The most appealing portion of coming to work at SAMMinistries rested on the fact that this is a mission field.  While friends of mine travel to Haiti, Africa, Mexico, and Utah on mission trips that cost thousands of dollars but make for good photos, great stories, intriguing experiences, and encouraging testimonies, SAMMinistries provides, serves, and sleeps hundreds of men, women, and children everyday that are in desperate need of local support.

I have always been more interested in the spiritual aspect of this organization.  I love, for instance, the fact that our foundation of volunteers come from congregations that host church services on a nightly basis at the shelter.  I appreciate the that the women at the Emergency Shelter requested volunteers come into the facility to pray with them or for them in the dark and restless evening hours.  I stand firmly behind the ideology that our core of volunteer opportunities promotes relationships between residents and community members.

It surprises me still when I talk to volunteer Buddy Johnson from Silo Baptist Church in Oklahoma.  Buddy has brought volunteers to SAMMinistries every summer for more than 10 years.  In our most recent conversation about Buddy's June 2010 visit, he mentioned that he recently received a letter from a former resident of SAMMinistries.  The letter spoke of how the woman and her family were doing and mourned the fact that she may never see Buddy and friends again as she has relocated outside of San Antonio.  She rejoiced in her victories in life and praised Buddy and his church for their support over summer's past.

Buddy visits San Antonio along with 20 members of his church and they dedicate one week to serving the homeless in San Antonio.  In that time they have built multiple relationships with our residents and former residents; Relationships that last.  Relationships founded on love, ministry, and faith.  While we as the Church rejoice in the work that is International Missions, we should also recognize that our lives are lived in a mission field, where every day there is a battle to be won.

The Point In Time Count came out this week recording 3,580 men, women, and children homeless in San Antonio.  That single statistic is a calling, laid at the feet of San Antonio, pleading for help!