TONY
While doing street evangelism on Venice Beach we felt drawn off the boardwalk to a homeless camp. There we met Tony and his two friends. After hearing their stories, we were able to share ours and share about Jesus. All three people wanted to pray and accept Jesus as their Lord & Savior.
As the outreach was ending and we were doing baptisms in the ocean, we saw Tony walking the beach; he realized it was us and decided to be baptized right then!
The more we heard Tony's story, the more we realized we had resources for his success and desire to get off the streets. One of our partnering pastors in Venice Beach has a men's home and Tony was gladly welcomed into the community upon approval.
We have since stayed in contact with Tony and recently found out that he has now re-located to Portland, Oregon, has a full time job, and is pursuing Jesus.
SHANTANAY
At our first event in Venice Beach, while Ben was DJing this young girl came by to see what we were doing. She chatted with Ben for a moment, but then came and spoke to me (Carissa). She had tears in her eyes and repeatedly commented on how beautiful the music was. I asked her name (Shantanay) and told her that she is beautiful and that Jesus loves her. To which, she cried even more. Upon further conversation is what clear that she had previously had an encounter with Jesus, but somewhere along her path, she'd wandered away. I asked and confirmed with her that she had surrendered her life to Jesus and asked if she wanted to be baptized. She asked to rededicate her life and wanted to be baptized. As we walked to the water's edge, we continued to get to know her. She shared openly about some very unfortunate things that had happened to her and how she so badly wanted her life to change. We prayed and ministered to her before and after she was baptized. Though we exchanged contact information, we have not been able to reach her since the day we met her. We continue to pray for God's favor and protection over her, wherever she is.