The Showers Saga 29: Volunteer Day

No doubt about it: The Lord's Rain has provided countless opportunities for people to get involved. When we first started work on the project last December, we approached a rather wealthy Christian businessman to underwrite the whole thing. We were turned down flat. But as it's turned out, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to the project.

Why? Because it forced us to rely on God, and He brought together the various people and groups we have needed to make it happen, giving them an opportunity to share in the work -- and to share in the blessing.


There have been the churches, which have donated clothing, sent in money and -- in the case of The Oasis -- organized a work party to build the sub-floor and frames; individuals who have given small, one-off donations or regular contributions or the occasional major cash donation; people who live on the DTES, who have become reliable volunteers, helping oversee the operation, make coffee, clean up and spend time chatting with the people who come in (an important component of this ministry); reporters who have been touched by the effort and done stories, which have, in turn, touched their readers, viewers or listeners; and there are many other ways that God has brought these people and groups into the project, so they can all call it "their own". But the bottom line is, they may all have missed out on the blessing had that businessman whipped out his checkbook and covered the whole cost.

His organization did tell us that they were praying for us. As I've written before, prayer is the most effective weapon we have, so even in that regard, he and his organization own a piece of The Lord's Rain.


Yesterday -- Wednesday -- we welcomed the latest group to grab a piece of the action: a group of volunteers from the accounting firm of KPMG. Every year (if I understand this correctly), they hold a "Community Matters" week, where employees may sign up to volunteer in teams with community activities. I had already made contact with one of their number, Jim Bennett, who goes to First Baptist and had heard of us. Initially, he and a group of friends from the church were looking for a way to help and had been kicking around ideas, but nothing got started. He did, however, start gathering underwear and socks (always in great demand) and other items and then, contacted me to see if we could use some help during their volunteer week.


Let me think ...

Over the past several months, we have been blessed by many people and organizations with used clothing. We don't have a clothing program yet, but about two months ago, as I stuffed my car** with a second load of clothing from Garden Village Apostolic Church (the second-oldest ACOP church in Vancouver, after Gospel Mission!), I realized the Lord was dragging us, kicking and screaming, up to The Next Level. It was time to organize the clothes and start handing them out. By the end of September, donated clothing had taken over my living room (to the point where Peaches had a hard time getting to her tree), my home office and my office at the church.





Or, to have the correct attitude in this, I am GRATEFUL TO GOD for providing me with a second bedroom (home office), large-enough living room and an office at the church, where I could store these donations! When I took the apartment 2-1/2 years ago, I had no idea it would be needed for that, but He knew what was coming down the pike!*

Anyway, to make a long story short***, a team of KPMG volunteers descended on The Lord's Rain yesterday morning. Job One was to get the clothes organized. We got a lot of Rubbermaid-style storage bins -- some were donated by a friend of mine at work, others were purchased -- and a group of the volunteers, plus Sandy, Janet, Danilo and Brad from The Lord's Rain, went to work sorting the clothes and loading them up.
"There's some really good stuff here," Janet said at one point. Praise God! I've never understood the "Junk For Jesus - Crap For Christ" mentality, and neither has God:

Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.

And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the ame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

-- Malachi 1:7-8


So receiving "really good stuff" is a blessing all around: for those who receive it, for those who give it, and for us, who are the distributors.



"Look, Drew," Sandy said just before lunch time. "You can see the floor in your office!"










Downstairs, another group of volunteers painted the place. Painting has been a bete noire with us. The job was started, with the primer applied and a first coat; but the first coat never really did get all the way up to the ceiling (the walls are a good 15' high) and for one reason or another, painting "dates" had to be postponed. By the time the day was over, there were three coats of paint and they'd laid down primer on the wooden steps to the showers area.



And the kitchen was cleaned! Personally, I wouldn't know a clean kitchen if someone pointed at it and said, "That is a clean kitchen!" So I let Janet instruct them. Her instructons were beautiful. "You're all women: you know what to do!"





Oh, yeah: there was also a bag lunch, provided by KPMG**** and brought in by A Catered Affair.

And so the Lord's Rain and Gospel Mission and the people we serve benefit from this very intense day. I can't see the floor in my office again, but this time, it's because it's covered by neatly organized plastic bins. It's another example of God's timing and His plan at work: the right people came in to do the job, right at a time when we needed the job to be done. Any earlier, and we wouldn't have had anything for them to do -- any later, and it would have been so deep into the cold and rainy season that passes for a Vancouver winter that we would have been telling people, "No -- sorry", when they asked for clothes; people probably would have given up asking.


And now, just in God's time (which is always on time), let the clothing exchange begin!


*Another reason why the idea "think globally - act locally" is a non-starter: we can only see the impact of things we do at the time and within the filter of our current needs; God knows globally, so when we're obedient, it sometimes looks like we're doing something odd or illogical, but He reveals to us eventually what His plan is.

**The story of How I Got My Car is well chronicled in my book, A Very Convenient Truth - real hope in the face of environmental fears, as an illustration of what happens when you let the Lord determine, and then provide for, your needs according to His riches in glory.

***Too late!


****Intriguing side-story: KMPG is the accounting firm that audits TransLink, and some of the volunteers work seven floors above me at Metrotower II in Burnaby. The fellow who is in charge of TransLink's books is Archie Johnston, with whom I played basketball and football and road hockey (outside of high school) and against whom I played basketball in high school (I was at Hillside - he went to West Van). Archie also introduced me to The Alternative, which was a Saturday night youth group at West Van United. It was my first exposure to Christians of my age and social circle. One of the songs we sang was "I Been Redeemed (By The Blood O' The Lamb)" -- a song I now sing with the congregation at Gospel Mission on Saturday nights. What goes around - comes around.

The Showers Saga - 27: IT'S AUCTION TIME!

And now ...

Here it is ...

At long last ...

The long-awaited...

Often imitated ...

Never replicated ...

Sorry, once a PR guy, always a PR guy.

This is Part One of the Great Silent Auction to support The Lord's Rain. Subsequent parts will come up in the next few days, as we get photos taken of the other items. While the funds raised will go towards operations such as rent and utilities, they will first be used on some specific needs, namely finishing the back wall and building shelving and a large closet so we can organize and distribute the clothing donations that have been coming in.

Jim Bennett and his co-workers from KPMG in Vancouver are declaring a "volunteer day" in the next few weeks to assist with that job of organizing. (Brief testimony: I've kidded, almost to the point that it sounds like complaining, that my office at the church and much of my living room and office at home have been taken over by the donated clothing; but I praise God for providing the space where these donations are safe!)

Anyway ... auction time -- so here goes!

The first "lot" is two nights' stay at A Waterfront Cottage at Ucluelet:

This fully self-contained heritage cottage is a splendid getaway when the world is too much with us*, located on Ucluelet harbour with views of passing boats and wildlife right from the doorstep.

You're a 5-minute stroll from the Wild Pacific Trail on the very edge of Canada, and minutes by car from Long Beach, Wickanninish, Tofino and Clayoquot Sound. Rent (or bring) a kayak, and paddle from the front door to Barkley Sound and the Broken Islands; or let the locals do the navigating, and go whale- or bear-watching. Find out more at www.awaterfrontcottage.com.

This awesome experience is provided by my old high school friend (well, not that old, really), Marg Vedova. It's good for 12 months, subject to availability, with a blackout from November through April.

Please send your bids to me via return email. Bidding will close Sept. 30.

*That's Wordsworth.

The Showers Saga - 24: Testifying at The Oasis

There are two key ingredients that have made The Lord's Rain work. One has been prophecy, as noted in a previous entry. The other has been people: people who have been tapped on the shoulder by God, to share their gifts in order to make it work.

Among the many who have responded to that call has been a group from The Oasis, an ACOP church in Duncan, which -- in what seems to be a previous lifetime -- helped me through a very dark period. They sent a work party over to Vancouver three times to build the frames and the sub-floor and install drywall.

Yesterday, I went back to The Oasis for what I realized was the first time in almost three years, and Brandon Wall spoke briefly about the image he had, that the Oasis was a small church, but small in the way that the point of an arrow is small -- effective and shooting straight to the heart of areas that need the light of Christ.

What a segue! Amelia leaned over and said to me, "That little arrow has already hit the Downtown East Side". Shortly after, Brandon pointed me out in the congregation and called me up to share with the others.

It was a chance to give the people who worked on the project a public acknowledgement of the impact their work is already having on the DTES:

• this is about m0re than just showers. People come in to get cleaned up, but more importantly, they come into a place where they can hang out and be themselves, rather than the personas they have to put on for the "street scene"
• people who come in have definitely taken ownership. Two of the people who had showers this past Saturday took a moment to wipe up the floor, and one woman -- who didn't shower -- saw water on the tile floor and laid down used towels so others wouldn't slip.
• there is an amazing level of respect. We treat people with respect (some might say that getting treated as human beings is a novel concept for some of the people around there), and that respect is returned. Sometimes, it's almost comical -- hearing drug users warn others not to do their deals or smoke up in front of a house of the Lord.
• people are finding a safe haven: I mentioned Candice, the girl who had come as far as our door a week ago Friday, and when Amelia asked her if she wanted to come in for coffee, she said she needed to talk to someone "and it's personal". Amelia took her up to Barry's office, then came back a couple of minutes later and took her to Vancouver General Hospital. Candice had OD'd, after trying to stay clean for a couple of weeks. Her parents are both addicts, too. After falling off the wagon this time, Candice figured her choice was hospital or suicide. Amelia helped her take the first option.
• another unexpected consequence -- and a good one: the anointing is already spreading upstairs. Since the showers opened, there have been increasingly powerful services in the Carrall Street Church.

But when you talk about unexpected consequences, the impact that being involved with that project has on The Oasis has yet to be measured. A prayer that Brandon offered in another part of his remarks reflected a fact of life that I had forgotten in the five years since I last worshipped there (the visit three years ago was to spend a little time with my daughter at their summer Bible camp). Brandon prayed for provision and jobs for people who were unemployed. Being dependent on resource-based industries, Cowichan Valley is still being hammered by unemployment or spotty job prospects. We often prayed for God to continue providing for people when we would hear of a mill or a camp shutting down or cutting back. If there was ever a church where members of the congregation would -- in the world's way -- be unlikely to donate their time and skills (not to mention the cost of travelling from Duncan to Vancouver and back three times), it would be The Oasis. And yet they did, because God had called them to do it.

Consider Peter. The times when Jesus and His glory manifested in his life were times when Peter was involved with his trade. Jesus walked out on the Sea of Galilee when Peter was in a boat. When the Pharisees tried to suggest that Jesus and Peter should be paying their taxes, Jesus told Peter to go fishing. And when Jesus appeared to Peter, John and the others on the shore, Peter had gone fishing. He was plying his trade. Here, we have people who are skilled in building trades, doing what they've been anointed to do. That's the time when God starts to manifest in their lives, and it's not a long step from their to His providing for all of their needs.

And so that is our prayer for The Oasis: that God will see their obedience and their diligence in plying their trades, and will provide for all of them. Not just those who came to Vancouver, but those who stayed behind to "guard the stuff", as it were; the word of God (1 Sam. 30:24) says that they are equally entitled to the reward.

The Showers Saga 23 - The Role of Prophecy

When I make presentations on The Lord's Rain (the next one is coming up June 14 at the men's breakfast at Sonrise Church in Surrey), I always talk about the fact that prophecy played a key role in this endeavour. But it wasn't until Pastor Cal Weber spoke on the prophetic this past Sunday at Westpointe that the importance of the prophetic word really hit home.



Actually, "importance" isn't the right word. I don't think the English language has a word strong enough, in fact. It's more like the life blood of any mission, whether directly connected to the Lord's work, or not.



As Cal pointed out, when the early Apostles were preparing to go out and spread the Gospel, the other Apostles prayed over them and laid hands on them. If you're in any kind of charismatic church, you've seen it: a group of leaders will cluster around someone who's about to go someplace -- perhaps into the mission field, or leaving town to take another job -- and they'll lay hands on them and pray and some people will speak words of knowledge or wisdom or encouragement. If these leaders are walking in the Holy Spirit, they are speaking words from the Lord, and those words, when spoken, set events in motion to bring them to pass.



In September (as you'll recall if you've read the earliest postings on our "saga"), Lee Grady, editor of Charisma, visited Westpointe and called up anyone in Ministry for a Word. That was where he laid hands on me and spoke that I would be going on a journey and the Lord would provide me with new "ax blades" for Ministry on the Downtown East Side (and elsewhere).



Not long after that, I went to New York (something Lee didn't know at the time) and came back with the seed of the idea that became the showers project.



A few years before, Gerry Wall, senior pastor at The Oasis near Duncan, prophesied over Barry Babcook that Gospel Mission would expand and reach out to more people.



What hit me when Cal spoke on Sunday (and looking back on it, it comes straight from the Book of Duh), is that the Lord has had the showers project ready to go from the beginning. He just needed the right place, the right time and the right people.



Notice that Lee's prophecy did not say, "Drew ... you will go to New York City, where you will meet the senior pastor of the second-oldest rescue mission in the city and he will show you their showers project and you will come back and do the same thing in Vancouver". As we learn from Ezekiel 40, God never shows us the big picture: just what we have to do. What I had to do was open my heart and mind to receive what God wanted to show me on my journey -- the imminent one to NYC, but also any other journey He might send me on.



After all, a key part of the journey was to connect with Kenny and Evelyn Black at Rivers of Living Water, which led to being part of a red-hot all-night prayer meeting and the beginnings of a great friendship; it also led to meeting Pastor Roger Jamison and learning about the Christ-based rehab program at Anchor House in Brooklyn; those were key factors in the whole picture. Had Lee's word simply mentioned showers, I probably would have cut the whole New York trip and gone right to work.



"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it ..." (Ps. 147:1) Any kind of mission, if it's truly the will of God, is built on a prophetic word.



One of the side-notes about this project is that, as we get rolling, there are more people suggesting other things we "should" do: stay open longer ... open more mornings ... provide breakfast ... Good ideas, all, but so far, no such leading from the Lord. He may make the way for us to open more mornings ... and He may tap someone else on the shoulder about the breakfast thing ... or call more volunteers to help us expand what we're doing now ... but it's all up to Him.



Even if God has purposed something and people become part of it in obedience, the moment anyone says, "Right, Lord, thanks a million: we'll take it from here" and push ahead with our own ideas (even if it's "only" to expand the original assignment), we'll be on our own and unprotected.



Jesus tells us we can only aspire to be unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10), and trying to do anything more than our duty -- even for the noble-sounding purpose of being "profitable" to God -- risks bringing us out of His will.



So among other things, The Lord's Rain is an excellent example of God's having long-ago decided that something must go ahead, and has brought together, as only He can do, the people to make it work.



If that isn't humbling and exhilarating at the same time, I don't know what is!



++++



I don't think anyone actually laid hands on me regarding A Very Convenient Truth, but the more developments that come along regarding the current frenzy over the environment, the more convinced I am that it's a message the Lord wants to get out. But I've noticed there's been a "slow but steady" progression in the way it's been happening. The book arrived from the printers' in January, and only a few copies have been purchased. But the talk show appearances and discussions with others have helped the message grow and develop so that, while I wonder sometimes about whether I shouldn't have a Big Marketing Plan to get the book into more stores, I keep reminding myself that this is all happening in God's time -- which is always on time.



Coming up on Sunday evening, June 22 at 6:30, I'll be giving my first big presentation on the book at Westpointe. If you're in the Vancouver area, come out and "hear what this babbler will say". It's a perspective that you won't hear from the mainstream media and especially not the environmental movement -- and may inject some hope into the discussion, where there isn't much now.

Two Elephants in the Living Room

This past Saturday's Vancouver Sun carried an in-depth piece on the murders at an apartment in Surrey last October. Four gang associates and two innocent bystanders were executed in the apartment. Police are still looking for the killer(s). There are interviews with the grieving families and explanations of the criminal past of the gangsters. Police talk about how hard it is to keep up with organized crime. The Solicitor-General promises tough action. Opinion polls indicate the public has little confidence in police to deal with organized crime. There are veiled suggestions that the court system lets police and the public down by being too lenient with criminals.


But there's an elephant in the living room. You know: the one everyone knows is there, but no one wants to talk about.


Two elephants, actually.


One is that the gangs are fuelled by drug money. Drugs. The bottom line.


And who's responsible for the drug trade?


We are.


We -- as a society -- have sent mixed messages to people. We're down on drugs, but don't want to do what it takes to keep people off them -- or get people off them. We send mixed messages, wringing our hands at the demon of crystal meth, crack and heroin, but taking a laissez-faire attitude towards addicts.


This is where the right-winger in me comes out, big-time. We've tried to infiltrate the drug underworld and nail "Mr Big" (in singular or plural form) for years, without trying to deal with the "demand" side of any economic equation. But so long as the demand is there -- so long as people shoot up, snort or smoke -- and we not only turn a blind eye but advocate giving them "a safe place to shoot up", there will always be dealers. We arrest one Mr Big (along with the attendant media frenzy over just how much money the guy was bringing in, how big his house is, how many Mercedes-Benzes he has and how glamorous a lifestyle he was leading), and 20 more will figure it's worth risking a stretch in the slammer.

But take away the belief among the users that they can smoke up in full view of the law and they won't face any consequences, and just watch what happens to demand. Even the rather off-beat ECON 100 class with Larry Boland at SFU told me the lineup to become suppliers would start to dwindle.

But how do we bust the users? What would we do with them? Send them to jail? In a trice (that's the Imperial measure: the metric is augenblick) there'd be some sharp lawyer on the line, finding some Charter right that's being violated. Force them into rehab? Even less feasible: one thing from the past four years in that area is, they have to want to be free of the addiction, or they'll just fall into it again as soon as their term was up.*

You can't -- in other words -- force someone to do the right thing. They have to make that choice themselves. But how?

That brings us to the other elephant in the living room.

A prime example is one of the brothers at Carrall Street. I may have mentioned him before: he's 64 now, had a stroke a few years ago so can't walk or talk very well, has a broken clavicle that sticks up through his skin (the surgeon says the "do nothing" option is the best one because he's concerned Jim might fall, break the plate that would be joining the bone together, and bring on infection. "I took an oath to 'do no harm'," the doctor told me. Funny how "do no harm" applies with a man who has a bone sticking through his skin, but do less harm is, apparently, perfectly acceptable for shooting drugs. But I digress ...)

Jim was caught smoking crack in his hotel room. His health care worker and I were discussing the case, and we both agreed that he had to get off the drugs (duh). There was a pause in the conversation, and then we both said -- practically in unison -- "why?"

Why, indeed? Why should he kick the drugs? He's 64 ... affected by a stroke ... with a broken clavicle ... living in a 10 x 10 room on the Downtown East Side.

What's the elephant? Lack of hope?

Yes and no. The elephant is that the hope is found in Christ. Jesus provides the hope that people need in order to rise above their afflictions -- the hope that makes them see that there's something better than living for the next fix. But no one wants to talk about that, which makes Jesus the other elephant in the living room.

And that's where we come in. We have to instill that Hope in people, and praise God, we see miracles, signs and wonders among the people who come to Gospel Mission/Carrall Street Church/The Lord's Rain. It's not another theory -- untried, untested and untrue and therefore perfectly positioned to garner millions of dollars in government funding and become the flavor-of-the-week social engineering rallying point -- but something that works over and over again -- much to the chagrin of the "ABC"** movements.

Praise God, too, that we're not dependent on government handouts, which invariably come with strings attached -- like "Don't Preach Christ - crucified or otherwise". We'll keep preaching Him, because that is the only true source of Hope for people -- especially those who are no longer being treated as people ... by other people.

BTW ... interesting sidebar to the story last week, that a BC Supreme Court Justice (there's an oxymoron for you!) ruled it would be "unconstitutional" to deny funding to the safe injection site. One of the brothers at Carrall Street mentioned off-handedly, "I missed the rally ... and it cost me $35." Apparently, that was the inducement to be part of the "spontaneous demonstration of support" for InSite. The money, he said, came from VANDU -- the support group for drug users ("VANDU's got money, man!") -- so they got groovy black t-shirts with the unsupported claim "InSite saves lives", a seat in a courtroom ... and $35. Orwell, thou shouldst be living at this hour!

*How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? ANSWER: Just one, but the light bulb has to really WANT to change.
** ABC = Anybody But Christ (also called "Jesus Without")

The Showers Saga - 22: Right Place, Right Time

Another Wednesday ... another morning for The Lord's Rain.

The action started just as I was arriving: some guy coming out of the alley, obviously angry at something, unleashing a string of profanity towards me. I replied, "God bless you" ... "WHAT???" ... "God bless you" ... and he looked like he was about to lunge at me, and then thought better of it.

(I remember Barry's description of the times he's been cold-cocked on the DTES, simply for preaching the Word; and has simply blessed his attacker. That would be my model.)

Danilo was waiting for me and stepped in, almost escalating the situation by not letting the guy walk away without getting an earful. That's uncharacteristic for Danilo -- or actually, for the Danilo I've known for the past year or so. When I first met him -- at Rainbow Mission -- he had a hot temper, and on a couple of occasions looked ready to take on someone who was giving me lip. But as he's grown closer to the Lord, that part of him has come into captivity, and he's been much different.

Pastor Reggie in New York told me that some of the "regulars" at the Bowery are quite protective of him (not that I count Danilo as "regular"). On one occasion, a newcomer got mouthy, and one of the regulars turned on him and said, "you don't talk to Pastor Reggie like that!", then took him outside. Reggie went after them to explain that "that's not how we handle things" ... but admitted that he did wait a couple of minutes first.

But I digress ...

Something I've learned about the people on the DTES is that they do respond to a firm voice. Amelia was telling our home group last night, how she has her "Amelia" voice and also her "mom" voice; I can't wait to hear her use her "mom" voice on Ladies' Night! One of the guys who's visited the Lord's Rain before -- a fellow called Horndog -- came in for the shower, and was switching in and out of different personalities like some people change lanes on the LA Freeway. At one time, he'd be calm and rational; then as if on a hair-trigger, become foul-mouthed and belligerent.

He started getting mouthy with Danilo, which is not a good proposition; and finally I stepped in and pointed out the "no swearing / abusive / violent behaviour" rule -- and told him I wouldn't want to have him barred for 30 days (another piece of policy lifted from Pastor Reggie's handbook!) -- and he settled right down.

Danilo says it's because so many of the people on the DTES have been institutionalized and are used to getting orders. I suspect it's a little like Roger Jamison at Anchor House in Brooklyn: people who haven't had discipline and a firm but loving voice to keep them in line, respond when they finally get one.

We've talked about the "soft evangelism" represented by The Lord's Rain: the fact that we don't do any overt Preaching, but just let people feel the love and fellowship of Christ while a basic need is met. Sometimes, that need is just coffee, a warm place to sit, and a chance to chat. Certainly, Horndog gets that when he's there (which is why I'm loath to give him the honor of being the first to be barred from the place), and we get to meet some interesting people who we wouldn't ordinarily meet, upstairs in our coccoon.

Tim -- the first-ever shower "customer" -- turns out to be an ironworker, as in one of the guys stomping around on the skeletons of skyscrapers. (He mentioned having family back east, so I wonder if he's Mohawk -- descended from the guys who built New York City's skyscrapers a century ago, noted for having no fear of heights?) Anyway, he'll be starting work soon, helping install the elevators at Shangri-La, the 62-story landmark being built on West Georgia.



The value of the facility also became evident when Shelley, the "doorway duchess" I've mentioned before, arrived just as we were about to close up, with a man leaning on her. At first, I thought he was stoned, because he could barely walk, but his affliction was much more mundane than that: he had a serious back injury.



(Shelley gives every impression of being a street-hardened homeless addict, doing deals and smoking up from her "home" in a doorway in the building next to ours. She's been on the streets for about six years, she told me. But I also sense a lot of love in her heart, and I know the Lord wants her bad. So we need to keep her in prayer for miracles and revelations and for her to draw closer to God -- not just for her sake, but for the sake of those who hang around her: I get the feeling that if she were to renounce the life she's in now and come to the Kingdom, others will follow.)



We managed to get Dave into a chair, and, for want of any chiropractic knowhow, we started praying over him and laying on hands. He relaxed somewhat, so we could find out what had happened: he had fallen down 40 stairs early in the morning. We called the ambulance and they got him to the hospital. Another fellow -- presumably a street worker -- helped get information and comfort him and then went to the hospital with him.
All of which demonstrates the purpose of The Lord's Rain. It's not "just" about showers for street people. It was a place that was open at an hour that others aren't, and welcoming: and a place that Shelley knew would be able to help Dave.

That's why so many people who have contributed in the ways they've contributed -- and continue to do so -- are caught up with the idea: a way of reaching people many might think are unreachable, coming in through the side door to their souls.

And that's what "soft evangelism" is all about.

It's also a probable reason why it's time to get a cat, because we're still running a battle with the rats.

The little brutes manage to chew through practically every barrier we've put up -- concrete, foil, whatever. You don't need to be Rick Joyner to figure out what's going on!

The answer -- en repose. Just don't tell Heather Mills (Paul's biggest mistake since "The Girl Is Mine"): we don't need an animal-rights protest!

Please keep praying over the ministry, particularly Psalm 91, which says in part:

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is thy refuge, even the most high, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

-- Ps. 91:9-10 (KJV)

The Showers Saga 21 - Humble Beginnings

It's not often that the expression "the next level" means going from the second floor to the ground floor, but that's the intriguing paradox of The Lord's Rain. I find myself standing outside 327 Carrall St., watching the passing scene and contemplating what God has gotten us into now. The legendary drug deals go down in front of and beside me; people older than me and younger than my son, wander back and forth, zombie-like, while a steady parade of squad cars with two and sometimes three cops in each, cruises the area.

"Welcome to the Next Level," the Lord says. I know He never gives us anything we can't handle, so obviously He figures we at Gospel Mission can handle what He's about to throw at us.

Janet has already remarked that she's never really had a window on the street before. It's easy to feel like you're in a cocoon on the second floor, but that's OK, because if any of us had been dropped, like Mr Bean, into the middle of the DTES without the gradual "pressurization" -- the experience of dealing with people who have long since stopped trusting others and the time spent gaining a reputation as people who walk in Love and not judgment -- we'd have been discouraged from the start. Now, praise God, we know that He is strengthening us in this task, lifting us up and will not leave us unattended. He's already decreed that, but, as with many other things we face, the trick is to convince ourselves of that truth. Now, we're ready.

The other Word that keeps coming to me as I watch people do their drugs and make their deals and generally stomp around the place with those convulsive movements that mark someone who's strung out on crack or crystal meth is, "these are somebody's children". A young woman -- heck: a girl -- came up to us a couple of weeks ago as we were leaving from the Saturday night service. We had some cookies left over, and she saw them and asked for one. Amelia gave them to her, and after she left, I said, "she's just a girl. She could be my daughter!" "Keep praying that it won't be," Amelia replied, "and pray that if ever it is, there'll be someone to give her a cookie."

(Don't Get Me Started Dep't: the BC Nurses Union is demanding more funding for the safe injection site. One nurse says her heroin-addicted sister might be alive today if she'd had a "safe place to shoot up". Indeed? Let's not blame the lack of a "safe place" for that wasted life: the responsibility lies with the people who introduced her to heroin in the first place, and before that, those who created the situation leading to her even wanting to try it. People have kicked the habit in the past. People need encouragement to get off the drug and the hope that there's a reason for doing it. Handing someone a needle and saying, "here's a 'safe place': go ahead and shoot", simply tells them they're always going to be a drug addict so they might as well give up hope. But of course, the best hope is in Christ, and a lot of people don't want to tell anyone that.)

Back to the showers ... People are coming in for a coffee and some stick around to chat and some actually have a shower. In five openings so far, we've served 17 people. Some might call that a slow start: I look at it as being exactly what God wants for the place. K-Mack said it perfectly last Saturday night: imagine what it will look like in a couple of years!





Painting day: Kathy (a/k/a The Towel Lady) and Sean putting Coat One on the Lord's Rain

Amelia too!

Ladies' Night got underway this past Friday. Janet is ready to do manicures, and the others -- Amelia, K-Mack and Sandy -- were there to greet whomever wanted to come in. One woman came in for the shower, but K-Mack (K-Mack = Kathy McPhillips who is, among other things, Worship leader on Saturday nights; this differentiates her from Kathy Kinahan, a/k/a The Towel Lady) was the only one who got a manicure. Janet drew a neat little flower on one fingernail. Unfortunately, in order to show it to me, K-Mack had to make a rude gesture, and I hold Janet fully responsible for that!

In terms of numbers, these are humble beginnings. But in terms of outreach, we're already doing our job. We weren't going to do any overt preaching -- Barry calls it "soft evangelism" -- but there's no doubt that the showers project is the work of a Christian organization, motivated by a touch from God to provide a basic human need to people. It's getting us onto street level, giving us a better view of the world we serve -- and giving people in that world a better view of us -- and, we pray, of Jesus.

The Showers Saga - 20: The Sign Says It All

7:00 am, Wed. April 30 2008, we opened the door and switched on the sign and got ready to welcome people on the Downtown East Side to The Lord's Rain. Danilo Estrada, who's been serving alongside me for the better part of 3 years, and Brad (don't know his last name), who's a relative newcomer to Carrall Street Church/Gospel Mission, came to help oversee the operation. George Orr, a broadcast journalism instructor at BCIT, also came along with his video camera to record this latest milestone. George's contribution to the project has been another example of people offering whatever gifts they have, to make it work. He's an experienced documentary producer, but his first offer of help was to say to me, "I'm a crummy carpenter, so if you need crummy carpenters, I'm the guy!" He showed up for one of the work parties, and after seeing what was going on, said, "Why don't I get my camera from the car?"

And so, George has been taking videos of the efforts, as he's been able to.

(This is reminiscent of my childhood and teen years, when dad produced "Klahanie" on CBC: he always packed his 16mm camera in the car, and whenever he'd see something in nature -- seagulls swooping over stormy surf, a dew-encrusted spider web in the morning sun -- he'd pull out the camera and "presto!": more stock footage for the show.)

CTV sent a cameraman, too, and Janet Dirks showed up later to do an interview.

As for the main purpose of this, it's apparent that this will do what it's supposed to: connect with The Street. A number of people, whom I'd never seen before and who probably wouldn't set foot in the church per se, looked in to see what was going on. They'd have a coffee (including one person who used so much sugar, I wanted to tell him we'd just received a call from Manitoba, saying they were running out of beets*) and chat and make a mental note that if they wanted a shower, this was the place to go.

Finally, around 8:15, we got our first showering customer, one Tim Lexator (there'll be questions on this later), who came in with his wife, Christina, found out what we were about, and decided on the spot to be bold and try it out.

So we had to ask him ...

Tim's comment, "cleanliness is next to godliness", is actually not a Scriptural expression. I'm grateful to my cousin, Pastor Robin Davies at Cupertino First Baptist in Cupertino CA - just outside San Jose, if you know the way - for pointing that out to me, because my lack of organization had been not just a guilt trip in my life, but a holy guilt trip, until then. So now, when someone tries to use it on me, I respond with Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Around 8:50 came our next client, a young woman named Dee, and then it was closing time.

So we'll open up again on Saturday morning at 7. After that, Kathy the Towel Lady (she has a last name: Kinahan) and her son Sean will be hosting a painting party of some young people organized from Westpointe Christian Centre, and Barry will lay down the tile. We'll be back open on Wednesday morning, and probably have the first Ladies' Night -- overseen by Kathy McPhillips, Sandy Benn, Janet Klassen and Amelia Shaw (and anyone else who wants to help with towels, soap, shampoo and such) next Friday, May 9.

The Showers Saga - 19: We Open Wednesday

Following the April 19 work party, we were left with a few things still to accomplish before we could open. Murray Scott, our friend from Westpointe Christian Centre, came in on Saturday the 26th to complete the walling-in of the showers and finish the drywall. Our dear friends from the Mennonite church in Abbotsford -- led by Jason (one of them) -- came out to lend a hand, and Murray, with what I understand is his usual patience and clarity of instruction, showed them what needed to be done and then turned them loose.

They had a new urgency of purpose, too. On Wednesday, at the monthly prayer meeting upstairs at Gospel Mission, Pastor Barry made a declaration: the showers must open before the end of the month. Even if all the interior work is still not complete (and it won't be), we have to turn the water on and open the door on Wednesday April 30.

And so we will. At 6:00 Wednesday morning, I'll be in there, putting the lights on, turning on the hot water tank and setting up the coffee; 7:00, the door opens. I know there's been a lineup of people wanting to be the first to have a shower in the new place, so it will be interesting to see who it will actually be.

It's what's called in the marketing biz a "soft launch", and we'll do something really special further down the road. But for now, the call of God on this project is to get it open and ready as soon as it's practical: and it is now.

Had a chance to testify at Westpointe on Sunday -- it was wonderful to hear the applause for the news that it's about to open. Not for me, but for the wondrous work of God to make this happen. One couple, Don and Joyce Low, who have been very supportive from the beginning, werethere: they go to other churches as the Spirit leads, and "just happened" to be at Westpointe on the day that I gave the testimony.

I had already agreed to give an update to the Richmond Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship on -- guess when? -- Wednesday. Now I'll REALLY have something to tell them! And by the time I speak to the monthly men's breakfast at Sonrise Full Gospel in Surrey on June 14th, we'll be well underway!

Lord, we cannot give You enough praise for making this happen, and we stay right with You to take this further. No one said it was going to be easy, but the same Spirit that moved on the face of the waters and raised Christ from the dead and now lives in those who believe and receive it is carrying the project onward!

The Showers Saga - 18 -- Out Of The Mud

The overpowered Trans-Am is finally out of the mud!

OK ... if you don't recall that powerful reference from the last update I sent out, it's an analogy to a high-powered sports car, getting stuck in deep mud, and the driver tries to stomp on the accelerator to get it out ... but instead, the car keeps digging itself deeper into the mud. The only solution is just to take your foot off the gas and let it pull out by itself. Similarly, with some of the delays we've experienced with The Lord's Rain, the only thing we can do is stop fussing about delivering MORE POWER to the engine and let the Lord -- Who's in charge of this, anyway -- work this out.

And that's been happening in the last week or so.

Barry and Brodie have been testing the water supply, now that the City has approved it, and on Saturday, the gang from The Oasis in Duncan descended on 327 Carrall Street for one final (for them) work blitz. Showers are walled-in, drywall is up, and a counter has been built for shaving sinks; a lot of other stuff has been installed, and now it just remains for a smaller work crew to finish installing the materials they've cut and left for us.

One of the reasons why this is probably the last time the Oasis will send a crew over is that they've acquired a new property for their church -- one much more visible than the Cowichan River Bible Camp, and hence will serve the Kingdom better. This means they're doing a LOT of work there, getting it ready. Pastor Brandon Wall -- son of Pastor Gerry -- says every time they do something for us at Carrall Street, their own project gets advanced. Go figure. Brandon, would you care to write out a testimony that we can post on the blog?

In any event, we hold the Oasis up in prayer, that the contributions they have made to this project -- financial, material, labour and all other things -- will be multiplied back to them, according to Luke 6:38 (Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.).

While the work was going on downstairs, things were happening upstairs, as well. Janet, a lovely woman of God who puts in a LOT of hours at Carrall Street, both supporting Barry's services (Sundays, Mondays and the Bible study on Wednesdays) and running her own movie night on Thursdays, took over my office. My office -- also the prayer room -- became the depository for clothing etc. (especially etc.), and I was starting to get the screaming meemies, trying to figure out when I was going to find the time to sort all the stuff. So when Janet asked if she could sort the clothes and stuff, they could hear the "YES!" over the power saws downstairs. We now have the clothes sorted by size, gender and type, the various donated soaps and shampoos (not to mention body wash, which will likely be reserved for the Friday ladies' night).

So we are definitely getting closer to Opening Day, and there are some specific contributions that would be welcome:

• clean underwear (men's and women's) and socks -- one of my neighbours has offered to pick up some on her next trip to Costco, and you might want to consider doing something similar on upcoming shopping trips: I would say Medium and Large would be the most in-demand among the men
• soaps and shampoos
• furniture for the outside area: chairs, a couple of tables, a couch
• a radio/CD player
• CDs
• books and magazines -- Christian-oriented preferred
• I'll check with Kathleen The Towel Lady to see how "Towelmania" is going, and if we still have a great need for those, I'll let you know.

Had a chance to speak to a group of pastors from ACOP churches around the Lower Mainland last week: did the PowerPoint presentation for them, and bring them up to speed. One of the messages that's worth repeating is that the people we serve are not political footballs, symbols of social decline or crackheads who've brought it on themselves. They're us. And we need to remember that. When I see girls no older than my daughter (who's 16) wandering the streets, it reminds me how fragile our lives are, and at the same time how encouraging the Gospel is for reinforcing those fragile parts.

The ACOP support has come in a number of ways, not all financial, but all blessing. Charles Price, whose TV show is "Living Truth" from People's Church in Toronto, told an interesting anecdote this past Sunday. He was speaking at a Missions conference, and was asked if he'd close his presentation by encouraging people to go into the Mission Field. He refused.

Why? Because if someone goes into the Mission Field -- or any kind of ministry or occupation -- and it's not the leading of God, then it's wrong. Better to encourage people to find out what God wants them to do and then pursue that. I'll expand another time on how that's been true in my life, but for now, I'd just like to encourage anyone reading this to pray about how or whether God wants them to be part of this project. If the answer is "yes", then ask Him to show you what He wants of you. It might be a financial contribution ... it might be physical labour ... it might be to provide some of the furnishings we need (see above) ... and it might be just to keep holding the project up in prayer. Whatever it is ... if it's what He wants of you, that's what will bless this project the most.