Laura, Our Transgender Friend Hits the Bottom

A symbol for transgender people

I was working at our dining room table that overlooks Washington Street when I heard a knock on the door. By the time I had got to the door, the person had already gone and I looked back out the window to see 2 men and my friend Laura. I went out to see what the commotion was about.

When I got down to see them, my friend asked me to take her (she identifies herself as a female though she was born a male)  and her friends to the recycling center across town, the only one that was open. I was a bit hesitant because as I looked at the guys she was with, it was obvious that they were some of the homeless types who usually sleep in the canyons near our apartment. I didn’t know if they would attack me as I drove or something else. Yeah, I had some fear come up, and perhaps it was healthy. But, as I spoke with her and because I had known her for half a year, I believed I could trust her. And so we loaded up my truck and the three of us set off for the North Park recycling center.

 

While waiting for the line to go down, Laura and I had a chat that showed her ill state. She shared with me how she had been sleeping in the canyons for the past several days and had relapsed back in to her meth habit. She had been living with one of the guys and she had just spent the night collecting their recycles to get some cash. He had admitted the money from the recycleables were to help his drug habit, while she said she just needed some money. The tension between them was a bit ripe as they waited for their money from the recycles. After hearing of her past several days, I bought some lunch for her and tried to convince her to go back to her program-based housing.

As the conversation continued, her mental illness, the effects of the drugs, and her sleep deprived state became so obvious. I could tell she was in a really bad place. She started sharing about suicide by cop. I found out what that meant as she described how she wanted to die and would try to use the threat of violence to cause law enforcement to react. She kept saying, “they are coming after me” and that “the police have been told that I am selling drugs, but I am not” and also that “her family was going to disown her if they found out about some of this stuff”. I even learned she was so paranoid and in the dark, that she had a knife on her for protection and she was threatening to use it on the supposed law enforcement coming after her. I encouraged her to surrender her weapon to me.

Laura ended up saying yes to going back to her group housing and so I took her home and dropped her off. It was a week or so later that I heard that after brief stints back on the streets, she moved out of San Diego to work on her drug rehabilitation. I keep forgetting to take the knife out of my truck. I stashed it under my floor mat, perplexed on how to get rid of it. Yet, it is still there and serves as a reminder of the pain someone, a friend in the community is in. She is why we are here. We are here so that the deeply broken might find the One whose love heals deep scarred wounds.

A Delivered Chad and a Hillcrest Prayer Walk

An Introductory Deliverance Story

Chad had just had deliverance performed. He said of that experience that it brought him more freedom than he has ever experienced in 37 years of life. He told of the hours upon hours of intercession and strange bodily experiences as they were removed from him. It was from this experience, that he was ready to learn how to say, “yes to God as much as possible.”

So, he felt the prompting of the Lord to go on a prayer walk one evening, only days after his radical deliverance experience. The stories from that night made my jaw drop and changed my countenance to absolute joy. In this blog post, I wanted to share a couple stories from Chad’s 5-hour prayer walk. God sent him to encounter people in both Pacific Beach and Hillcrest, but here are a couple stories from our mission field.

The Fruitful Prayer walk

It was about 10 am and Chad had already prayed for several people in PB and was now in Hillcrest as the Lord had led him. He was standing under a local store and asking random passerby’s if they wanted prayer and most people said no. He was told by one of those who said no, that there was a guy who needed prayer in a nearby location and so Chad saw him and went to him to see if he needed prayer.

In the process of being with this guy and praying for him another stranger stood above them, listening to them talk. This new stranger asked Chad if he had some pot. Chad told him he didn’t smoke but shared with him what he did have, the Holy Spirit and a desire to pray for him. Chad found out that this guy was a believer, but he didn’t judge the guy based on his peculiar and mind-numbing request. Rather, Chad realized that this guy was just a broken believer who needed a brother. With deep compassion welling up in his heart (I could discern this as he shared the story), he started praying for this guy and asking God to break off addiction from him.

The stranger was thankful and Chad asked him if he wanted to get coffee together. Chad had left his wallet in his car just to trust the Lord for anything he would need that night. Realizing he didn’t have any money, the guy who received prayer offered all the money he had so that they could get coffee together. He gave all he had on him and perhaps had to his name, $5. This guy felt so loved that he shared the substances that bound him in addiction. He also shared the tough experiences he had had. The pain in this man’s neck and back also became a topic of conversation where Chad saw a chance to bless the guy. So, they prayed and the man was HEALED! They sat and ate and talked for about 3 hours that night.

After this divine encounter with this unexpected host, Chad left him and met 2 more guys. These 2 came up to Chad and asked for money for the bus, but what they left with was not only money for the bus, but also some major heart changes. After they asked Chad for the money, Chad was basically saying to them what he had told everyone, “I am a Christian and I believe the Lord has sent me to pray for you, can I do that?” As the conversation progressed, one of these 2 guys mentioned he was a Christian and the other that he wasn’t. As they talked, Chad boldly asked the one guy if he wanted to become a Christian.

This was a divine appointment and in these God-given open door experiences that only God could orchestrate, this guy said he wanted to ask Jesus to be Lord of his life. His friend made an expression that showed he was in awe of what was taking place as he seemed to say in a quizzical yet joyful way, “Chad?!”

Chad proceeded to try and lead this guy into the Kingdom. He asked him if he was sorrowful regarding his sin and if he was willing to turn away from them. This man agreed to the questions and leading of Chad and he was born again. The stranger became part of the family and Chad wrapped his arm around him and welcomed him in to the family. The friend of this new convert said to Chad, “you have blessed us so much tonight, I have to give you something.” As he rummaged around his bag, he pulled out a pair of sandals and gave Chad his own sandals. Chad remembered what the Lord had told him through the deliverance and it symbolized this moment. Chad felt God told him that he would start to wear new shoes from now on and thanks to this encounter he would.

Some Concluding Thoughts About God’s Ability

This prayer night sounded to me like a narrative from the book of Acts as I listened to Chad share the stories from it. The background of Chad’s deliverance also highlighted for me the power of God to do what I could not (go figure).

            God was showing up in Chad’s life when I was desperate and unable to help Chad. It was amazing to see God move where I could not, bringing deep healing in Chad’s heart and also calling him up to the leader and disciple He is calling Chad to become.

Praise the Lord!