Beautiful One Celebrates One Year

As of May 2013, we have now been bringing God’s love to women in the sex industry for one year! Truly it has been a glorious year of favor, answered prayers, divine connections, and joy for those of us who have prayed for this ministry for many years. A few Saturdays ago, we had a party to honor and rejoice with those who have been involved from the beginning. It was a joyous time of recalling all that the Lord has done and how far the new ministry has come. Here are a few highlights:

• Sharing the Gospel with many women who come from a Buddhist background (in the massage parlors) 
• Hearing two ladies say that although they are propositioned constantly, they refuse to provide sexual favors to customers 
• Hearing one woman say that because of us, she knows she has friends in America 
• Watching one of our girls get baptized on Easter Sunday 
• Being taken out to dinner by two owners of massage parlors 
• Training five new team members in the past few months 
• Adopting several new massage parlors 
• Adopting four strip clubs as of March 20, 2014, the first day of spring. (The verse from which we got our name says that the winter is over and spring has come.) 
• Bouncer: “So you want to just come in here, give gifts to our dancers and tell them they’re loved?! Yeah, you can do that anytime!!” 
• Customer: “The Church is in the strip club?!” 
• Giving a female bouncer a rose. Later she emphatically declared that she would be the one to lead us to the dressing rooms.

Helping Jose Find A Church

A man named Jose, who was visiting from Boston for a few days, stopped by Tompkins for the first time last week. When Ryan asked him about whether or not he attended a church in Boston, he said that he did not because he had bad experiences with churches. So he sat with Jose for a while and carefully went over biblical examples of what to look for in a solid, healthy church body. He said that important qualities to look for include believing that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God, loving prayer and devoting themselves to it corporately and privately, loving others, and being dedicated to the work of God in building up the body of believers and reaching out to the lost.

Jose was very thankful for the conversation. His ears really perked up when Ryan started talking about love because his past experience made him feel like the church only wanted him to come so they could get his tithe. Jose admitted that he had sort of given up on looking for a church to go to but said that when he got back to Boston, he was going to make more of an effort to find a church that lived out some of the things Ryan had mentioned. Pray with us for him to get plugged in with a church that can help him grow in his knowledge of the word and the objective realities of Jesus Christ.

Visiting Rich in the Hospital

Our long-time friend, Rich Degan, had to go into the hospital earlier this month when he woke up with an excessively swollen left arm. The doctors found that the swelling and the pain were caused by a blood clot near his bicep and the next day they performed surgery and successfully remove the clot. They kept Rich in the hospital a few days after the surgery to monitor him and make sure everything was going well. On his last day in the hospital, Bobby and I went to visit him and bring him some of his favorite vegan food and while we waited for his discharge papers and prescriptions, we talked and joked around with him. He was so blessed to have us come visit him and he was thrilled about the food. He hated the hospital food. Once he was cleared to leave, we packed up all his stuff and then transported him over to his apartment and hooked him up with some extra groceries so that he wouldn’t have to worry about shopping for a while. He hasn’t had very good experiences in the past with hospitals so our visit really helped to clear his mind and put a big smile on his face.

From One Regular to Another

One year ago, I sat and talked with Jose, who is one of our regulars at Tompkins Square Park.  I don’t remember much about our conversation but he reminds me often, “You told me that I need to be around other believers and I was in a place to actually hear it that day.”  Since that dialogue, God began doing a new thing in his life!  Even his co-workers noticed a change in him.  I was shocked when he told me he left a place of his own to live on the streets in order to remove himself from a negative environment, but also proud of him because he was taking a big step in his walk with God.  For the last few months, he has been faithfully attending a church near the park and has been truly growing as a believer. 

As a result of what God is doing in Jose’s life, other lives are being affected too.  He has been long time friends with Smiley, another one of our regulars at Tompkins Square Park.  Jose talks with him often about making some changes in his life, and Smiley has even attended church with Jose the last two weeks.  For the first time, I also had a deep conversation with Smiley about the Lord in which he listened carefully and asked good questions.  He mentioned how Jose has been talking with him and he is realizing that something needs to shift.  It is a powerful thing for Smiley to watch God move in the life of someone he’s known for a long time who has faced similar challenges as himself. We are believing that as God continues to work in Jose, his testimony will touch many lives of those on the streets and help draw them to Jesus!

Beautiful One - First Outreach to the Strip Clubs

Beautiful One's first ever outreach to strip clubs last month was incredible! God answered our prayers for favor with the bouncers and managers, and we were able to go inside each club we visited. We personally wrapped and delivered 75 red roses, candy, and cards to women at 3 different clubs. The night before outreach, Mary Anna had a dream that we would meet a woman in a parking lot on her way to work and she would be so blessed by receiving her gift that it would give us even greater favor at that club. As we were leaving the first place, we saw a woman getting out of her car to go into work. When we gave her the flower and candy, the look on her face said, "This is exactly what I needed tonight," then she proceeded to hug Gintare. At another club, we gave a female bouncer her gift, and a huge smile came over her face and she emphatically told the other bouncers that she wanted to be the one to lead us to the dressing room! These are just a few examples of many ladies we saw that night who were blessed to hear that there are people praying for them and thinking of them.

March 2014 - A Word from our Newest Intern, Nicole Pannasch

We asked our newest intern, Nicole Pannasch to share a little about what she's been doing and learning since she came to Street LIFE Ministries. She said, "Interning at Street LIFE has been a life-changing experience.  Over the past six months, I have learned much about evangelism, discipleship, and what faith in action looks like.  While there have been countless meaningful lessons and experiences during my time here, one of the things that has really impacted me has been seeing God’s heart to go after the 'one' (Luke 15).  At prayer stations, at Tompkins Square Park, in intercessory prayer watches, and even in our own community here at SLM, experiencing God’s personal, fervent pursuit of individuals has been life-altering.  God loves to go out of His way to demonstrate His love and mercy to people.  Seeing His heart in action motivates me to trust Him more, to be more loving towards others, and to step out in faith when He speaks.  I am so thankful to have the opportunity to intern at Street LIFE, and I am very excited for what is yet to come during my time here!"

March 2014 - Hurricane Sandy Update

This February we revisited Far Rockaway in Queens where we served with relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy hit in October of 2013. We went to Sylvia and Mike's home and saw the almost finished work sixteen months later. Through the devastation, repair, and restoration we formed a special relationship with this family. We were overjoyed to see Sylvia and her ten month old Rachel whom she had been pregnant with when we first met her. Sylvia shared honestly how things still don’t feel normal even after all the time that has passed. Having her home flooded and possessions ruined was very traumatic. “I still feel numb about it all. It is very shocking to think that it happened." Unfortunately their home was not fully back to normal either. The stairs were bare and they are currently using a fold up table and chairs in their dining room. Also there were a few areas in the walls that were cut out for electrical work and never repaired. Even with receiving aid from FEMA and their insurance, Sylvia and Mike took a big hit financially and haven’t recovered which adds to the emotional strain. Despite the pain and destruction the storm brought, Sylvia shared with us how she has “never felt this close” to God. She said she still wonders why God sent us to her and her family which opened the door for us to remind her of His faithfulness, commitment and love to her and her family. Through her tears she expressed how thankful she is to the Lord for bringing us together and all the help He provided through Street LIFE Ministries and the teams that served with us. We are very thankful as well! The Lord’s provision of clothing, food, laborers and building materials as well as His grace and mercy were such a testimony to our team and those we were able to reach out to. Thank you for your prayers and giving through that time as well!