Stories From the Ministry Van

The Ministry Van was driving down 107 ave one evening when we were approached by a young man who flagged us down. His name was David and he told us he was on his way to purchase heroin, he didn’t want to do it but he was doing it anyway. He asked us to pray with him. A couple of weeks later we received a phone call from a friend of ours who was at the Royal Alex Hospital to pray with people. He said that David came up to him when he saw that our friend was wearing a Christian Motorcyclist's vest and it reminded him of the patch that Ed wears. David told him that we had prayed with him and he had not bought the heroin that day and was still clean. Another couple of weeks passed and we ran into David again by the Mission. He told us he was still clean. The reason he had been at the hospital when our friend saw him was because his dealer had severely beaten him when he would no longer buy his product. His face had to be reconstructed because almost all of the bones were broken. Doctors had to fashion a plastic piece to hold his eye in place because the socket was destroyed. But he was still clean!

When the weather began to turn cold last November we picked up a man-down who was wet and very cold and transported him to a shelter. We met him by the Mission the next day and he said, "I believe in God because He sent you to me and you saved my life."

Last year when the van was cruising the downtown area around midnight we came across a man-down in a doorway. He was not simply sleeping it off, he had been stabbed. Medical personnel said that he was near death and would not have lasted much longer if he had not been found.

Another man-down was found severely beaten on a sidewalk near the Herb Jamieson building. Ministry Van personnel were again first on the scene.

A couple of years ago the Ministry Van was patrolling the River Valley where homeless people camp. A man’s tent caught fire and our staff pulled him to safety, undoubtedly saving his life.

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.