Missional - "Love Bags"

Robin and I joined Ed and the crew of “Love Bags” tonight on the streets in Ft. Lauderdale. “Love Bags” is thirty or so Christians from various churches, mostly young adults, putting what they have been hearing in church for a long time into action. They are going to where the poor and destitute gather to help them with basic needs, and to give them a lot of love. The group meets every Tuesday night at 7:30 in the Ft. Lauderdale area (and on different nights in other cities) to make up bags containing food, water, and socks, and then use those gifts as a means to begin a conversation with homeless persons they meet. Robin said, “It’s wonderful to see that they build relationships with those they’ve met over time, and greet them by name.”

The men and women we met were appreciative of the donated chicken and sandwiches we brought and gladly stayed to talk and hang out. I spoke to Charles, Jack and Armando. Armando saw my camera and shared that he used to be a photographer. How he wound up on the street was too personal for him to share with me just yet. Several of the guys are thinking about taking the next step to get off the streets. We met at Starbucks afterwards to fellowship and talk about ways to be more effective in reaching out. It was a great night, and I hope to go back.

Ed, the organizer tonight (and pictured here, with Jack wearing a cap) attends Epic-Remix, an Emergent Church Community in North Broward (linked to this site under “Friends, Resources…”)

The Good News did a great story on Love Bags back in May. Here are a few excerpts:

“What’s in the ‘Love Bag’ is really insignificant,” says Bob Denison, one of the group’s founders. “We just try to use the Love Bag to start a conversation. And we hope that these conversations turn into relationships and that through these relationships people meet Jesus. And, hopefully, through meeting Jesus, their lives will change forever.”

“As a result of the relationships forged through these ministries, a few people have gotten off the streets in Broward…”

“If you are feeding homeless people for the trend, it dies off once you get tired of it,” [Jacob Kaetterhenry] says. “But if you love people and you hate poverty and injustice, that’s enough to make it grow.”

You can read the whole article at: http://www.goodnewsfl.org/local.asp?page=bc/0508/front/homeless.asp

See more photos from tonight, and learn more about where to meet up with "Love Bags," on our Meetup site: http://emergentchristian.meetup.com/29/

"...for God is Love" I John 4:8

Steve