Aaron Proffitt

I’m sitting here writing a blog while most of my readers are in church right this very moment. It almost seems sacrilegious but then I remember that most of you will be getting off work, and eating dinner, while I am at church tomorrow night. I don’t think it’s a matter of when we meet that God is concerned with…it’s more a matter of what our purpose for meeting is.

Yesterday we “met” together to reach out to the homeless in St. Petersburg, just over the bay from us. About 20 people from our core group here in Tampa joined together yesterday late afternoon to pass out water, PB & J sandwiches, and back packs full of supplies to any and every homeless person we came across. Ken Whiting, who is one of our incredible core participants, is starting a non profit org. called “Love Sprout.” His intention is to reach out to the homeless of America, specifically the youth. So we teamed up with him yesterday to encourage and minister to this forgotten segment of American society. And it was AWESOME!

When the day was done, we had connected with dozens of less fortunate people, many of whom had just run into some tough circumstances that led them to this point. One gentleman named Ralph, who I had the privilege of talking with for about 45 minutes, had a Master’s degree in criminal psychology, and was a vietnam veteran. He ran into a string of misfortune that led him to the streets. His wife died, he left his job, and he had quadruple bipass surgery all right around the same time. He ran out of money and had nowhere to turn when everything happened. He also had been wounded three times in Vietnam, and was still feeling the effects of that. Well, I didnt have a lot to offer him other than the things I mentioned above, AND the message of the Good News of Christ. I told him that Jesus has never forgotten about him, even whet at times everyone else has. He responded to the truth and prayed to accept the free gift of salvation right in that beautiful park where we sat.It was a pretty cool moment.

I also had the privilege of leading a man named Fred to Christ. He was another who had run into major misfortune. Fred was a hard working man from Detroit. He worked for Waste Management for many years, only to be laid off with no real explanation. As a result, he got way behind on child support, and was unable to provide for his children or let alone, himself. I gave him the hope of Jesus and he responded by saying “I would like to pray.”

At the end of the day, two struggling men gave their lives to Christ, and many more were showed the love of Christ in amazing ways. Our team of 20 really exemplified the heart of Christ and I am so proud of them.

God really does care about those in need, those who need a meal. Read Matthew 14:15-21. He cares. And we should. And along with meeting physical needs, we need to be prepared to meet people’s spiritual needs. Jesus of course cares about that as well. As a church, Aletheia Tampa will continue to attempt to accomplish both, through the power and will of Christ.

Here are some pics from yesterday…