Night Watch, 08/25/06
:: Friends who’ve lived outside for many years will soon move into a home of their own. She got a permanent job. He’s getting help for chronic health problems. They’ve both been sober for months. They’ll continue to help the many other homeless folks they’re already watching out for. She prays all the time, out loud, walking down the street. “I know people must think I’m crazy, talking to myself,” she laughs. I think she’s amazing. And God heard every word. I can feel Him smiling at us, as we stand by the road, hugging and grinning. 
:: A friend who lives outside has found a safer, drier spot to sleep. He is doing well this night, and we have a good conversation. He tells us more about where he came from, and how he came to be homeless. He is glad to see us and I smile like a satisfied momma as I watch him eat the food we brought him. We pray for him before we leave and he tells us that he knows the Lord. We leave, knowing God is watching him. Always.
:: We visit a deserted building, looking for the homeless folks who sometimes sleep there. No one is home tonight, but we capture the attention of some folks in uniform, patrolling the area. After we explain about Night Watch, I ask if we can pray for them. They share with us that they’re Christians, too, and that they pray for the people they come in contact with at work. Together, we pray for their safety and protection, and for encouragement for them as they stand as a light and an example of God’s love in the darkness of the world in which they serve. I’m blessed to have met more members of the family of God. We’re everywhere.
:: Laughing young men outside a bar come up to us, curious. We hand them a Gatorade and politely decline the money they offer. They want to know why we’re giving them a free drink, so we explain that we want to show them God’s love in a real way, and we tell them more about Night Watch. Then I ask one of the young men if I can pray for him. I soon learn that he’s going through a difficult transition in his life and that God has been reaching out to him. He tells me that his family and his church are “back home,” and as he says the name he says I won’t know the small town. I smile and tell him I was born just miles away. We talk and laugh about names and places down east that are familiar to us both. I talk to him about God’s love for him, and then I pray for him. Before he leaves, we hug him and he says, “Where I’ve been lately, you don’t get many hugs.” As he walks away, he suddenly turns back to us and says, “Psalm 34:8: ‘O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.’” “Yes! Yes!,” I say back to him. He seems a little surprised at himself. He says his momma taught him the Word. I tell him that I know his momma is proud of him right now. He smiles as he turns to go. Thank you, God, for letting me show Your love to another mother’s child. I pray that You’ll give her peace, Lord, and let her know her son’s all right.
:: Two friends we haven’t seen in a while wave us down. “This is my day of miracles!,” she tells me, excited. The building they are staying in is scheduled to be torn down. They expected it to happen last week. She had woken up that morning dreading the day, expecting bulldozers outside and wondering how they would carry away their belongings. Where would they go? But then a man had told them it would be another week before the building goes. A reprieve! She rejoiced. Another week to find a new place. Someone in a house nearby let her fill up a bucket to wash her hair. She found an almost-new pair of jeans left behind in another building. And then they saw the Night Watch canteen down the block and flagged us down. And they knew they would get a hot meal, cold drinks, snack bags, blankets, and toiletries. “Another miracle!,” she cried out, grinning. Yep, the street is full of ‘em. Keep your eyes open.
