philadelphia - Serving the Least of These in Philly

It is very difficult to put into words what this week meant to me and all that God did but I will do my best. We came to Philadelphia expecting to do a children's safety camp each afternoon but it was so much more than that. Our family did not know how eye-opening and spiritually stretching this week would be. Because of the flexibility and openess to the Holy Spirit that our leader walked in, we were able to prayer walk in the worst parts of the downtown which ultimately led to us ministering to the homeless, drug addicts and extremely broken people living on the streets. A few people come to my mind as I write.

Heather came to us in tears, desperate to get off the streets and clean from her drug addiction. Our team prayed with her and she was accepted into a detox program and prayerfully will get back on her feet again. Michael is homeless and dying of aids. We bought him clothes and food, prayed with him and encouraged him with life giving words of hope. Fred was a drug dealer who we prayed with and encouraged to give his life back to the Lord. These are just a few of the many people that we were able to love on and feed the Bread of Life.

Our family is already looking forward to going back next year on a mission trip to Philadelphia. We will never be the same again after experiencing what we did this past week and feeling Gods heart of compassion for the people that we encountered. We are so grateful for this experience to walk out our faith and the opportunity to share the love of Jesus in so many creative ways.

-By trip participant Marybeth Babcock