God of this City

So my friend and I and another newcomer went back to our little park in dowtown Ballard hoping to find the same group of youths. No one was there at 1130am. We walked along and prayed through the park, claiming the territory for Jesus, casting away the darkness and the evils of the environment.

Soon a few homeless guys started gathering. One I will call Watchdog, as he is a believer and each time we've met, he's casually and coolly directed my friend to open her eyes to the illicit activity taking place in the park before our eyes. One guy rolled through our little chatty gathering on a bicycle. He was clean cut and had a backpack. He stopped briefly and had a little interaction with one of the group ("Blue eyes") and rode to another bench. A few moments later, Blue eyes was over there and that's when Watchdog told my friend to take note. Friend hardly needed a tip because she is led by the Spirit and she knew something was up so headed over there. Guy on the bicycle is a drug dealer. So were the other guys at that bench.

Meanwhile, I was really pondering what R had to say and as strong and burly and confident he tried to appear, I saw a fragility in him that appealed my heart to minister. He seemed to be enraptured by our conversation but was hungry and didn't want to miss the cut off time of 12:30 at the soup kitchen up the street. When he went to leave I asked if I could walk with him a little and he agreed. I said some encouraging words and asked if he knew Jesus. He didn't so I introduced him and before our walk was done, he asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life. I gave him a copy of Prison to Praise after praying with him. I was really blessed and I am praying for him. I hope to see him again and offer more encouragement and prayer.

Upon returning to, Blue eyes was alone at the bench and I came up to him as he was gearing up to shoot up. What I mean is just a foot away from me he is sitting with his lighter under the spoon of what he said was heroine and a hypodermic needle next to it. Friend came up just then as I was asking him some things, praying for words in my mind. She said "oh baby, don't do it...don't put that poison in you".....he said he had to, just this once, he had to do because he can't handle the withdrawals and other (yuk) ailments he's suffered before - he just had to do it. We told him Jesus would help him and He would even free him from the addiction AND the withdrawals. He wasn't ready to give it up. He's too afraid. He said he has no family. He was really sad because he has no place to live and he sleeps in the doorway of the church every night. Friend told him how much we care about him and he said "then why don't you come back?" He said "come back tomorrow. Come back EVERY day." He gave us quite a challenge as we finally had to leave him to follow through with his choice of shooting up right there 6 feet from the sidewalk on a bench in broad daylight. We didn't stay to watch. It was sad...but not hopeless. Now Blue eyes has people praying for him. I have faith he is going to be rescued by our Lord.

This morning, my friend went down to the park before church only to discover our (now beloved) Watchdog had been attacked in the night by a gang. His face was slashed and the whole side of his face is swollen and bruised. He got patched up at the hospital and released back to his homelessness very quickly. Could this be an attack of the enemy as we are reclaiming and taking back what belongs to God? Watchdog had an admirable attitude said friend, weeping for him. God bless and protect Watchdog and R and Blue eyes.