18 Feb Our City is Better When the Church is There
I wanted to take a moment to update you on one of the most amazing things that happens at Mosaic: our CHI Street Ministry.
CHI Street is our ministry to the homeless community of Austin, and was started by Pastor Brett Millican and a small group of fearless people back in 2009.
Over the last decade, we have served hundreds (maybe thousands?) of homeless people in the Austin area, and the ministry consists of three main areas:
1. Truck Runs: on the first and third Thursdays of every month, we do ministry caravan-style up and down two different parts of town: up and down I-35 and US183. The team meets in the lobby at 5 pm to prepare a hot meal to give away, and to load up the trucks with supplies (food, clothes, tents, blankets, etc.) to be able to give to whomever we meet. We hand out all the food and supplies we can, take note of their individualized needs, and pray with them and share Jesus with them if they are open to it. The team leaves the parking lot around 6 and gets back 8:30-9 or so.
2. Sunday mornings: I am so grateful to have the presence of so many homeless people with us on Sunday mornings. Maybe like you, I think of the book of James’ exhortation to the early church not to prioritize the wealthy in our gatherings. I believe our faithfulness to Jesus in this area is remarkable, and something I hope never changes. That being said, I’m sure you may have noticed, especially in the main men’s bathroom, the frequent smells of, well, life on the streets. We are taking steps to help reduce the sometimes overpowering odor, and yet, I hope what will not be lost on us is that, in reality, what we are experiencing is the smell of ministry. We could be a church where that was not an issue and there were never any bad smells coming from people who had no means of helping themselves—but we are not, and again, I hope we never will be!
We do have needs on Sunday morning as well—we hand out HEB gift cards to those who need them, we have the ability to help pay bills if needed, and we regularly hand out clothes as well.
3. Once a month community group: held on the last Thursday of every month, we host a Bible study and time of prayer designed to grow people’s faith and develop relationships in addition.
There is much more we do—one amazing lady does laundry weekly for those who need it (the church has a washer/dryer in the back for this), we help people enter rehab, develop resumes and job interview skills…the list goes on.
But! Our main needs are for people to help serve in those 3 categories. If you would like to participate in being a part of a ministry that really is the hands and feet of Jesus to the least of these in our city, please click this link here, and our CHI Street team will take it from there. You do not have to be a member to participate in CHI Street.
Lastly, even if there were no other good reason to serve in this way, you would still have this: while you may at times walk away exhausted from difficult ministry, CHI Street really is “the Disneyland” of Mosaic in many ways. That is, because the people who serve there are really in it purely for giving, not receiving, it is one of the happiest and most life giving environments I have experienced.
Thank you to all who serve Jesus, Mosaic, and their fellow human in this way, and I am believing with you to continue to demonstrate to the people of Austin that our cities are better when the church is there.
Morgan