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Project 22:39: One Youth Group’s Story By Jesse and Jessica Day
We ran into a woman named Carol and she refused to take a tract, but told us about the man working for her. His name is Ronnie. She said he was homeless and needed some help. So of course, we walked over to Ronnie and introduced ourselves. At first, he was standoffish and probably a little intimidated, but then we had one of the most heartbreaking experiences we have ever seen.
Suicide and Voices Ronnie began to tell us his story, about how he just wanted something to eat. He just wanted to get off the streets. He told us about how he ended up on the streets back in May and was just “tired.” He wanted to give up. He even told us that suicide was his option and how he was going to walk out into the streets in front of a car last night. He said that he just wished the voices would stop going off in his head telling him it is not worth it.
We walked back to the van and saw them again. Carol told us when we were walking back that he stays on that block and went into a little detail about his story. His mom became ill last year and he ended up losing his job because he had to take care of her. He moved in with his uncle to try to get re-established. His uncle died this May leading to eviction from the apartment. They have gone to numerous churches and organizations trying to get him help, but his paperwork was stolen leading local places not to help, churches brushed him off, and soon after he landed on the streets. He was beaten by fellow street people, which caused him to lose his vision in his eye and hearing in his ear.
Not Forgotten Our group intends on helping him more than what we already have. We have given him some cash, but what we wanted to give him more than anything was some hope, and we believe we have. These pix will be posted on our wall in our youth room and we are going to stay in contact with the local organizations and churches to make sure we do our part. It’s only one person, but one is always a good number to start with.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2009, Jesse and Jessica Day
--------- Jesse and Jessica Day are the youth leaders from Magnolia, Texas.
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Just a brief description of what took place on Friday August
7, 2009 during Project 22:39. While our youth group, Dynamite Youth
Ministries of Magnolia TX, was cleaning up the streets and handing out tracts,
we ran into someone we will never forget. We have been on homeless runs
in Houston so meeting homeless people was nothing new for us. However,
this was different.
My wife Jessica began to cry and asked him if we could pray
and he said, “Please pray for me!” So, as all of us began to cry
and weep over him to rebuke the torture he is going through. He began to
lift his hands on his own and prayed and that floored us. We watched as
this man cried and lifted his hands with teenagers surrounding him probably a
third of his age. As we walked away to let him continue to work, our eyes
were filled with tears and sadness.