Lake City, SC – I was shocked to find out that our small town had an average of 20 to 30 homeless people living there at any given time but what shocked me more was to know that the number of hopeless people could not be counted for. There are alot of people that have a roof but no lights,a door but no heat, a window but no air and the pictures here are no exception. Can you imagine 8,10 or more living in homes like these sitting in the chairs on the front porch or hiding behind the walls of another doing drugs, becoming wino’s, selling their bodies and turning tricks to support the habits they have formed?
The saddest part of all is that so many think they have no hope, but some of the folks at our church have decided to make a difference by going in to these streets each week with a meal, God’s Word, and God’s love. It is the most thrilling thing to see a man who may have not eaten in days receive a bag with lunch and a new bible and before he ever touches his food he is flipping through his new bible, what a joy!
These people, these hopeless people they do have a hope and it is the church and we the church need to realize they are not looking for us we must look for them. Jesus himself left the nintey-nine so must we leave our sanctuaries and search out the helpless and hopeless with the gift of love.
I thank Gary Burd and all the M25 men and women who have inspired me and also put confidence in me to work with this great vision that Jesus gave to us in Matthew 25.
(We refrained from showing photo’s of people for their privacy)
Pastor Raymond Shaw
Matthews Tabernacle P.H Church
Lake City, South Carolina
