Update Tuesday - Good from Bad

After a little over a year of spending every Monday hosting a coffee ministry on a street corner for some of the cities less fortunate, I have to admit there are many days when I ask, "what am I doing," or "what is the point."   Sometimes the work seems far less than miraculous and the impact seems minimal at best.  It is not everyday that I ask such questions, however, and we have had many small victories to celebrate.  I think of Paul who expressed that the Christmas hamper we gave him was the first gift he had received in years.   I think of Easter when a number of the guys joined my family  for an Easter dinner at our home.  And then I think of yesterday, and pray that it might, in fact, be another small victory to celebrate.

Yesterday my friend, one of the Monday morning regulars, informed me that he had been involved in an altercation the night before that led to police involvement, and him being charged.  He has been sharing with me for months now that there has been someone harassing him and threatening him while he is out collecting cans and bottles for recycling.  This time the individual started to become physically threatening and so my friend, after warning him, sprayed him with Mace.  At some point this resulted in the police being called and my friend being charged.  We will see how it all plays out as there seems a pretty clear argument for self defence as well as a history of problems with the other individual.    My friend is a little shaken up, needs X-rays for a potential rib fracture and is concerned about all the upcoming legal proceedings.  Although I would never wish such circumstances on anyone, God has a way of taking bad things and bringing good from them.  We are praying that this is one of those cases.  It seems that already this may be serving as a bit of a wake up call and an opportunity to reassess life circumstances.   For one thing, there is a no alcohol stipulation between now and the hearing which may be an opportunity to help break some of the habits and patterns in which he lives.  He seems to be reassessing his life situation, even discussing the possibility of a more regular and formal source of employment.  Lastly, although we have always had an open invitation to contact us or stop by for coffee, for the first time he has begun to take us up on the offer.  Interestingly, we have been praying more diligently for our friends from the street corner over the past few weeks, and it seems that we might be seeing some direct answers to those prayers.

Again, the circumstances are less than ideal and there are questions about what will happen legally, but we are encouraged that some positives may be coming out of this trauma.  I would ask for your continued prayer that God might bring some very tangible victories out of the darkness.