Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 19:39:59 GMT

Isaiah 58 Ministries reaches out to the homeless and hungry in Grants Pass, Oregon. As the newspaper headline reads. . . "No sermon before they eat" . . . Isaiah 58 believes that no one should be forced to listen to a sermon before they are aloud to eat. Rabbi John says "these are hurting & hungry people with no where to go and the reason most of them are here is because the local missions require them to listen to a sermon or they do not get to eat! We love on them and show them compassion and respect, fill their bellies and then offer prayer to those that want it. And to be honest with you, most of them want prayer and most of them are willing to hear Gods Word, but it's extremely different story when they are hungry. Once they see that we are real and have a genuine compassion for them they open up and in return respect us and Gods Word. We allow the light to shine through us and then eventually they start to see the love of Christ. We have seen God do some amazing miracles physically and spiritually with these people just by loving on them and not by forcing them."

"Park Ministry"

"Dental Van Outreach"

Other than feeding the homeless there are other ways to reach out and help the needy. Many are not aware of a resource that is often overlooked and it is blessing to the needy. Roaming around the Pacific Northwest in a 40 foot RV is a traveling Dental Van that offers its services to communities to help the homeless and low income families. This RV is set up with 3 dental chairs that are capable of most minor dental work, x-rays, fillings, pulling teeth, etc. The RV is more than willing to come and help in all communities around the Northwest.

Rabbi John took it upon his self to track down this van and arrange for it to come to Grants Pass to offer its services to the needy. The RV is usually stationed in Portland and they were more than happy to drive 250 miles to Southern Oregon to help out. All they required was that we found 2-3 local Dentists in our town to volunteer their skills for the day. John went to work and soon he had 3 dentists more than willing to come help out. A local business "A Cup of Trembling" a Christian coffee shop allowed us to use his place of business to arrange and organize the peoples appointments and to also act as a waiting room, and he allowed the RV to set up shop in his parking lot.

We began getting the word out on the streets 4 weeks in advance that Isaiah 58 was offering this service for whoever needed the help. The response was overwhelming. The Coffee shop was full of hurting and aching people that were desperate for help.

The day went off without a hitch; many were relieved of their pain and were so grateful that John put this all together for them. The dentists loved helping out and are ready for the next time we bring the RV back. Just seeing the community come together and work together added a little bonus on top of helping out the needy.

"Dental Van"

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006