Today’s post comes from two of our talented ‘Lord’s Lens’ photographers, John and Brooke Davis who are based out of Mobile, AL. With their heart set on doing God’s work these two have started their own ministry, reaching out to those who need it most in their community. Not only would we love to share their mission for God’s glory (along with their amazing images), but we also hope that it might inspire you to find ways you can help others as well.
Isaiah 58:7 says “…to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out. When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh.” To Brooke and I, the starters of Kingdom of the Poor, that means exactly what it says. Our goal with Kingdom of the Poor is everything that Isaiah 58:7 says. To feed the hungry, to give people our house to stay at, to give clothes to the naked, and really just to restore dignity to those whom society have taken it away. In doing this, our main goal is to please the heart of God.
So many people just create ministries and take time out of their days to serve people and help someone, and though that is a good thing, we are trying to do even more than that. We don’t want to just create a ministry, our heart is to live a lifestyle of Jesus Christ and in that we do serve the homeless and help the needy. If Kingdom of the Poor serves as an outlet to help others get involved every once and a while that is okay, but we want to be something that shows people how Jesus wants us to live our lives on a daily, 24/7 basis.
One of the main things we do is serve our friends in Tent City. This is a place in the woods where about 30 homeless folks live and have camps in which they live in tents made up of tarps and umbrellas and string. We have been starting a church down there in the woods and really just trying to become best friends with these guys and being Jesus to them. So far we have seen 5 people get out of the woods and into homes and get jobs. We are super excited to see what God is going to continue doing through us and others that believe in living like Jesus, no matter what that means. – -John Martin Davis, starter of Kingdom of the Poor.
This is a picture of our friend Detroit. He has been living out in Tent City for about 4 years, been to jail 3 times during his stay out there, and has been hospitalized 2 times. This is our main picture that we use for Kingdom of the Poor. In this picture Detroit is laying on his bed made of two shopping carts that are on their sides pushed together with blankets on top of them. He was pretty knocked out here because his had just gotten back from the hospital for a cut on his side that got infected. Detroit is 35.
This is another picture of Detroit standing up. If you notice the massive scares on his side, that is the cut I was talking about on the previous picture. He had 30 or more staples in his side after he was cut with a box opener while breaking up a fight in Tent City between his best friend or “street brother” and Otis, husband of Ms. Fea, a couple who also live in Tent City. This was the second time Detroit had been cut with a box opener, the first stretched from his chest to his back.
This is Curly. They call him curly because of his curly hair. The first time I met curly he had a beard that went down to his stomach, it was super legit, but then he was arrested for walking the streets at night, which is a new ordinance in Mobile for the homeless, and they cut it off in jail. Curly is the best friend of Detroit, and wherever you find Detroit, you will find Curly. Curly is 34.
In Tent City dogs are everything to everyone. What I mean by that is that since they have no material items they take care of their dogs like they are their children. In this picture you see Bruiser standing by those boots and legs, which is Mike, his owner. Bruiser is probably the most loyal dog I have ever met, he follows Mike around everywhere and is very protective of their camp. Mike will feed Bruiser before he feeds himself.
This is Mike; he is 41 and is literally always joking. Most likely he will not be wearing a shirt just because of the heat and is always looking out for everyone in Tent City. Mike is the first person I met in Tent City and whenever we go out there he never lets us leave with him praying for us and thanking God for “angels” to come help them.
This is our friend Daniel who lives in Hattiesburg, MS who comes down often to help us out, in this picture we are all walking into Tent City through the trail that comes out at the road. Everyone has on a back pack because we were giving away backpacks full of stuff that day.
This is a site you see all over Tent City. Random chairs that people sit in to chill or even call their beds. This chair was sitting at an abandoned camp probably because the person was arrested and hasn’t been let out yet.
This is Mr. Robert and I. I am giving him a new backpack with a lot of stuff that he will need on the day that we did our Mobile Backpack Drive. Mr. Robert is around 50 but he won’t tell us his real age he just says “I’m over the hill”. Mr. Robert is a loaner, and is always just riding around on his bike, but goes to church every Sunday and is always talking about how God is blessing him, even in the mist of poverty.
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