Robert was a little hesitant when we ask if there was anything we could pray for him on, but his response was peace. "Peace here, peace there, peace everywhere!" He stated that if all could get along there wouldn't be so much hatred in the world. I agree with Robert. As we packed up to head out, I reached out to Robert to shake his hand and he asked me my name again...I put both of my hands on him and asked that the Lord's peace be with him. We all need that peace in our life.

Peace is something we all need. In our hearts, in our minds, peace with each other and most of all peace with God.

God loves us so much he sent his only Son for to die on the cross for you, your neighbor, your mailman, your boss, everyone. No exceptions.

Peace be with you

--Jerry