Day 1, Denver, March 11, 2024

I’m not exactly sure how exactly to write a blog but I will do my best.

Today was our first full day with Christ in the City and it was a wonderful experience. We started the day off with breakfast and a little training, and then we were off to meet our friends in the streets. Before doing street ministry I was a little nervous but I have to say, I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. 

During our street walk I got to meet a lot of really great people. One thing that I thought was cool was how nearly every homeless person I talked to was familiar with the Christ in the City missionaries and seemed to think very highly of them. I also liked how the missionaries referred to the people on the streets not as “homeless” but as “our friends.” It opened mind up to the fact that those who are homeless are actually people who we can build friendships with not just problems to be fixed. 

One of my favorite people I got to meet today is this older gentleman named Ron. Ron has a great sense of humor and through out our conversation he could not stop making me laugh. He was an absolute joy to be around. In our conversation I learned that he used to live in Dallas Texas where he had worked at Texas Instruments and raised two successful children with his wife. After hearing about his back story I couldn’t help but wonder how he had gone from being a working man with a family to an old man alone on the streets. 

It’s so hard to encounter people like Ron who have experienced such brokenness and loss and be unable to offer them any concrete way out of it. Because all we are doing for these people is treating them like a human being and being open to sharing the goodness of the gospel with them. Encountering these bleak situations that many of these people find themselves has definitely made me grateful for the reality of the world to come. That while these people may never get off the streets, whether that’s due to their own past actions or others, there still hope for them in heaven. That Jesus can wipe their every tear and bring them home for eternity.

Andrew Devine