Bread and Chocolate Ministry is by far one of my favorites. I love it. The churches we work with have it every Tuesday and Saturday night. They take bread and chocolate or bread and soup to different places around Santa Ana. They go to a shelter for homeless people (mostly elderly), to a park outside the hospital, and a street that people call home. The last two locations have a lot of people struggling with alcoholism and drug addictions. They also have a group that visits the jails.
We had the privilege to go out three/four times with the church teams…
One night we prayed in the homeless shelter. We sat on dirty, wretched beds with old men and woman that were soo thin. So tiny, shivering from being cold. Their hands would tremble as I gave them cups full of hot soup. I would worry that they would spill the soup all over them.
That same night we walked around the park in front of the hospital. So many people sleeping on cardboard with no food. We spoke with a man who lost everything after his wife died. Soo many men on the streets , most of them with similar stories “I’m alone, my wife died.” “I’m all alone, my wife and children died.”
We prayed for a woman that was shaking for her next fix. I prayed asking God to fight for her. To giver her freedom. She was so lost, lost in darkness and in herself. Just talking to her was a struggle. I prayed for clarity and that the chains would be brought into the light.
Another night at the park Tracy and I were able to pray for three men. We walked over to them and the older man offered us some cardboard to sit on. We said no thanks, we’re fine on the grass, but he insisted “Please, it’s my bed sit on it.” We agreed. It was humbling to be offered someone’s bed to sit on that happens to be less than an inch thick. He was different from the others. He hurt his foot and was staying to see the doctors, but then heading home.
The others lived on the streets, had been for years. I got to talk to one that was a drug addict. He wouldn’t let me pray for him there. He said I could pray for him later. We talked about how even though he believed he could be free, he didn’t really want to. We talked about how he believed God could do the miracle, but that he didn’t believe God could provide for a job and a home after he got clean.
There are so many lost and needy.
