“There is no progress!” – few thoughts from last homeless outreach

Today one of our volunteers came to me and said “Domi, someone told me that they have been serving in Street Church for three years serving tea and they don’t see any progress in people’s life”. 

“What do they mean?” – I asked.

“Well, they see the same people coming over and over again, their life is still miserable, they still drink alcohol, they fight and argue. They don’t want to talk.” – she clarified.

“Hmm” – I thought for a few seconds. “And what would the progress look like?” – I asked again.

“I think, they should be open to hear what she has to say, they should stop drinking and they should change their life, they should become christians.” – she gave me an answer, hesitating. 

I then explained our way of seeing things while we took a short trip on  the bus that takes us every Sunday from our base to the street church in the main bus station of Krakow. 

You see, what we as people see as progress is not always what God would call progress. 

We often come with expectations that people should respond and behave in a certain way, for our religious ambitions to be satisfied. I do understand that people don’t always want to talk and open their hearts before us. Why would they after all.. We often look down on them and carry certain contempt for them that they can feel in our interactions. We come from a place of knowing the truth and forcing it onto them. From a place of us being “well, right and an example to be followed” instead of actually embracing them..

This being said, as soon as we arrived at the bus station, even before the Street Church started, someone rushed to me with a smile. It was our friend of many years. A former homeless person who used to be on the streets, probably our first consistent friend from our early years in the Street Church. He greeted me and we had occasional catch up “how are you?” conversation. He told me about his current struggles and shared testimonies of God’s faithfulness in small things. He shared about the church he now goes to and about his housing situation.. I saw this meeting as a direct and immediate answer from Jesus. Why? Let me share with you his story. Although his real name is different, for the sake of the narrative, I am going to call him Peter. 

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
    and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17

We met Peter around 5 years ago, or more. He was one of the homeless with alcohol problem who used to come to Street Church every Sunday. He was not loud, he kept himself to one side, but always came up to me or Siya for prayer. We led him to Jesus, prayed for him and encouraged to read the Bible which he did – every night as he went around the city on an urban bus (this is what homeless people often do here to keep warm). Even though for many months his life didn’t change, we were astonished to see him back almost every Sunday, greeting us, asking for prayer and telling us what He read in the Bible. 

But then suddenly, he disappeared. We got a message that he was in a hospital outside Krakow with severe pneumonia. We reached out to him and sent him some hygienic products and pyjamas. His condition was bad, so we prayed for him and encouraged him a little. He started recovering, but his lungs were so damaged that he had to stay in the hospital for over a year! Meanwhile, the Lord was working with him. He didn’t drink and quit smoking, and stayed in a warm place with meals provided. A true blessing for someone who previously only slept in a tent or abandoned train wagon. 

When he was discharged, the feelings were mixed. Where would he go next? The truth is.. We were worried. But what a blessed surprised we had when the following Wednesday, as we led a discipleship group in a christian homeless shelter, we saw Peter there! He was admited! Praise God! It’s not easy.. as there are only 30 beds in this shelter, and the number of homeless in Krakow is much higher than that. 

God was working in his life, leading him out of the crisis step by step. We were encouraged and proud, as he showed up for the discipleship group every week and even found a job handing out promotional flyers on the street. 

But.. after a season of recovery and spiritual rest, the Lord calls us to trust him more and more. And so one Sunday as we preached the gospel on the Street Church, we saw Peter broken and discouraged – so different to how we saw him only 4 days earlier in the shelter! “What happened?” – We asked. “Hmm… I got into an argument in the shelter with one of the leaders. And they asked me to leave… It was unfair, my life is over. Now I am back to the streets and with no hope. The pressure is so high I am going to go back to drinking. There is no other way.” – He explained. Of course, he used different words and different phrases, but this was the meaning behind it. 

We froze. God.. what are you doing? He was doing so well! Growing in faith, following you! The shelter served him so well.. What to do now? Well – this is why we have each other, to encourage brethren in difficult moments, so suddenly I (Dominika) felt in my heart that I need to speak faith to Him and use this as a learning experience of what walking with God looks like. “Listen” – I said. “Don’t give up, you are not alone. Jesus is leading you and even though this situation looks hopeless, He is going to use it to bless you. Hold on a little longer and trust Him. Good things are coming your way” and I prayed for Him. My heart was broken as I saw tears in his eyes, but there was nothing I could do – we still don’t have a shelter where we can host our homeless friends.. God please! And so, with broken hearts we said goodbye and went our ways. 

Few weeks have gone by. And then I saw Peter again in Street Church! Full of joy and thankfulness! With flowers!! He shared how excited he was, because two days after the prayer, he met an old friend (from the homeless shelter too) who now lives in a social apartment given to him by the city (another miraculous story) and he invited Peter to live with him. Now they both lived together and it’s so much better than the shelter, as they can encourage each other, have their own kitchen, bathroom, peace and space. Peter saw that was I shared about God taking care of us and using the most difficult circumstances to bless us is real! I couldn’t help myself but laugh. Thank you Jesus!

Now.. back to last Sunday and another conversation with Peter. I asked him if he still lived with his friend. He said “yes” and told me stories about how well it’s working for them. They go to a local church and even host a church home group from time to time in this social apartment. What a life change! He also told me he was in another crisis because an allowance given to him by the social services was cancelled and now he needs to find a way to sustain himself, but he trusts God because he knows that every crisis God can turn into a blessing. I was so moved. And yet again, we prayed together and I blessed him, trusting the Lord will come through even now.  

After we said goodbye, I shared his story with our volunteers. I don’t want them to give in to discouragement and lie that God is not moving. He is.. But we need eyes to see and ears to hear. We need a sacrifice of time and a humble heart to be able to hear these stories. We need faithfulness to persevere through crisis, fatigue and discouragement and see God’s blessing on the other side. 

And now I share this story with you so that you may be encouraged – our effort and sacrifices of time, money, energy for the gospel is never in vain. We get to see God move! This is what we live for.