For the next two weeks, we will open our ministry center doors wide in welcome to 20 homeless men. We do it every year. Actually we are part of a larger group of 13 churches in Salsibury that host the Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Project to keep our homeless men's population from freezing to death during the coldest winter months.
For us, it takes three churches cooperating together to pull it off. Since we don't have a kitchen or fellowship hall and the cots are in our sanctuary/ dining hall. I always say that "surely God smiles when churches work together!"
The men come in off the streets at 5 p.m.... eat a delicious hot meal at 6 and then can stay in the warm and sleep all night. Wake up is at 6 and out the door by 7 after having been fed a hot breakfast and given a bag lunch to go. Because of our building size we host 20 men. Each week there are two churches that host the group. We are running about 60 men this year!
Yesterday, we were blessed by a ministry called Our Daily Bread. They gather nearly expired bread, and goodies from Giant and Strohman bread and deliver it to the shelters. So, we don't have to purchase bread for sandwiches and have some desserts to offer to supplement our delicious homemade pies, cakes, brownies and cookies. So cool that a couple would take this kind of ministry on and serve ALL the shelters in Salisbury and Princess Anne!
I have a dream that some day we will have a day center where these men (and the women and children that are hosted elsewhere) can go during the day and find the resourcing that they need to help break the cycle of homelessness. It indeed is a cycle... today I saw 4 guys that we have known for at least 4 years who are still homeless or homeless again.
What will it take to help them find the hand up that breaks the cycle?
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