I want to apologize for not contacting you folks about Anawim and our work for a while.  This year has been insane, and the months from August on, doubly so.

We were deeply involved in the moving of 500 homeless folks from the Springwater corridor. And we and all the advocates with us have been exhausted since.  Later this week we will give you a chance to hear a conversation between Steve and another homeless advocate who participated in that.

We also discovered that someone has been using the Sanctuary property, that we have been assisting managing for years now, as a central point to distribute meth.  After this news, we shut down quickly and have been working at restructuring and cleaning the property up so this wouldn’t happen again.  For right now, we have no central services or day shelters.  This is, hopefully, temporary.  But we need to make sure that our property and neighborhood and those who come for compassion and support are safe.

But we haven’t stopped working.  We are distributing food to camps and establishing more sites for showers and clothing distribution.  We want to be available, especially for those whom we moved in the recent sweeps.

As well, Steve and other advocates are on trial for protesting at Gresham city hall earlier this year.  The trial begins today, on Monday.  We will update you about this.

What we ask from you, right now, is prayer.  Please pray for the future of the Sanctuary property.  Please pray for the outcome of the trial.  And most of all, please pray for the continued peace of those on the street.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace.