Check out the article at this site:

http://www.freep.com/article/20121105/NEWS05/311050126/entrepreneur-New-Frontier-Award-John-F-Kennedy-Library-Foundation

So many faces and life stories……

Street ministry started for me last night when one of the volunteers showed up with a bag of candy to hand out for Halloween as we walked the streets. She had a bag of sugarless candies for a man I see at noontime and is diabetic. I was struck that she remembered someone she has never met personally. A few blocks away a young man came up and said, “Deacon, do you have any gloves?” I do not ever remember seeing this man before but he knew to call me Deacon. I told him that I had been out walking for about 20 minutes myself and my hands were freezing. We do not have gloves yet but we soon will. No way to gage what Mother Nature will bring or when.

A few blocks over, we met a family of six kids and the mother who were on the streets in Greektown. The mother was making calls for someone to take them in. We were able to leave the kids some candy, a sandwich and water. The mother was still talking to someone as we walked away but the kids looked happy.

Around the corner, we ran into a man who said he would love some candy. As he looked in the bag he started to talk about the Saints and Halloween. We had a good 20 minute conversation about how God sent His Son into the world so that we would all be saved. I asked him to pray for us and he immediately took our hands and began to pray an ancient form of prayer of protection and defense over us. As I turned, he asked me to pray for him which I did in another ancient Charismatic form. When I said Amen he looked at me and whispered to me, “We are brothers!” Indeed we are.

A few blocks down we saw some people lying in the window sills of the old Detroit Traffic Court building. As we approached one lady from our group spoke out, “Hello, we are from St Al’s.” From beneath a blanket we heard, “Who the f___ is out there bothering us?” I recognized the voice and said, “Hey girlfriend, how are you?” The blanket flipped back and I heard her say, “Deacon Don is that you?” The woman who I have known for 15 years on the streets jumped up and hugged me and apologized for her first comment! We talked and she asked about my wife and kids whom she knows from their times downtown. We gave her and her friend some food and water. She asked us why we were out so late. She told us it was dark and no longer safe on the streets. I told her that if it wasn’t safe for us then it wasn’t safe for her. She smiled and told me she had been on the streets for years and knew how to survive. I told her to be careful and stay warm tonight. As we walked away she hollered out, “I love you Deacon Don!” and I hollered back, “I love you too girlfriend!”

We were approached by a man asking for food and he was delighted by the offer of the candy. As we talked to him, he told us about a house in the Eastern Market area where several teenaged girls are staying and that they have no food. I promised to swing by there on my way home to check on them. He said he would walk over and meet me there when I arrived. As I was going home, I found the house and he was waiting outside. When I stopped, I heard him yell out, “I told you he was coming! God is good!” I left some sandwiches, candy and water. I will have to call my friends who are the pastor and deacon of the area to check on this house. It reminded me so much of my daughters in the Ugandan slums. What indignities these young girls suffer just to survive.

I later approached four men standing on a corner trying to light their crack pipe. I walked up and told them who I was and commented on how windy it was and that they were having trouble lighting their pipe. They all just stared at me for a while. Then one of the older men put his arm around me and said, “You’re from St Al’s. I have known you for about 20 years now haven’t I?” I had never met this man before but responded with, “Yes I was ordained about 18 years ago so we are coming up on 20 years together.” He was telling his friends that he knew of St Al’s and that I was safe for them. As I was handing out water and sandwiches, one of the men became agitated at me for now getting his water fast enough. One of the young men grabbed him by the arm and said, “Relax the Deacon is working as hard as he can. Don’t you see how old he is?” I looked at him and winked and he winked back. Those winks meant “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” He respected me and what I was trying to do for them.  He was willing to help me out by calming his companion.

I am constantly amazed at what I hear and see from the homeless on the downtown streets, I find each day that I love them more and more and I hope they are coming to love us more and more as we walk the streets among the people from St Aloysius.