February 2007 Report

Have you "heard" about the miracle that is happening in John's life? Read about it below.

LOUD AND CLEAR

We sense that God is up to something big this year. Maybe He gave us a peak a few weeks back. After we shared the sermon on Jan. 17, we felt led to ask if anyone in the crowd had problems with their ears. Two men stepped forward – John and Tom. Both men suffered hearing loss several years before. We believe that God can do miracles, so we prayed with them. John has already seen an improvement.

FROM TULSA TO TAMPA

We’ve known Tom (see previous story) for more than two years. He always wears a Yankees baseball hat and lives at the downtown YMCA. We lost track of him last fall, then found out that he had been in Beaumont and Baton Rouge to work with a traveling carnival. He came home for the holidays and told us he had been making about $300 a week. He has since left again – this time for Tampa Bay, Florida.

OFF AND RUNNING

We’re only seven weeks into 2007, and we’ve already distributed 910 sack lunches. That’s significant, considering that the pace will pick up even more in spring and summer. Our goal for the year is 7,000.

HERE, HAVE A HEART

The 5th and 6th graders at Central Church of the Nazarene prepared 130 hand-made Valentines for our Feb. 14 outreach. Each card contained a candy heart and the words from Romans 5:8, which says, “God shows and clearly proves His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

OVERNIGHT ESCAPE

It’s always exciting to see whom God guides across our path. On Jan. 24, it turned out to be Emma – mother of six. They were all with her. They had fled from 50 miles away the night before to get away from a domestic disturbance, landing at Tulsa’s Day Center for the Homeless before coming to see us.

LET IT SNOW

A recent study found that 744,000 people in America are homeless. Of them, 56 percent typically live in shelters. The other 44 percent are on the streets. That's exactly where you’ll find Filling The Void each week, even in the bitter, brutal cold. The wind chill made it feel like 15° on Feb. 14. The week before, it snowed. We used the opportunity to teach from Isaiah 1:18, where God says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.”

LAID TO REST

Our crowds have been big (a recent high of 140), but we’re minus two men we’ve known for a long time– Daniel and Anton. We fed them, prayed with them and told them about the Lord many times. Anton battled seizures. Daniel battled the bottle. Now both are gone. Anton just died from an aneurysm. Daniel bled to death after getting drunk and punching a plate-glass window. We heard the news from other homeless men who were their friends, too. Their lives remind us about the importance of our pulpit on the pavement.