The Homeless Church

Evan and April Prosser had a vision fifteen years ago.  That vision led them to the pavement of San Francisco living on the streets in a converted bus they had bought for $1,750.  Their vision was not one of ministering too the poor, but rather living amongst them, they moved into areas of town where many homeless folks lived, where other mobile-homeless lived in their cars and run-down RVs.

The Homeless Church bus

inside The Homeless Church bus

The Prosser’s started The Homeless Church of San Francisco which is not a service to the homeless, but a church that the homeless can be a part of.  Homeless men and women become regular attendees who worship with Evan as he plays the violin, and listen to Pastor Evan as he shares a message from the Word just like any other church on a Sunday morning, except his pulpit isn’t in front of the baptistery and drum set, but is next to two huge head sculptures near a busy downtown San Francisco street.

The Homeless Church @ Embarcadero Ave.

There is no paid staff at The Homeless Church, and all donations and proceeds are used to make meals for the Sunday services, paying the utility bills at their transitional home, and doing other services for the poor throughout the week.  The most amazing thing I may have witnessed on our entire journey was when Pastor Evan took an offering towards the end of the service.  I thought to myself, “how are these people going to give anything, they are poor, they are destitute.”  Countless men and women walked up and put whatever they had into the hat.  I sat back in teary-eyed amazement in the power of our lovely God.  Back at the transitional home that the Prosser’s now live at called the Grace Healing Home, I nearly started to cry again as Evan explained the world map on the wall of their dining room that had pictures of missionaries with yarn stretched to the location of their mission in the world.

The Homeless Church supports eight different missionaries on four different continents.  The Homeless Church pledged to support one missionary in the Dominican Republic with $200 a month.  That would be about $50 a week.  For a few weeks Pastor Evan encouraged the congregation to collect cans and bring them to the service.  The first collection they took they collected $14 (not in cans, but cash!) for the missionary, the next week $29, then $51.  They are now collecting over $100 a week for this missionary, which if you do the math is over $400 a month – much more than the $200 a month that was pledged.  How many churches in this “economic crisis” are giving more than they pledge to give?

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

The Prosser’s obedience has allowed the Lord to work through them in powerful and yet simple ways; bringing boxes of food to homeless camps under the bridges; having a church service on Embarcadero Avenue on Sunday mornings and another on Mission Avenue on Sunday afternoons; opening the Grace Healing Home where homeless men who are sick (medically as well as spiritually) can come to find peace of mind in Christ Jesus; Nightstrikes, where a group goes downtown to serve soup to about 70 homeless living in cardboard boxes and next to dumpsters; as well as a multitude of other small and seemingly insignificant things that in our eyes have little impact, but have a huge impact on the Kingdom of God.  You see, Evan and April believe that the fire of God is on the streets, not in the four walls of the traditional church.  It is time to get out of the walls and go meet the lost and the broken where they are at.  Although Jesus spent some time in the Temple [even though most of the time was spent with a whip in hand], most of His time was spent on the dirt roads of Galilee, the 1^st century version of Embarcadero Avenue.

Avery with Grace Healing Home residents Cameron, Alfredo and Pastor Evan

April and Serenity