Power in Numbers

Last night was a trio. Tilden saw his friend Lamay (I think that's how we spelled it) again. We saw Archie! He is doing well. Please pray for him. He smelled good last night, that's a good sign. His clothes looked clean and he was in good spirits. The names and the stories are as follows: Rosa, Roland (pray for alcohol addiction, praise God Roland has been sober for a few days now), Robert (a guy who loves to see us and usually hangs out to talk or just to sit with people who like him), Gale (last week she needed food, this week she needs summer clothes. Pray for Gale that her needs will be met), Kim (she is in detox, praise God she's getting the help she needs), Ernest (he works at Lava Bistro, pray for his job).
We are really feeling the burden of having people depend on us to be there every Sunday. Even as we were leaving last night, a few people made reference to seeing us next week. With only three or four of us to depend on, it is becoming burdensome. If ANYONE with a heart for this ministry would like to join us, you are more than welcome. We have already extended invitations to the corps folk. You don't necessarily have to physically go to the bus station with us, you can stay at the corps and pray for us while we're there, you can walk around the bus station saturating it with prayer, you can pray for us before we go, lay hands on us, you can buy hot chocolate or cups or Bibles (thanks Mrs. Greer!), you can come make quilts on Tuesday mornings (thanks YAM). We are usually down there pretty late and we have to clean the supplies when we come back which means we are leaving the corps sometimes at 11:30 PM. You could come and help the clean up process as Stephanie did last night because she was unable to be with us at the station. There are countless ways to be involved with this ministry. If you can only commit to once in a while, give us your name and we'll call you when we're short a few people (thanks Booth, Sarah, Daniel, Wayne, Sheri, Josh).
Thank you to those who have given time to this ministry when able. You are appreciated.

Quick Summary...

Several weeks have passed since the blog was updated so I’ll try and bring everyone up-to-date…

Three weeks ago: We helped Archie with some food, Tylenol, and a bus pass. Hopefully the bus pass will help him get around town a little easier. He tried to come to church but turned right when he should have turned left. Keep Archie in your prayers - pray for direction. This week we didn't bring any hot chocolate and Officer Willis wasn't too happy about it.

Two weeks ago: This was the first week without Desmond and Booth. Both of them were definitely missed. Captain Gainey helped out and spent an hour or two talking with Archie. It's always good to have Captain Gainey out. I think Archie go something from their discussions. Kristy met a mother and daughter, Monique and Ashley, respectively. They sung the ABC's and did the Hokey Pokey! The three of them prayed. Monique would like for everyone to remember her. Oh yeah, we brought a special cannister of hot water for Officer Willis and made his coco on the spot. Also, a corps member brought us some Bibles - thank you! We gave out five that night; two to Monique.

This past week: It was good to have Desmond back with us last night. He was missed. For those who don’t know, CharMin Ultra is down 2 members this summer – Booth and Desmond. They are at Camp Walter Johnson working with hundreds of children. We all hope everything goes well for you both. Archie was around; however, we were not able to speak with him. Maybe next week we'll hear that things are turning around for him. (I'll finish up later tonight...)

This one's for June 19th

Well...we are trying to play catch up with the CharMin blog. Our apologies for those of you who are faithful in returning to this site for updates. We have been without our webmaster for quite some time and I (the most NON-computer geek of the bunch) am now added to the list of contributors. I have the information for June 19, another member has it for the week before. Hopefully it will be added. There's also a little spot at the bottom of the page where our cup/story total has been updated. I have no idea how to change that, so I'll include it here and if any other member knows how to add it - feel free! So here goes...
Last week. We were in full force. 180 cups were given out. We saw at least 6 people who remembered us from weeks ago, and were able to give us an update on where they are now in their journey. I have a list of names to share, but again, I have no idea how to add them to the actual "name list" located at the bottom of the page. Courtney, Tomeka, Brian, Chaz, Claude, Rabbit, Blue, Cierra, Michelle, Norman, Don, Archie, and Jack.
When we got back this week, the four of us were commenting on how weird it is the people we are meeting and the things we are learning about them. Some of them are one degree of separation from famous people. Well, their all famous according to God, but you know what I mean.
Most notably for me, was Claude. We met Claude a while back. He was the chef who told us about adding a little nutmeg and vanilla extract to our cocoa to make it that much richer. Claude has a CD of recipes. He gave one to Tilden for free.
I am finding my zeal has begun to diminish. I still would rather be no where else on a Sunday night than at the bus station, but my energy while there has gone down the tubes. I've been reading that ministry is never supposed to become comfortable no matter how long you're doing it. Its definitely become comfortable. I know why, and I'm embarrassed to admit the reason.
Pray that we would consciously renew our spirits - no matter what.
Thank you to all for being faithful in your prayers thus far.

Blessings,

Kristy