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When we are not on the road, we spend a lot of time working with the homeless in the National Forest. Most people think of the big city and men and women pushing a shopping cart from dumpster to dumpster when they think of the homeless population here in America. The problem is bigger than that, and there are homeless everywhere. The face of homelessness has drastically changed throughout the years. In the 1980s, thousands of individuals from the nation's public psychiatric hospitals were discharged, leaving many of the country's mentally ill without homes. This gave rise to a popular misconception, however, that led many to think all homeless people were mentally ill or suffered from drug or alcohol abuse problems. Oftentimes, homeless people were portrayed as lazy and unclean. But today, more working and middle class families face the prospect of living on the streets - and in our case, the Forest. Before we can reach them spiritually, we try to meet some of their physical needs - food and clothing. Most of these folks are able to work day labor jobs and do manage to earn a few dollars a day for some of their needs. However, it is never enough. |
|
We
bring out food and clothing
using our little Ford
Ranger or the Logos
'Jesus Kicks Down Phat' trailer. The hippies painted
it for us. The definition of "Kicks Down Phat" is "Jesus
Provides Abundantly!" in hippie
language.
Jesus Kicks Down Phat
Trailer |
  Getting
a load ready
to take out to the forest homeless.
|
|
We
receive little to no
financial assistance. We will not let this stop us. Jesus tells
us to go, and He provides.
  I
can do ALL THINGS
through Christ... Phil 4:13
  Tyler helping to get a load of food ready.     Some of our Homeless
Friends
   Moses,
Mark & Ralph. These men used to live in the Ocala National
Forest. We have not seen these three in a while, but have
heard reports that they are doing well and living in the wooded areas
near a nearby city. The government has been making it really hard
for the indigent to live on forest land, so some of them have decided
to just leave the forest rather than move from place to place and hide
from the 'Rangers' all the time.
We are now pastoring a small church with an actual building in the forest. It is called appropriately, 'The Church 'O' the Forest. Cool name, eh? We understand that not all of the forest people will want to attend a "regular" church building, but quite a few of them are and we are pleased with the spiritual growth we are seeing in these beautiful people. We will still bring Christ out to where they are when needed, and of course continue to invite them to the church.  Go to the Actual Church Page! The church where we are
holding meetings. We have a vision for this church. We
would LOVE to have a drop in center for counseling, a food pantry, soup
kitchen, an adult men's emergency housing facility, and who knows what
eles could happen here. Please pray for us, that the Lord will
continue to open all the doors necessary for these things to happen in
HIS time and through HIS provision. Right now we are holding
church services, Bible studies and special events.
Currently, we have Sunday morning services at 10:30 AM. with a pre-service coffee, donut and prayer time at 9:30 AM. We have communion the first Sunday of every month. On the first Friday of every month, we have a Gospel Sing and Open Mic fellowship night at 7:00 P.M. rain or shine. Weather permitting, we hold this musical event on our rustic outdoor stage, and if its too hot, too cold or rainy, we hold it inside the church building. Some of
the housing
in the forest.
  The
trailers below may not
seem like much, but to a homeless person living in the forest,
these are a luxury. Costing only a couple of hundred dollars,
the individuals who own them feel very lucky to have something
more than a tent or a tarp to call home. They have no electricity,
but its a roof over their heads and shelter from the storms. Many
of the people who own these trailers have no means to move them.
We have on occasion moved them from one site to another for them
when the forest service enforced the 14 day rule for campsites.
Technically, they cannot stay in one campsite for longer than
14 days. Most do, but occasionally to prevent squatting, the Forest
Service will make them move.
   After, the "Forest Folk" got to know us, we started to have Bible study and times of worship around the campfire on occasion. One homeless couple made the statement that the services made them want to curl up with God and live for him unconditionally. We could not have asked for a better compliment. We pray the Holy Spirit will be there with us, and it is only by the Holy Spirit that these people will come to know the Savior. The
Lord tells us to feed
the poor and reach out to the outcasts of the world. By doing
so, we show them the love of Christ. Bringing a worship service
and Bible study to them allows us the opportunity to confront
them with the condition of their souls and their need for Christ,
as well as disciple them after they accept the Lord.   Some pictures taken
from a dark video shot during our first campfire worship service.
 The Holy Spirit touching a heart. Thanks
to those of you who
have taken the time to pray for this ministry. We could not possibly
do the work that we do without the prayers and support of our
ministry friends. I do not know how long we will remain here in
the forest with these homeless. For now it seems this is the main
thrust of our ministry
to the outcasts.
If you would
like to help
us financially, there is always a need in this area. You can do
so by clicking on this button and using a credit or debit card. |
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