Jesus is the answer to homelessness

People worshiping Jesus at Friday Night Light.

Tears streamed down his young, but weathered face, as we prayed for him in front of the former Winn Dixie store on the south side of Dothan. 

Standing in front of a hotel room at the Adams Inn in Dothan, tears flowed from the eyes of a young pregnant woman as we prayed for her.

The tears come from thankful hearts, but those hearts are also filled with hurts, disappointments and frustrations. The thankfulness is for people who care enough to provide them with food and pray for them. The hurts, disappointments and frustrations are there for a myriad of reasons. Hurts from family members and friends. Disappointments from bad decisions and not being in life where they thought they would be at this point. Frustrations from the struggles to make it out of homelessness.

There are basically two kinds of homeless people. One group wants out. They just need help. The other group is comfortable where they are right now. They don't want responsibilities and/or think this is as good as life gets. There are a lot more in the first group than the second.

Once a person is homeless, the way out isn't easy. Most have no transportation, so finding work is tough. Getting their own place to live is expensive. There's the downpayment on the apartment or house, then the ridiculously high cost of turning on utilities in Dothan.

It's tough, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible for God, and we have been seeing Him move in amazing ways in the lives of the homeless here in Dothan. This past Friday night was a good reminder of that as we hosted our Friday Night Light worship and fellowship event. I looked over the crowd and saw at least five former homeless people enjoying themselves.

They were all homeless in Dothan for different reasons, but now they have their own homes and are living productive lives. The common denominator between them all? Jesus. They all decided to follow Jesus, and He radically transformed their lives. That's the key to what we do. That's the key to life for all of us, homeless or not.

Our mission station at Love In Action is not to help the homeless come off the streets. That's a goal and a by-product of what we do. Our mission statement is: "To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion (Matthew 25:35-40), and fulfilling the Great Commission by making disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

The five at Friday Night Light made it off the streets because of Jesus. They committed their lives to Him. Their actions backed that commitment. They started volunteering at Love In Action to help those who are in their same situation. They regularly attended, and still do attend, Bible study at Love In Action. They have all either gone through or are going through Training for Trainers (T4T), which is the discipleship process we teach. Through T4T, we make disciples who can go out and lead people to Jesus and make disciples.

Once they opened their hearts, their lives to Jesus their mindsets changed. They realized there was more to life, and that God had great plans for them. They realized real life is found only in Jesus. Their decision-making processes changed, as did their habits. 

That has been the formula for all of the homeless we have seen come off the streets over the past 18-plus years, and we have witnessed many come off the streets. They all gave their lives to Jesus and decided to truly follow Him. No games. No playing church, or just saying things we want to hear. They experienced the forgiveness, love, mercy, grace, healing, restoration and freedom only Jesus can give.

We don't forget about the ones in the second group of homeless who are not motivated to come off the streets. God hasn't forgotten about them, so how can we? We continue to show the love of Jesus to them and continue encouraging them. We also show them through the examples and testimonies of those who were homeless that they don't have to stay where they are.

Over the years, we have seen the hardcore homeless come to their senses and realize there is more to life and give their lives to Jesus. Not all will, but we continue to reach out to them all, because we can't pick and choose who we share Jesus with every day. We have to share Jesus with everyone, then it's their decision what to do with Him. Pray they make the right decision.

When they do, we will see more tears flowing down faces, including our own ... tears of joy and thankfulness to Jesus.