Man on the Street (Part II)

Thank you so much for all of your prayers this last week. I pray that you have been well as we enter into this Lenten season. Lent is such a great reminder to do some self examination and reflection. It is through reflection and self-examination that we can journey through our own brokenness with the confidence that we belong to the God of hope who conquered death to bring us life everlasting. Do not be afraid to walk through that darkness and into the light.

This week I had the pleasure of traveling the streets of Chicago with my friend Earl again. As the weather was a bit nicer we were able to visit a few more of his hang outs. We started out eating breakfast at the church on the DePaul campus again and then went downtown to the Harold Washington Library. Many of the homeless here in Chicago spend their days, networking with each other, finding out about the various goings on of the street and getting online to stay in touch with some family and friends.

Earl wants to get his GED and is planning on taking a free GED class starting next week. I have been helping him work on his math. This week he was trying to get through a chapter on division so we spent a couple of hours walking through the process as well as backing up and working on some of his multiplication tables. His homework for next week is to know his multiplication tables...it's hard to do division if you haven't memorized multiplication.

In addition to working on some Math Earl and I spent a little time brainstorming a resources website for the homeless of Chicago. I will be putting together a website that he will be able to manage. The idea is that he will be inputting information about food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, medical services and any other resources that the homeless might benefit from knowing about. He will also be spreading the word on the street and we will try to put some fliers up around the various hangouts. In addition we are considering putting together some kind of a job board for day labor type opportunities.

After all the brain storming and studying, Earl took me out to see his "penthouse". The building in the picture is one of the places that Earl stays over night. It is an old abandoned building. Earl will go there after dark and then sneak up to the top floor where he will sleep for a few hours before heading back out to the street. When he isn't staying at the penthouse Earl spends his nights riding on the Elevated Trains. He told me it's about an hour and a half long loop and then he has to get off the train and wait for the next one to depart. Sometimes he falls asleep and the conductor doesn't do a thorough check and Earl wakes up in the train yard.

Finally, after having spent the day traveling around Earl was excited to take me to a church that serves dinner on Tuesday nights. It's called the Dignity Dinner. We met up with Alex there, had dinner and Earl stayed to take a painting class. Alex and I headed out and he rode the train with me toward my house where we parted ways.

PRAYER REQUESTS 1. Ongoing prayer for Earl and the homeless of this City. Winter can be especially difficult. 2. Wisdom as I continue to spend time with Earl and meet many of his friends on the street. I want to know how to love my brothers and sisters on the street. I want to know how to be and embodied Gospel to them. 3. Continued prayer for the support raising process. The index climbed a few points over 50% this week but there is a lot yet that needs to be raised. I am confident in the Lord and his timing and provision. Thank you to all of you who have been called to join as financial supporters. Thank you to everyone who has been praying. Please continue to pray not only for the funds but also for my own mental, emotional and spiritual preparation for the work in Ecuador.

Blessings Joshua