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 God's Love is Special Out Here
On a crisp October morning, a Hope Ministries Service and Mission Team (SAM) makes its way through the woods to a homeless tent camp where Don, aka Cowboy (pictured here), stops his work to greet them and chat for a moment.
Don and his friends are winterizing a hooch—a shelter made from salvaged materials. He talks to the team in no-nonsense terms. “It’s a hard life out here,” he says. Then he reminds them, “No matter what circumstances you are in, God is there, too. Jesus works in the most unseemly places.”
Hope Ministries’ staff escorts several SAM Teams to tent camps like this one every week. The groups bring groceries and other supplies to camps along the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. Each visit includes a group prayer and often singing. Don has become so familiar with the teams that last summer he presented their guide, David Burrier (pictured left), with an unusual gift—a rag doll.
“I read the book Ragman,” Don explains. “It’s a depiction of Jesus walking through the slums trading what He has for people’s rags. Compassion is the willingness to take on the affliction of others. The doll reminded me of that.”
A former chaplain, Don is articulate, educated and hardworking. So why is he living in a tent camp? “I wanted time out from my job and decided to camp in a tent for a month or two. Then Redman came here and God spoke to my heart. Redman’s younger than me, but looks like he’s in his 70s. He spent a lot of time in prison; he’s been shot, knifed and can’t walk too well. No one could handle him or find him a place to live … he’s kinda grumpy,” Don concludes, laughing.
Don feels he can’t leave the camp until Redman has a safe place to stay. Thankfully, Don’s boss values his work and even transports him to and from his job each day.
Several times each week, Don and his tent camp friends come to Hope Ministries’ Hope Café to get meals for themselves and others at the camp. He’s grateful Hope Café fills this need, and appreciates that our SAM Teams educate the community about homelessness. “There’s drugs, alcohol and some abuse out here,” he admits, “but there are also folks with cancer and other problems. You need to see how people live down here.”
SAM Team volunteers bring Christ’s love and warm words of encouragement to the homeless in tent camps. When camp residents are ready to leave that lifestyle and start new lives, they know where to go—Hope Ministries.
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