We finally made it back on the streets this week.
It was another beautiful, chaotic, mess of miracles and warmth. Many tears. Many thanks. God has so blessed Magdalene’s Mission street outreach.
Nick rented us a van from U-Haul. It was enough to get all those donations of coats and blankets onto the backs of frozen people and food in their hollow stomachs.
It was a morning outreach, so there wasn’t time to sort and repack into storage totes before we left the church. It was me, Jesus, and a pile of 30 black bags.
On our first stop, we saw two old friends. One of them just barely survived a stint of pneumonia in the hospital. My grandma gave me her old shopping cart, so I passed it on to my buddy so he could carry all the blankets I gave him back to his fort. The girl told us to head up the block to another abandoned house where her friend was staying. She needed us, her friend said. I thought that was so kind of her.
They had a dog, so I made sure they had dog food. Her friend found a big leopard print fuzzy coat that was long and warm. We added a warm hat, mittens, and a scarf. It changed her entire life.
Each stop the swarms grew larger and for longer. Someone in a white truck must have driven at least 4 different people up to the back of my van. All of them were seniors. All of them were in threadbare jackets and shoes. All of them choked up asking for a coat and boots.
“What you do for the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you have done for me.”
The last stop emptied out the van. We passed out every coat, blanket, meal, and toe warmer. There were three stray cats in the area. They got fed as well. Tears for mercy.
People were so frozen, they ran up to me weeping for blankets and boots. Grown ups with tears in their eyes. They were sobbing when they put on a coat and dry socks. They praised the mercy of God when they had a pair of dry socks on their feet. We gave thanks together. I pray for them every day.
I ripped through bags looking for clothes, socks, and winter gear. Somehow, I did it. I saw at least 40 homeless people in those first 2 hours. We eventually passed out all the food, hygiene kits, warm clothes (especially pants) blankets and coats.
The food was a big deal. I had a lot of small, packaged snack food that will help keep people alive. We had cookies, and peanut butter crackers that will burn a lot of energy. (Thank you, Sharna Tanner’s Small Group!)
We passed out a lot of hand and toe warmers. No one is going to lose a finger or toes on my watch this year.
Everyone was desperate for a warm blanket. Someone made mats out of old grocery bags. My homeless friends recognized them right away. It’s a dry place to sit.
It was Day Outreach. We were with some different people. We went to some different places. We spent most of our time on the east side.
Next week, Maggie the Van will be fixed. I’ll have plenty of time to prep. A friend is donating sloppy joes. We’re going back out to all those people. We’re going to deliver to those poor souls a van full of humanity and hope.
The desperation in each person’s eyes was like another paper cut upon my heart. Then every heartfelt thank you was just enough to balm it.
Magdalene’s Mission was in a precarious pickle. But people decided that saving lives should continue. We’ve raised most of the money to fix the van, plus we’ve been able to pull off keeping the company above water while we do.
God is good. Jesus is so cool.
A win for Magdalene’s Mission is a win for humans.
Together, we are the right people
doing the right thing
for the right reason.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen,
To donate: http://www.Magdalenesmission.com
