My mind is not transitioning into sleep mode, but is instead vividly replaying the encounters that we had yesterday on Sunday's food outreach with Joy Junction's Lifeline of Hope Lunch wagon.

One of our staff prayed and we began dispensing the life-giving supplies. Recipients were visibly grateful, a number of them making a point to come over to where I was standing, address me by name and thank me.

Carefully holding onto their new found possessions, people soon began to disperse. We checked our supplies, and realized that we had depleted our blanket supply and were almost out of coffee. We called back to the office for a driver to come and meet us at our next stop with more supplies.

After a quick Starbucks stop, we made our way onto a park we knew to be frequented by the homeless. I am deliberately vague about some of the locations we go, as I want our visits to be an encouragement to the needy and not result in their lives becoming any more difficult than they are already.

Once in the car, I checked my Blackberry for the latest news on CNN, and was horrified to learn that four police officers had been shot to death while in a coffee shop in East Seattle. While it appears that the shootings were targeted, it made me realize again how close we all are to eternity-and of course just coming out of a coffee shop made the situation seem extra specially poignant. I breathed a quick prayer for the families who had so tragically just lost their loved ones. Their lives would never be the same again.

A few minutes later, we arrived at our next location where a shelter driver had already arrived with the requested additional supplies. Within a few minutes, we were giving out hot coffee, juices and sack lunches.

Despite the bitterly cold weather, and their uncertain and dangerous living conditions, our friends (yes, that's what we count them as now) have a sense of humor. Without a hint of a smile, someone asked if he could park his vehicle at Joy Junction. I explained that was only possible if he was staying at Joy Junction. Laughing, he pointed to the vehicle he was talking about- a big crane that was parked there, presumably in anticipation of work to be done during the upcoming work week. I laughed with him. He had gotten me.

Soon it was time to move on, but not before we all joined hands in the middle of the parking lot and prayed that the Lord in His goodness and mercy would meet the needs of these special folk, who were so alienated from society. Did they realize His grace and love? I'm not really sure, but I hope that through this food outreach they eventually will. I pray much that these dear people will manage to stay alive.

At our next stop we gave sandwiches to a self-admitted heroin addict who said he was ready to get off the street, but a lack of proper identification stopped him from taking advantage of programs which might help him do so. He couldn't come to Joy Junction, since he was shooting up as many as five times a day. Who knows how he got into such a terrible situation? While I suspected his drug addiction could have been initiated by a tragedy or trauma, now wasn't the time to ask. We told him to call one of our case managers, and offered him assistance in obtaining identification so he could get into a detox program.

A few minutes later we encountered a gentleman at the same location, to whom we also offered food. He had been traveling between Santa Fe and Albuquerque for a number of years, ever on the lookout for a safe place to sleep. He said he was planning on going to Arizona in the next couple of weeks. I asked him if we could pray with him. He agreed, so again we all joined hands and turned a scrubby lot into a place of prayer, healing and comfort.

Jesus doesn't say that in order for Him to be with us we have to be in a church building. Rather, His Word says that wherever two or three are gathered in His Name there He is with us. What a wonderful promise that we so often fail to take advantage of. Truly, wherever we prayed that memorable afternoon I was privileged to feel the presence of the Lord.

We next made our way to an area store where the homeless are known to hang out. Getting out of the car, the wind continued to whip through me. How glad I was that I had bought a coat with me. We gave a sack lunch and coffee to a man, who in addition to not appearing to be in the best of health, didn't make a lot of sense when he talked. He took the coffee and the sack lunch and dropped both pretty quickly (in addition to a number of his belongings) in the parking lot. One of our staff bent down to help him retrieve everything.

We then made our way onto the final stop for the day-another local park where I had been with a colleague a few days before, and given out a number of sandwiches and cans of juice. This time the park was much quieter, with only a couple of people around that we could see. We waited a few minutes, and then I told the crew to call it a day.

We had given out about 140 sack lunches, lots of coffee, many juices as well as Bibles, blankets and coats. My mind was in overdrive.

Over dinner later with a friend, and decompressing-or at least attempting to from the day's events- an interesting thought came to me. It could be said there are four types of people in Albuquerque in relationship to what we do. The first group is made up of people who don't think about the homeless other than to consider them as unsightly distractions on the way to wherever they're going.

Then there are those individuals who care about the homeless, and whose kindness and generosity makes possibly the operation of a facility like Joy Junction. Without their prayerful and support we wouldn't be able to continue.

Then of course, there are our clients-the hundreds who stay at and are fed by Joy Junction, and the number of other organizations in Albuquerque who reach out to the marginalized.

We had, however, spent our afternoon with that unseen and many times written off segment of the homeless who rarely make use of the shelters and agencies in Albuquerque. Often unseen, many of these souls for whatever reason are not yet ready to quit the life controlling and addictive substances which hold them cruelly captive.

Without judging these dear souls (believe me, they know they need help), we assist them in whatever way we can. We do what we do because we believe not only is it the right thing to do; it is also a Biblical mandate. I believe that Jesus would delight in showering His love on the same people. With that in mind, will you help us continue?