Uniting The Body Of Christ To Reach The World !!
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In early 1995, I had a vision to bring Christians of different denominations and backgrounds together for a one-night prayer service. On September 29, 1995, along with the Zion Prayer Band of Ardmore; we held an all night worship and prayer service from 10:00 PM till 4:00 AM. The service was based around the theme of Gideon from the 6th & 7th Chapter of the Book Of Judges who chose 300 men to fight against the Midianites. That night 300 Christians came together, unconcerned of their separate ways they practiced their faith; but focused on the commonality they had in Christ, and their desire to pray for the needs of others.
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| Youth Volunteer Gives Fork & Napkin To Homeless Person For His Evening Meal |
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It was Father’s Day 1996. My wife and I had just come out from seeing a play at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia. There he was, Mr. Jones, he called himself. A dark skin man with long hair that had not been combed for a while. For a shirt he rapped a torn blanket half way around him exposing his skin that stretched across his meatless ribs. His pants were stained and to hold them up was a rope that he had found.
We talked with Mr. Jones sharing with him the love of Jesus Christ that evening. He asked if we had anything to give. My wife Shandai reached in her purse and found forty cents. We gave him the forty cents and talked to him for about 15 to 20 minutes. He asked me did I have a testament? It took a moment but I finally realized he meant a bible. I had only my own personal study bible, but I promised him I would bring him one the upcoming week. I told him that we wish we could have given him more. I will never forget the words he told us before we left that night. He gently replied, “But You Considered Me.”
A couple of days later, I rushed home from work and Shandai and I made about forty bagged sandwiches. We put them in bags with a piece of fruit and a drink. We left the house around 7pm and headed into Center City to the corner of Broad and South; that’s where he told us he would be. We gave him two of the bagged lunches and the Bible he asked for. We proceeded to walk the streets of Center City passing out bagged lunches to homeless people in need of food.
At the end of my evening we came to 16th & The Benjamin Franklin Parkway and saw 10 homeless people sitting on benches and we only had 5 bagged lunches left. We began to pass them out not knowing what would happen; they began to divide them amongst themselves. We never saw Mr. Jones again, but we see the smile he had on his face that night every time we see the smile of another homeless person we reach.
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| Homeless Persons Stand In Line for Meal At 16th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway |
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For the next few Wednesday evenings we continued to go into Center City Philadelphia to pass out bagged meals to homeless people. Within one month we had increased the number of meals to 100. We began to tell the homeless to meet us at 16th & The Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia so we could begin serving full course meals on Wednesday nights. Chicken was the meat of choice along with potatoes, mac & cheese, string beans, salad, bread, desert and a drink. I became affectionately known as The Chicken Man.
Since that Tuesday in 1996 we have now distributed more than 90,000 meals a year to the homeless of Center City Philadelphia; There are now 65 Churches and organizations, from different denominations & races that are part of the Chosen 300 Alliance to feed the homeless in Center City Philadelphia and around the world including India, Nigeria, Guyana, South Africa, & Jamaica. We have also established a Prison Outreach Program in Montgomery County & Delaware County Prisons; and are the lead sponsors in two local Basketball Mentoring Programs.
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