05/30/2023
Jesus Loves You
Our friend, Jacob, is using the simple beauty of Discovery Bible Study to transform NOLA, one soul at a time.
Jacob and his CityLife NOLA team minister to hundreds of homeless people living in tents under concrete bridges in Louisiana's largest city.
“We love it here,” he says of the city founded as a hub for the slave trade, amidst voodoo and pagan shrines. He tells team members that God has strategically placed them in specific neighborhoods to be lights of God’s love in dark places.
Friday mornings in New Orleans, a group of inner city men gather on the concrete driveway in front of Hobo’s one-room apartment. Plastic lawn chairs are arranged in a circle. The men are wearing hats, short sleeves, and sunglasses.
Hobo was homeless, drifting aimlessly under a concrete highway bridge when he and Jacob first met. There have been significant changes in his life since then.
Jacob, CityLife NOLA director, begins the Discovery Bible Study with a question.
“What are you thankful for?” he asks.
“That I’m alive,” comes one answer.
“Thankful the fire didn’t come into my house,” another said, as he describes how a trash can burned outside his apartment window.
Jacob asks another question: “What can we pray for?”
Dan says a cancerous spot on his lung was just discovered. Another asks for prayer for his parents, both of whom just were diagnosed with dementia.
Jacob clicks on his phone and reads Romans 3:23-25. Two others read different versions from their phones. “From what we just read, what do we learn about God?” he asks.
“That we’re unworthy, but He forgives us anyway,” Sidney says.
“That we should be patient with other people,” Leon said. “God sent Jesus to be merciful to us.” Leon said he was able to speak to one of his neighbors about God’s love.
“That’s huge, Leon, because God has placed you in the worst part of New Orleans,” Jacob says.
“He’s fair in all his dealings,” said Ken.
Jacob then asks: “Who can you share this with?” And the follow-up: “What did we earn that we can share with others?”
“Jesus loves you,” one man says.
And just like that, God’s love is being introduced onto the streets of New Orleans. The simple beauty of DBS is that it can be replicated anywhere by anyone – from the wild arid expanses of Africa to humid inner city driveways.