The Big James Project

It’s been a few months since James went to heaven, and I’m sure he did. Yes, James did accept Jesus as his Savior. I later learned that on the night he died, he had asked another friend to bring him his Bible, which was found with him.

I can’t bear the thought of a friend being all alone during his last moments here, but you know what? James knew he had friends, and he was comforted by and resting in the word of God. I am comforted by that.

But what about the others?

There are probably 3.5 million homeless people in America alone, according to Wiki. They can be found in most any city in America including your own. We need to reach them all! We’ll come back to the numbers later.

One of the few things that James held on to (for 3 years), was a simple little piece of paper with my name and phone number on it. This got me thinking.

I can’t tell you what this little piece of paper meant to James. But what if? What if a little piece of paper could mean something to someone? What if it could provide just a little comfort, just by having it? What if it was to represent a friend to someone in their time of need? What if it could provide a connection to humanity and help that is all too hard to find in this world? Could just having the little piece of paper bring a sense of belonging, a sense of having a friend, and reduce a sometimes overwhelming sense of loneliness?

Could it really be this simple?

Maybe it’s just a start, but……. What if?

Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is My command: love one another as I have loved you”, and in Matthew 16:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

We all know these commands, and you wouldn’t have read this far if you didn’t have the heart for it, but if you are like me, for most of our lives we don’t really know how to put these commands into practice. Sure, I used to volunteer at the soup kitchen once in awhile, and I give a few dollars to the beggars most of the time, and I dearly love the people at our church, but is this all that Jesus meant?

What if?
What if it was really very simple?
What if all it takes is to carry around a little piece of paper in your wallet that you might just hand to someone some day when the Spirit moves you.

Picture this. What if it was you? What if at your loneliest, darkest moment, when most of the world was ignoring you and your most prized possession was the very shoes on your feet, someone walked up to you and handed you a card that said something like “Hi, My name is Sally Dunhill, and I just wanted you to know that I will be praying for you. And if you want to talk about anything, here’s my cell phone number”.

Wow! Was that a Wow moment for you? It was for me.

Would just that simple act of kindness provide you with just a little bit of comfort? I suggest it certainly might. Would you keep the card? I suggest you quite possibly would. Would it lead to something more?

I need your help! I’m inviting you to join me, right here, right now.

It doesn’t matter if there are 3.5 million or 3.5 billion homeless people in the world because whatever the number is, the consensus is that it’s about 1% of the population. That’s one out of a hundred. Do you see where I’m going with this? If 1 out of 100 of us participates, and befriends a homeless person, then every homeless person in the world would have a friend to reach out to, a friend to show them the Love of Christ, and a friend that just might lead them to eternal life. That is, after all, the ultimate goal of any relationship, isn’t it?

Did I just scare you with the last two sentences? There was a time it would have scared me too! Let me tell you what I have learned. I’m just a guy. I’m not a super evangelist and you don't need to be either. By my own power I have never led anyone to salvation and I never will; only God’s Holy Spirit can do that. It’s not up to us. There, I said it. That takes the pressure off. With that said, we are definitely called to bring the message to everyone everywhere, and we are definitely called to pray for and with each other, and also to Love each other. The rest is out of our control. Now stay with me…..

The goal of the Big James Project is to make this all very simple and to provide all the tools and resources we possibly can to help you on your journey. I don’t want this to be just an idea. My mission is to provide the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How, and to make it as easy and natural as I can.

If you doubt your own ability to be a part of this program, consider this; I felt so "led" to put this together that I had no choice but to follow the lead step by step. If you are here, I assure you, it is for a reason. Keep in mind the words to one of our favorite songs at my church "If God is with us then who could ever stop us". Just say a prayer, send me an email, and take one step at a time.

On this site, God willing, you will find the tips and resources to help you, including handouts for your friends, and we'll even provide the “little pieces of paper” themselves. If all we ever do is hand out the little piece of paper, and say Hi once and a while, I submit to you that in some cases that may be enough. Simple isn’t it? Not really all that scary is it?

Where this takes you from here is up to you and God, mostly God. What I mean by that is that you can push things if you want to with your human will, but no good will come from it without the Holy Spirit leading it to happen. So relax, pray for your new friend regularly, pray for yourself that you can grow closer to God and be a friend to a stranger in need, and let it happen.

How often should I visit them? How often should I pray for them? Should I give them Birthday and Christmas presents? If I see grungy “holey” shoes on their feet, should I pick up a pair at Wal-Mart for 20 bucks for them? Answer: This is all totally up to you and how you feel led in that situation, this is not a competition (See Tips page also).

If this sounds interesting but still seems a little scary to you, you are not alone. Remember this…

Isaiah 42:16
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them”.

Wow! Isn’t that powerful? I submit to you that most every worthwhile thing is scary at first. You’ll be fine.

If ultimately, you don’t feel led to join with us, that’s fine too. Perhaps you can help us by spreading the word of our ministry. Perhaps you could post a link on your Facebook page. Whatever you can do could help to provide a friend to someone in need. But seriously, all we're talking about is giving you some free business cards. No strings.

Jump right in, here’s what you do right now:

1. Go to the Blog Updates tab, Click on "comments", say whatever you want, but at least say “Sign me Up! I want to be a Friend!” You can do it anonymously if you want to.
2. Email me here, and provide your name, address, and cell#. I assure you it’s confidential and I will not call. It’s only for the following. (and updates if that's ok)
3. I will mail you, free of charge of course, 2 business cards (little pieces of paper), like the one shown above for you to carry with you. If you want more than that just put a number in your e-mail, 4,6,10 etc.
4. Visit our Tips page to familiarize yourself with how to deal with Homeless people, and much more.
5. When the Spirit leads you to someone in need, you hand them the card. That’s it for starters. You may also give them one of our hand-outs at this time, or soon afterward.
(It would be great at this point to say, “I just wanted to let you know that I will be praying for you, and I will be available for you if you want someone to pray with, or if you just want to talk”. You’ll be surprised how many people just want a prayer.)
6. Report back to the Blog Updates page and let us know that you handed out a card. Please do not be bashful here; it’s an important part of the job, you can do it anonymously if you want to. Not only will this encourage the rest of us, and allow us to track our progress, but most importantly, it will allow us all to pray for you and your friends. During my days at the Mission, there was great camaraderie and much to learn from each other, it’s a great place just to hang out. Think of this site as our Mission hang out, the blog format will allow us to ask questions and offer answers and support to each other, or just hang out.
7. Last but not least, pray for all of us and all our friends involved in the Big James Project. This is more important than you might imagine.

1 John 5:14
Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.

Right now there's only a couple of homeless guys I keep in touch with, Peter and Johnathan (I didn't feel right using their real names, so I changed them, please pray for them anyway, God knows who they are).

Thank you for joining and may God Bless you on your journey.
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