Their name was chosen because no one really wants to go to Skid Row. Similar to Jonah, there are many ministries that are there filling obligations, and in one respect, missing out on what really changes lives... Relationships.
The ministry of the Jonah Project is one that centers on relationship and love. You will not find them handing out anything but some clothes on occasion, maybe some sandwiches or candy, even coffee. Most of what they do is preach the Word of God and love on the homeless. This was exemplified in the life of one lady in particular. Her name is Theresa.
Theresa was, for 30 years (since she ran away at 12), a prostitute. She was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. Hooked on heroin and crack, she turned tricks in the port o potties on Skid Row. That's where Mary and Patrick found her. They went out to preach and share the love of Jesus on the row and that is where they found her.
Theresa was not only a victim of multiple lifetimes worth of sexual abuse from the time she was young, but of Skid Row itself. As she put it, she had become comfortable. It was too easy to waste money on drugs when you could eat for free and get blankets and a place to stay. She spoke easily of her turmoil and strife while living on the street. As though she were telling the introduction to a beautiful novel about overcoming and being remade.
The day that Patrick and Mary (one of the couples that runs the Jonah Project) found Theresa on the street, they gave her two things she needed badly. No excuses, and Jesus' love. They told her that God loved her, and began living it out over time. Finally, during one conversation, she said she wanted to have Jesus. Right then she changed. She began showing up the The Jonah Project everyday, serving and helping in the ministry and stopping everything she had been doing. No more prostitution. No more drugs. No more lying. She now has a new policy regarding her speech. If it's not kind, necessary, or true, it doesn't come out of her mouth.
She share about how she was baptized right there in Skid Row; the middle of the street. She told of how she had bought the lies and told the lies, and how the mighty hand of God delivered her from the horrible life she was leading. At one point, she had lied so much about her age, and having had all her belongings stolen (id, and other stuff) that she thought she was in her late 50s. Once a social worker was able to track down her identity, she learned that she was actually 12 years younger!!!
She was saved just over two years ago. She now works doing in home care for the sick, has her own apartment, and just this Monday received her first paycheck ever! She had only been a prostitute her entire life. What an amazing story!! I was frequently, as I am now while I write this, moved to the point of tears as I heard her story. How often do we miss out on what God is doing in this world because we don't want to look at or deal with someone like Theresa?
This was a day that will be etched in my memory for a long time. Mary, Theresa, and the rest of the Jonah Project, you have changed my life and I thank you, as do our students.
-E
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