Hope Coach Experience – Shauna Pearson
December 2013
On Saturday December 28th, myself, Cliff, Danielle, Ina and Shaina went
out in the Hope Coach delivering food, water, toiletries, clothing,
blankets and Bibles to the homeless in Phoenix and Glendale. We drove
through the streets looking for people who don’t have shelter.
The first person we found was a lady named Charla who
was pushing her little Chihuahua dog named Tequilla
around in a shopping cart. She told us about her life
and where she was staying. She said she was doing pretty good for the time being and
that her pet was well taken care of at the moment. He was a friendly pup with a cute
little snaggletooth sticking out the side of his mouth.
Then we visited a run down apartment complex where we came across Robert,
Pam and Shirley. We gave them supplies and Cliff even brought Pam some
coffee because she had asked for it in the past when he saw her. She was so
happy that he remembered! We could tell that made her feel very special and
cared for. Robert talked to us a lot about his family and told us stories of their
strife. We told him we would be praying for them. It is his wish and hope to
reconcile with them someday. Shaina talked to Shirley for a while who called her
friends Richard and Tammy to ask for prayer for their baby on the way named
Ezekiel. They want a safe delivery and for him to be healthy. Shaina prayed for them.
Next we stopped by Nia’s house to deliver some food, including two pies. She is an
impoverished woman who recently had a baby. She said she was having a tough day
because of a difficult phone conversation with her mother. We told her we would keep
her in our prayers. Cliff has been working on building a relationship with her in hopes
that she will seek help in getting healthy, clean and sober.
Then we came across Bill, a veteran who was resting on the side of the road. He said
right now he has pneumonia and has been sleeping outside for the past few nights. He
said if he got worse he would go to the VA but he didn’t seem interested in getting
much help at that time. We told him about Phoenix Rescue Mission and what they have to offer. We
invited him to come and check it out. He said maybe he would sometime. We told him we would pray
for him and his health.
Later, as we were driving past a neighborhood garage sale, we saw a man stumbling around. He seemed
to be struggling quite a bit so we drove up to him and offered him some food and water. We asked him
what his needs are and he said he could use more clothing and warm blankets. We gave him a long
sleeve shirt, sweater, pants and a sleeping bag. His name is Kevin and he said he is currently living on the
streets. He told us that he recently got released from prison, had been in a gang and had murdered two
people during his lifetime. He said now he is trying to get his life together and that each new day is
another chance to do things right. We told him how the blood of Jesus covers his sins and washes him
clean and that there’s nothing he could have done in this life that God can’t forgive. We encouraged him
to keep seeking God. It was very difficult to understand and communicate with Kevin because of his
state. He was slurring his words, mumbling at times, his stories were all over the place and he was
stumbling around so much and couldn’t stand still. He was one of the worst cases that I have ever
encountered. It was very apparent that drug and alcohol use had taken its toll on his mind and body. We
gave him a card for Phoenix Rescue Mission and told him about their shelter. It was difficult to know
how much he comprehended of what we were telling him.
Our last stop was difficult as well because of the sheer amount of need. We met
a family with two little girls and a puppy who recently lost their home and are
living out of their broken down car. They are saving money to get it fixed. The
mom, Christina, and the aunt, Izabel were having difficulty with the rest of the
family. They felt abandoned and alone.
We prayed for them and offered to connect them with a local church so they
could get more help. Phoenix Rescue Mission does not currently have an
emergency shelter for families or women. They are raising money and hoping to
find land and a building to start such a project because the need is great. There
are many people who need a temporary place to stay until they can get back on their feet again and the
Mission is all about rehabilitating people. Please be praying that the Mission can get support for this
effort and if you would like to donate to them, you can do so here:
https://phoenixrescuemission17697.thankyou4caring.org/
Cliff is going to go back to the park where we met this family to check on them on Monday and get them
connected to a church down the street.
While we were praying for this family, a woman named Eva came up and also asked for prayer. We
prayed for her needs, her health, her relationship with God, and lifted her situation up to God, asking
Him to provide for her when we couldn’t be there.
Ina and I also got an opportunity to pray for a woman named Nicole who came up to us asking to pray
and immediately started crying. She asked for forgiveness for her sins and told Jesus how much she
wanted to be close to Him. She has such a tender, sweet heart and it was a blessing seeing her cry out to
Him. We prayed God’s promises from His Word over her and told her that when she confesses her sins,
God is faithful and just to forgive her and cleanse her from all unrighteousness. We told her that she is
His child and we are her sisters who love her. We told her that she is loved no matter what she does.
That God loves her unconditionally and that this does not have to be earned. She just has to receive it
because it is His free gift to us. She said she wanted to grow closer to Him and trust in Him. We
encouraged her to find more fellowship and to seek it through church. We know that is where she can
encounter more brothers and sisters in Christ. She had a big smile on her face and was very thankful
when we were done praying for her. We each gave her a hug and told her we loved her. She said she
needed that and it helped her to feel valuable again.
We had quite a crowd of people come up to the Hope Coach at the park, even forming a line to get
supplies. We also got to help two women who were in wheelchairs. One of whom was named Sandra.
She was being pushed around by her significant other, Chuck. Ina got to talk to them for a while and
hear about their lives. Shaina spent time in the van organizing and assembling care packages to hand
out. I helped in the back of the van with getting the socks, blankets and sweaters
together. Through our team effort things went very smoothly and everyone was
happy and appreciative of the items we had to give out. We got to give out some
unique luxuries that most people don’t have access to when they’re on the streets
and it was so cute seeing the way their faces lit up when we handed them
Crackerjack’s, handmade scarves, sleeping bags, and hand sewn totes. It really
blessed all of us serving the homeless yesterday.