Church Without Walls

This page contains actual testimonies from volunteers that worked in the homeless ministry.

Testimonials from Volunteers:

August 2008, Petra:

I want to share what happened to me one night last week!

I walked with a couple of bags of food and wanted to feed the homeless when one of them approached me and asked me if he could make me a flower out of palm leaves. I replied: oh, that would be so nice! He visibly was happy that I wanted that. He began working on the flower and after a little while he stated: I am sorry that I am taking so long - my reply was: oh, no worries, take your time.  He looked at me and began to cry. I asked what is the matter? He stated: "You know, usually people do not even talk to me. If they do they say things like - get out of my way and hurry up. Here you are and you are telling me to take my time. I am not wasting your time. You are willing to give me time out of your life. You are showing me such love!" I got teary eyed then too and hugged him. He finished the rose and the cross that he made for me, held it and prayed over it in his native American language and handed it to me. He said to me that he would never forget me - I certainly will never forget him! He made a huge impact in my heart.

June 2008, Evelyn:

What I wanted to share with you was that we made 2 trips downtown to pick up some homeless (whomever we could find on the streets) and we practically begged them to come to the Trinity House Health Fair.  On the first trip we encountered 3 people and asked them if they wanted to go to the Health & Resource Fair -- after all it was free food, access to many resources, and we promised to give them a ride back.  One of them said to me "I can't go -- I have to get to The Church Without Walls!".  Wow!  I was amazed.  It was so awesome that he had such a resolve that he had to get to Church Without Walls.  I instantly realized the impact your ministry is having -- it was awesome.  I was so proud to inform them that Church Without Walls was a ministry of The Rock Church, and in fact, The Rock Church was at the Health and Resource Fair that we were offering to take them to.  Well -- long story short they finally got in the van with us and came to the Resource Fair -- I know in part because The Rock Church was represented there.

June 2008, Carolyn:  I went to pick up donations from someone that said they have a lot of things. They handed me clothing and some food but they also handed me baby formula. I thought to myself - there are no babies out there, but I took the donation. When I went to the bread of life ministry that night I ran into a woman with a 3 months old baby. God is so good! He knew!

June 2008 Petra: My daughter and I went out to minister to the homeless. We went on a day that we usually do not go out, but it was raining and we thought there would not be a lot of volunteers. It was raining pretty hard when we met Wanda. She was very down. She said that there is something wrong with her ear and that the is worried that it is cancer. Then she said her umbrella just broke and someone took her blankets. My daughter and I and another homeless woman prayed over Wanda. We prayed that despite the weather forecast of it raining all night God may have mercy and stop the rain. We also prayed that her ear will not have cancer and that she may find a warm place to be. The prayer was answered while we were still praying - the rain stopped. We met Wanda the next day and asked how her doctors appointment went. She testified that after we prayed over her she walked around the corner and met a man that handed her a new sleeping bag and a new umbrella. And that the doctor said that her ear just has a minor infection and will be fine. Thank you Jesus for looking out for your children and thank you Jesus for still listening when we pray to you!

MAY 2008, a volunteer:

I was at the Wednesday outreach and it was an amazing spiritual experience. When I got home, I took a deep breath and said, "Whoa...that was intense." I've never spread the Word of God like this before. Speaking with Theodore, a homeless man,  was really intense because he was so heartbroken and he has a forceful soul. In prayer, he screamed "Help!!" to the Lord. My heart goes out to him, and in a way, I know how he feels because I myself often scream "Help!!" to the Lord as well. He does want God in his life. He instantly requested us to pray with him as we passed by. I'm very happy to be a part of this, and thanks for giving us the opportunity to work with you! We truly are making a difference. God is using us for a special purpose. 

I will never forget yesterday for many reasons. On the way over to the parking lot, I prayed to God and asked Him to help me convert 1 person. Instead, he helped me and another volunteer convert 2 people! God answered my prayer instantly. Absolutely amazing! I can't stress enough how powerful prayer is, and that's what I tried to convey to both Theodore and Richard. From now on, I will continue to pray to the Lord to help us convert many people at each outing. 

 I have to give a huge thanks to the other volunteer. His help was instrumental to our success. I think we really worked well together to get the message to these guys.  It's awesome that they listened. Before we left, Theodore yelled from the other side of the parking lot, "You did good! You did your job!" And he's right, we truly are doing good.

 I believe that God revealed Himself to those men through us that volunteered. It is an honor to be a part of the homeless ministry, and I look forward to next Wednesday.

April 2008 Stephen: It has been such a blessing to have been part of this night. It truly touched my heart to see how the homeless people can be so uplifting to those who care. They touched me to the point where I would love to return soon. I was shown that not all homeless people do drugs or drink. They are regular people, searching for their happiness.

April 2008 Jeff: I met a brother on the streets by the name of John on Tuesday April 22. This brother told me a story of a group of Christians, who came to him about 30 minutes prior to my group arriving.  He told me about how the group prayed for his shoulder that he injured about a year ago. How he had little movement and the group laid hands on him and prayed. As he told me his story he showed me how he can now move the shoulder and he has no pain. Awesome!

April 2008 Trisha: I am glad to be a part of a ministry that loves to get their hands dirty. We are a big family out there, making sure that no homeless individual goes without the two important resources we provide: 1. The word of God, 2. Nutritious food. 

There are amazing people in this ministry that dedicate their life to providing for others, whether it is food, clothing, monetary donations, time, bus passes, or sharing the word!! We even have children out there who need to know the importance of the Lord! I have been truly blessed to be a part of such a great ministry! My perspective about life has changed drastically since I have been involved with this ministry, who could ask for a better eye opener!  My talent is to help with children and I also encourage my own 3 year old to get out there and make a difference in someone's life, it is never too young or too old to learn about how GOD moves in the lives of HIS people.

Need a blessing? Bless someone else! That is my motto!

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April 2008 - Sarena: I will say that being a part of the Homeless Ministry
has really just changed my life because it has changed
how I see God. It has been so incredibly encouraging
to literally watch God work...to know that he is
working and to accept His invitation in joining Him in
His work. I have seen Him restore and renew people in
miraculous ways. Now I'm not saying that every person
I have met has been some miraculous success story. But
what I am saying is that I have seen God restore
people souls through this ministry. I have watched Him
bring His children out of the gutters and into His
Kingdom, which is where we all belong. Seeing the lies
exposed, seeing God move through people (this includes
the volunteers) and just watching Him restore people,
who society claims are worthless, has opened my eyes
up to the God of the Bible. He is the redeemer, the
restorer and so much more. Like I said, being a part
of this ministry has changed my life.

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March 2008 - Marco:  My school requires me to have 40 hours of community service and I chose the homeless ministry.  I did not expect to see so many people homeless on the streets. This is like a wakeup call for me. I really see the things that I have in a different light.

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March 2008 - A volunteer:  What I say is: tonight was very special. I felt God out there and it feels so good to do something and help. I went out there hoping to share God with someone - but the homeless people really were the ones who shared God with me. They showed me how God is kind, warm, happy, loving, welcoming, incredible, soft spoken and sweet and his amazing love. I could see it, hear it and feel it when spending time with them. I saw God in each of them. Thank you God - it was good to see You today. I feel so blessed!!!

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March 2008 - Mike: I have the privilege to serve as one of the lay
pastors to the homeless with Brandon, Rick, and
Andrew.

My messages tend to weigh in with little known facts
about common subjects. One day after my message one of
our attendees "Evangilina" approached me with a gift.
It was a book on Bible Trivia.

My heart just melted that she had thought about me
some time ago, knew my interest in this area, and had
found this gift for me.

Perspective and humility can be easily overlooked
sometimes and the homeless have a way of bringing us
down to earth and back to God.

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March 2008 - Michelle:  A few weeks ago, we were finishing at 16th/Island when we had some
water left over and we found a place on the way back that we had not gone to before. It
was already 10:00 PM and we were trying to love the homeless with just dropping off
the water, yet there was a guy named Ed that was extremely eager to talk with us. 

He had been drinking and his speech was slurry. We thought we should just offer to pray for
him and then leave, but  the Lord had a different plan.  One of us
said to Ed, "Would you like to pray, Ed?" And he shared with us that he was
ashamed to pray and did not know how, yet we encouraged him by saying that neither
did we, but that the Lord simply desires to hear from our heart.  He
smiled and began praying. Ed was extremely moved by the movie "The Passion" and through his prayer, I was humbled like never before.  Ed prayed with such humility and reverence for God, and
in detail, thanked Jesus for every moment of suffering and sacrifice He
gave for us.  He quoted scripture throughout his prayer. He truly
understood the gospel and how unworthy he and all of us were in the
presence of the Lord.  The moment when he said, "Excuse me, but I must get
on my knees; for the Holy Spirit is among us," we all followed his lead
was unforgettable and more beautiful than words can give justice.  He cried
out to Our Father with humility, tears and a heart, and faith that could
move mountains.  After the prayer, we gave Ed a hug and told him we loved
him.  It's crazy to think that by simply being available and
interruptible, God allowed us and Ed to experience fellowship and prayer
like never before.  We praise You, Lord!

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March 2008 - Petra: One Saturday I handed out bibles to the homeless at Balboa Park during Church Without Walls. The following Monday I went to A and Union with the "bread of life" group and I met one man to whom I handed a bible. He recognized me and told me this:  I have done some bad things in my life and I was sure that God could never forgive me. But you gave me the bible and you highlighted some verses for me to read and now I know that God does love me. I know that I am forgiven. We both cried and prayed and thanked God.

The verses: Hebrews 4:16,  Hebrews 13: 5-6,   John 14: 1-31,  1^st Corinthians 15:57-58, 1^st Peter 5:6-7

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March 2008 - Michelle:  Julian is about 70 years old, he never wants to talk - he prefers to be alone. One night, the Lord said do not give up this time!  So as usual, I greeted him, sat down, and asked him about his week and
this time he gave me a huge smile. I was overwhelmed, yet listened
intently as began to share his entire life story with me and the anger he felt
at the world and at God, for the circumstances in which he is. Not sure of
what to say and overwhelmed by his sudden vulnerability, I just grabbed
his hand, listened and cried with him. 

God taught me that night that consistency and persistence are
vital to this ministry. God's work in softening of people's hearts, is a
process, and we have to be ready when He makes their "soil
ready for the seed" (opens their heart to receive the gospel). 

 I have seen him a few times since and he still has
few words and is not open to the gospel, but we hug and I know that God
is working on his heart.

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March 2008 - A volunteer: Last month I went to "bread of life" and we formed groups to go out and serve the homeless. We gave each of them something to eat. I also had a couple of bibles that I wanted to give to someone. When I asked one guy if he wanted a bible, he looked at me and said "Are you serious"?  Yes I am serious.  He said: "let me tell you a story". He went on to tell me that; not too long ago he told God that he wanted to start reading in the bible and to do that he needed a bible and a pair of reading glasses. Well a few days ago he was given a pair of reading glasses. When he received the glasses, he prayed again saying now he needs his bible. "Well now I have my bible" - he said. What an answer to prayer!! He also shared with us that he used to do drugs and drink a lot - but with God- he has been clean for 12 years! He said that people try to tempt him into old habits but his faith in God keeps him strong. He will never do drugs again.  All of us prayed together.  Michelle , another volunteer, said a prayer for him and he was touched! He told us that he appreciated everything, that he'll continue to pray and that he'd read in his new bible.

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Mathew 25:35-36

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."