Skip to main content

Love - A Great Need.

A definition of love

a : unselfish loyal and benevolent (see benevolent 1a) concern for the good of another: such as  
(1) : the fatherly concern of God for humankind  
(2) : brotherly concern for others.  Selflessness

Streetlife stop at the gas station, we met a new gentleman to our community, we will call him M for privacy. While addiction plays a big part in why some people are on the streets, regardless of anyone’s situation, we all need to feel loved and cared for.  This man was the very definition of lonely, defeated, downtrodden and “unloved”.  He had given up on life. Lost the will to live. Bitter. His words, “I screwed up and made some bad choices and now I’m living with the wrath of God”.  After listening to him for a while, we offered a prayer and talked about God’s forgiveness of all sinners and God’s love for us.  He was not there yet and could not accept it.  He was certain he was being punished.  These days are hard, when you see so much suffering, and feel so helpless.  But, we carry on because being in this community we don’t give up.  

Feeling loved and cared for is why we do what we do.  These people have nothing and no one and to know that “someone” cares enough to take time out of their day/evening to bring them food, offer support, a hug, a prayer, a sleeping bag or tent, or whatever they need at the time, can make all the difference in the world to someone who is just done with life.  We hope that in this community of friends living on the street, that this gives them hope and a desire to keep going.  It is strange how quickly these people have become important to me, and when someone has not been seen in a while, we wonder what happened to them.  We pray nothing bad and we will see them again.  

No matter what, share a little love today - you never know the difference it will make for a person.  

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. & great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. & even loved in spite of ourselves.”
– Victor Hugo, Les Misérables





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflecting a little.

So, for a short time now, I have been enjoying getting to know a local ministry in the city of Milwaukee.  I came to know this mission completely by accident.  Or, was it an accident?  Somehow I think not, and the reasons for it are part of a bigger plan.  The group is called StreetLife and they work with the under-served in the city of Milwaukee. StreetLife is a community  full of people who have a passion for restoring hope and dignity in a world where sometimes it seems like its gone. As I have mentioned previously, whatever you choose to do has to strike a chord with you.  It’s not wrong if it doesn’t, but sometimes I think we don’t know how we are going to feel about something until we have given it a try and sometimes I think we don’t want to take that first step.  I didn’t discover my passion for missions until I took a leap of faith 4 years ago and joined a group from church on a mission trip to Honduras.  Most of the time I think life i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Birth of a mission blog

I first experienced blogging a few years ago when I travelled to Honduras on a mission trip - my first international mission trip and since then have blogged each time I have gone.  I decided to start this blog because writing about missions is more than just writing about a trip.  We are meant to live in mission every day of our lives, and all that we do, be a reflection of the gift that Jesus Christ gave us. Since that first trip to Honduras, my life has become “engulfed” in missions and I have felt a strong pull and calling to become more involved and to encourage others to do the same.  Missions is not a calling for everyone, you have to feel it in your heart and it has to be something that draws you in and changes you. It has changed me and yes, it has brought me closer to God and strengthened my faith. So, I hope to write often of my journey in missions here in the states, in the church I am part of and any other areas of my life where my missions journey takes ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Don’t Quit

Today was a day filled with blessings. We started our day eating at one of the CASS buildings a few miles away.  We met other missioners but the best part of it was being able to sit and be in conversation with some of the local homeless people.  This is the place where they come to be fed and we joined them in their meal.  Our group spent time talking with people and getting to know who was here and sometimes why.  We met one gentleman who had been cleaning gutters and he fell off the ladder and shattered his ankle and foot.  He was in a cast and had been all summer and had one more month to go.  In all the time we chatted with him, he did not complain.  He just kept saying it could have been a whole lot worse, and as soon as he can work again he will be.  I loved listening to him and his positive way of thinking.  I’m sure given his situation, it’s not always like that but he at least for the time being seemed like he would not give u...
Post a Comment
Read more