Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Magnificent Hope Shares Hope with Homeless Shelter



Today's post comes from Magnificent Hope herself.

Last Saturday I was privileged to help make dinner for the North Strand Housing Shelter near Myrtle Beach. I joined some ladies from North Strand Community Church to make yummy lasagna. We arrived with the hot pans of pasta and lots of bread and salad. One of the ladies added a big Mississippi mud pie. After serving the residents of the shelter we joined them in enjoying the feast. Later I shared a devotional about God’s magnificent hope with them.


I’m going to admit that I was a little intimidated by the idea of hanging out with the residents. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was told they would be mostly men. I envisioned little ol’ me surrounded by big tough men, trying to think of something to say. Men need hope too, but sharing it with them is a little outside my comfort zone.

But I was wrong. The people in the shelter are just like everyone else I know; they’re just going through a hard time right now. It’s a ranch style house away from the city and has a yard for the residents to enjoy, as well as lots of space inside. The day we came the residents included women as well as men and one delightful baby. They were friendly and welcomed us into their home. But we didn’t get to meet all the residents because many of them were working or in class. The shelter offers people a place to live until they can earn enough to rent a place of their own.

The residents are in tough circumstances and need hope, but it was clear that Jesus lives in the shelter with them. During the devotional I shared some stories of hope, reading from two books: Towdah: A Cancer Survivor’s Song of Hope and Love Letters from the Heart. I closed with the scripture passage from Romans 8 about God’s amazing love. When we prayed many of them had specific requests to lay before the King.

It was truly a blessing to share with these precious people and I invite you to join me in praying for God’s provision for all their needs.



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