In addition to our regular outreach here at The Relief Bus, our organization has joined a revolutionary partnership with multiple missions organizations in the city for "Don't Walk By" or DWB. DWB is a project that mobilizes hundreds of volunteers every Saturday night in the month of January and the first Saturday of February. What we've done is break up Manhattan into five different sections for the five Saturdays: upper west side, mid-town, lower, upper east side, and Harlem. In those sections we have zones where we send teams and search every single block in the entire island looking for homeless. If someone is interested we bring them back to the "host church" and provide a hot meal, free medical attention, and a bed for the night. And for those that are willing to take the necessary steps, they have the option to get into a program. My job is to drive men and women from the streets back to the host church. Although these past few Saturdays have been long and exhausting, its been amazing to see the results of what God is doing through these organizations. These have been the numbers for the first two weeks:
January 8th, the Upper West Side-
Homeless Engaged on Street: 99
Served at Church: 55
Transported to Beds: 12
Transported to Hospital: 2
Transported to Detox: 1
Cared for by Medical Team: 11
January 15th, Mid-Town-
Homeless Engaged on Street: 285
Served at Church: 172
Transported to Beds: 21
Transported to Detox: 2
Cared for by Medical Team: 14
Please pray that God would continue to help us bring men and women off the streets of NYC for the remainder of DWB. And please pray for those who we do bring back to the host churches, that they would be willing to take the steps they need to receive healing. Grace & Peace...
Men and women talking to counselors about possible next steps.
My driving partner, Pastor Doug from Queens and I.
Photos taken by Caitlin Stiefel
Wow! Praise God! Amazing to see the numbers above as far as number of homeless people engaged on street, served, cared for. As bitter cold as it's been for all, the need for loving care must be even greater than usual. Christ's love in the flesh. God glorified. May God continue to bless your endeavors. We are praying for your ministry. Jim and I are sorry we won't be at TRBC this Sunday!
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