JOY Stories

 

Paul

Showering grace to those in need


As a man in my mid-40s, I was challenged in my faith. A believer since high school, I thought I had my faith journey pretty well established. I was missing something, however, that was so important. There’s a section of Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about providing for the needs of the poor, who the Bible calls, “the least of these.”

The Lord was separating people into two groups, sheep and goats. Goats were the ones who refused or neglected to care for the poor. What gripped my heart was that I was one of them. I spent a sleepless night praying that God would change my heart and He did. My family and I started serving meals to people experiencing homelessness and we soon realized, if we were going to have a conversation about faith, we were going to need to begin building relationships.

One day, as I was scrolling through my news feed, I saw a truck with a shower and I wondered, “Could we do something like this for our unhoused friends?” In that moment, God spoke to my heart. After some back and forth with God, I told my wife that I felt like He wanted us to provide showers for the unhoused and ShowerUp was born.

The goal of ShowerUp is to provide access to mobile showers, hygiene, and personal care for anyone in need. We use showers as a “handshake” to start a relationship. We have seen people get jobs, move into housing, complete rehab, restore broken connections to family, and find deeper faith. There have been so many “God stories” along the way. I’ll never forget that morning when I argued with God. Our whole family, our church, and so many others have been a part of showering grace, hope, and love to those in need.

ShowerUp is a reminder that what I am doing for these friends, I’m actually doing for the Lord. I want to be a sheep. Sheep listen to the voice of the Shepherd and they follow Him.

Photos for Paul

 

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