"I felt so close to God in there..."

On three different occasions, I've had a chance to get somewhat of a view from the homeless side of things.  Now by NO means, did I get a real taste of what these folks go through, but I got a tiny glimpse into the Hell that it must be.  The first experience I had was down in New Orleans, last January  with The Venue Church!!  We were going down to NOLA to pass out lunches and do a little street ministry, and thought it'd be a neat idea to "dress homeless" and attempt to see what it was like as people walked past you.  My wife and I made a sign that said "Please Pray for US" and sat down next to the big catholic church at Jackson Square.  Our plan was to sit for about two hours, and take notes of the reactions we got from others... and honestly, we didn't get much reaction, because nobody at all would look at us!!  Several hundred people passed us that day, several talking about church and God... one woman even talking about how close she felt to God that day... After a few minutes of nobody at all talking to us, it really started to sting a little.  I knew I was going home to a hot meal and a warm bed, yet I still felt ashamed knowing that everyone was thinking "wow look at those people"... About an hour into it, I began realized how hard it was to make eye contact with people... a few children smiled and waved at us throughout the day, which definately brought a brighter touch to the day... After about two hours, we were getting ready to wrap things up... we'd been ignored, talked about, and even heard folks softly repeating with a bit of sarcasm, "pray for us"... Towards the end, we had that little God moment that we'd been waiting for... a group of about three homeless guys walked past us, then suddenly turned around, and knelt down right next to us... they asked if we were ok, told us they really hoped things worked out for us... the youngest of the three said "Man I don't have anything to offer, but you can have the rest of these peanuts", and he held out a half eaten bag of peanuts... Talk about blowing you away!!  He had NOTHING of his own, yet was willing to share with us what little he did have... as they were getting ready to leave, one of the guys patted me on the knee and said "I'll tell ya what man, we'll pray with you... but you have to lead it"... We huddeled up, prayed, and they left... The ONLY group to stop and talk with us, was a group of guys who were not even CHristians, but they were willing to do whatever they could to help us feel a little bit better... It completely broke my heart, in a most amazing way, to know that the only people who offered us prayer and help that day, were not even Christians... After being ignored, very blatantly, for over two hours, I can easily see why someone would turn to alcohol or drugs to get that quick fix... It's defintely time for Christians to step up and take a bigger role... we have something amazing, something beautiful to offer to this world... We know the way to hope and peace and we know what this world needs... it's time to stop thinking that things needs to change... because I honestly believe that the change is us...If your passion is not to get out in the streets and the woods, that's totally fine, but please be in prayer for our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate, because that's definately one thing we can all do!! God bless, GOd love!!