London Mission Trip – We went to Kahaila for coffee and to hear [his] story. After an amazing BBQ lunch (in the UK!), we headed out seeking more opportunities for conversations to have about Jesus. This time, we had the extra resource with us to be able to invite people back to Kahaila the next night for dinner. I was relieved to have something to offer, further connection, but I still felt way more nervous this day. I was looking around the busy shopping area trying to decide who we would talk to. I caught myself questioning what I was doing, how was I making this judgement, was I judging people, and this began to bother me, when, [a woman] approached us.
[She] is a 31-year-old homeless woman. She sells magazines, which are more like small newspapers, to make enough money to stay in a hostel each night. Kahaila is off of Brick Lane, so is [her] favorite hostel. I knew she was preoccupied, with good reason to sell her papers, she approached saying “I promise I am not a beggar or a panhandler, I am trying to earn a wage.” I was so thankful that she approached us, it probably startled her how excited I was that God put her right before us!
I started to tell her why we there and how we believed God had sent her to us. She was in total agreement and was very sweet and gracious to listen to our spill, but I realized again, she had money that she HAD to earn, TODAY. We asked her how much her daily goal was, and she said 6 pounds. We didn’t have cash, but ATMs were right behind us. I immediately knew we should giver her 20. I continued talking to her, telling her how much God sees her and loves her. She said she grew up in foster care in Kent, and was now homeless, trying to eek out a living to get a roof over her head each night.
I invited her to Kahaila’s Wednesday night service and told her we didn’t want to take any of her papers, but that I would like her to bring me one the next night at Kahaila so we could connect her. She gave [my husband] her number. I asked if I could pray for her, [he] and I both put our hands on her shoulders, when we finished praying, I asked if I could hug her and she said yes, yes….after I hugged her, she wanted a hug from [him] as well. She assured us that she would try to come the following night.