For years, David Van Fleet, director of Street LIFE Ministries has had a vision to go into Corona, Queens, (a predominately Hispanic community) with our Mobile Resource Center. Recently this month we had the opportunity to go twice on a Saturday. With the help of my friend Ana Maria, some team members and Nicole (a girl on staff who studied Spanish in school), we spent the morning getting to know people, listening to their needs, praying and serving soup, juice and bagels. Since Corona is neighborhood with a lot of need, I was chosen to go as the social worker. Personally, it was a humbling experience since my Spanish is limited and I wasn't sure of what it would be like to do outreach there. However, God shows up despite my limitations!
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| Our team praying for Edison |
Two Saturdays ago, a woman came up to our truck crying, asking for referrals to a detox. She explained that her father was an alcoholic and he was hitting rock bottom, but because she did not have funds and there were no beds available at the city hospitals she was desperate to get him help. Furthermore, she explained how she was just walking to the nearest hospital to check if they had beds but saw our truck and could not believe that God would bring us here at her exact time of need. At that point, Ana Maria began sharing the testimony of her father being a former alcoholic and how God healed him and restored their family. She began crying and shared how her father was a Christian, fell away but knows only God can save him.
However, she did not know of any Christian places that could help him since he spoke only Spanish. As our team was talking with her, I began making phone calls and got her father connected to a Spanish speaking Christian rehab. That day, we were able to give her the details for this place and prayed that her father would follow through this decision. She thanked us and said she was going to keep us updated with his progress since he still needed to go detox.
A few days later, I called to see how she was doing, and she related the following: she was able to go straight to the rehab with her father and it worked out that he did not have to go to detox! This was such an answered prayer for her, since she was not sure how she was going to pay for detox. She also shared that she hasn’t heard from him, which meant he was still there. PRAISE GOD! I love how God knows what exactly we need and how He meets us in the place of desperation! Even for me, I was incredibly encouraged knowing how
SPECIFIC this need was and how much He cares/loves us to do it! Please keep Edison and his family in your prayers as this is just the beginning for them.
