I was on my knees praying for the outreach to the homeless that night.  We always meet at the same place when we go out. But as I was praying I saw in my heart a different carpark in the next suburb. 

“Is that where we should start tonight Lord?” I questioned.  It was a strong prompting that wouldn’t go away.  The verse on my heart for that day was Luke 15 – Jesus going out to find the one lost sheep.

I decided to take a step out in faith and let everyone know that tonight we would be beginning our search for the homeless in this other carpark.

There was a bit of anxiety within me as I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

Recently we have started going out to the streets to reach the poor, marginalised and homeless.  This is something we have stopped and started doing since moving to our new home in our new state of Queensland, Australia.

Having left Melbourne during the Covid madness, God has been slowly directing and leading how He wants to use us here.  There has been an adjustment period and there have been many, many battles.

But now, at the specific guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have been going out with the young people from our home Bible Study group and trying to minister to people on the streets with physical and spiritual food.

And here we were, on this night two months ago, driving to a different carpark.  On the way there we could see no homeless people around.  What have I done? I wondered.  We drove into the carpark  where we were meeting the young people and drove through it, searching.  Not one homeless person around that we could see. 

Matt said that we will just pull into a carspot and wait for the others to arrive and then we would go on to where we would usually begin.

So we pulled in next to a station wagon.  As I opened my car door to get out I noticed there was a woman sitting in the drivers seat of the station wagon and that all her back windows were covered with blankets.  Her window was open so I just asked her

“Are you living in your car?”

“Yes” she said.

“Can I offer you some dinner? we have hot food, hot tea etc”

She was so excited and said she was just about to eat some dry noodles. 

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, “it’s so nice of you.”

I said we are Christians trying to share the love of Christ with others.

“Oh!” she said, “I’ve been trying to pray and read the Bible on my phone.  I want to join a Bible study”

She ended up jumping out of her car and hugging and praying with all our young people when they arrived.  They surrounded her.  She said she misses her children.

It was such a divine appointment.  Nadia* and I exchanged numbers and she informed me that she was going away to visit family for a few weeks.

I messaged her a few times over the next 2 months and she informed me that she was still with family.

The story continued yesterday…

Same thing, I was praying again before we went out to the streets last night.

There was such a strong prompting in my spirit to take the large pile of clothes that a few weeks back I had pulled out of my cupboard in a random act of clothes-purging and had since been sitting on my bedroom floor, and to put them in the boot of my car.

So I did in obedience. We had never given out clothes on the street before.

Then I felt strongly to text Nadia out of the blue and tell her that I have clothes and food for tonight if she wants to meet.  As far as I knew she was still far away with family.

Amazingly Nadia texted back – she would see me there!

So last night she came and took a garbage bag full of clothes out of my boot.  She had just returned the night before and has a job interview today and needed clothes.  We are going to catch up for coffee next week and she says she would like to join the outdoor Bible study that we do with the homeless.

Jesus loves the one. And He still goes out searching for that one.

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³ So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” Luke 15

*name changed for privacy