The power of this work gives me great hope!

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Last fall, me and some amazing students from Georgia Tech had a crazy idea given to us, by God, about serving the poor. What made the idea even crazier was that in order to pull it off, we were going to have to go outside of our normal comfort zone to do so. I knew I was crazy enough, but just how crazy were these students that had been volunteering for me so often in the past year or more? For me that was the great unknown.

The idea that we would bring forward would take aim at the despair, chaos and desperation that was becoming Auburn Avenue in Atlanta after the sun had gone down. Just blocks from the grave of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church so many lives were spiraling out of control. At night, gang activity, drug addiction, drug dealing and rampant prostitution was creating an atmosphere that only the bravest or the dumbest would dare step into. It remained to be seen, which of those two distinctions would apply to us. But, God reassured me of His will and with faith I proceeded.

The world we arrived in last fall found many of the street lights broken. Drug dealers and prostitutes sought to hustle us with every breath it seemed. I had attempted so many variations of service in this area and found it difficult to see any evidence of our work over the years. I was curious to see what God was up to and eager to see the results show up. So last fall, me and several students based out of the Catholic Center at Georgia Tech showed up under a dark bridge on Auburn Avenue and offered a warm meal to all who came. With love in our hearts we engaged the darkness well into the night and we brought Eucharist into the location in who we were being. On the first night the impact began to show up almost immediately. The warm meal we were sharing with love and hope caused something to shift. The shift was so dramatic that the police that patrol that area at night felt the need to share the next day how all types of crime and violence that area has known had subsided to almost nothing while we were present under the bridge. Clearly, the Hand of God was reaching into this community and we were the instruments of His peace.

The following week, we showed up as promised and those we served poured out their pent up hunger and frustrations and we listened and loved them. That same night, I knelt at the feet of a prostitute and washed her feet while her pimp urged her to get back to work from a few yards away. As menacing as he may have thought he was, we loved him and fed him and overlooked his attempts to intimidate us or the woman we were serving. And so, the work of Christ had begun in earnest to bring light into the darkness that we had found. Now, six months later, we are still going strong and we look forward to seeing our friends each Friday evening as we serve and we are served. The street lights are lit and maintained, and each face carries a smile and great affection for us, their brothers and sisters, their friends. A whole new future exists now for nearly 100 men and women as hope, faith and love returns to their heart. There dignity continually nurtured and they know they are loved and that they do matter. This is what Deep Waters Ministry does.

As you hear about the potential we provide for this world, I invite you to now bring forth from the abundance that God has given you. Bring forth your time, your talent and your wealth. Christ did not die on a cross so that we could claim hardship in lean economic times. We must be bold during feast and famine for the work of our faith is continual and our calling is to be a mission people. I invite you to participate now and ongoing in those manners that are appropriate and in that partnership you will find your Christian faith come fully alive before your very eyes. We welcome your contribution to the body of Christ and your rewards and blessings will be enormous. On that you have my word.

Reach out to me now and lets set this normal world ablaze with a crazy love like none other.