HOPE is a ministry of
Jefferson Street Baptist Center
733 East Jefferson Street | Louisville, KY 40203
CONTACT US
Email: hope@jeffersonstreet.orgPhone: 502.584.6543
Fax: 502.584.4377
HOPE is about relationships.
It’s about Christians building substantial everyday relationships with the homeless and the urban poor. It’s not about pity or charity. It’s about mutuality. It’s about building “strange” and “uncommon” relationships with other people. It’s about responding to scripture’s calling to “seek the good of others”. It’s about allowing the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to live out the two greatest commandments.
Without fail, we see God use HOPE to change the trajectory of people’s lives forever.
One such case involves our friend Tom. Tom came to JSBC almost 7 years ago. Diagnosed with mental illness and struggling with a substance abuse problem, Tom withdrew from the world. He became a recluse and rarely left our building. He would pay his friends and other residents to run his errands for him. For Tom, the world was a scary place full of people that would hurt him and take advantage of him. It just seemed easier to stay in the building.
The first year that the HOPE Program began, our Team Members and Tom quickly forged strong friendships. For Tom, they became a source of consistent love and support and comradery. They regularly prayed for Tom, talked to Tom about Jesus and shared the day to day ups and downs of their lives with him. Week after week, they invited Tom to go out to lunch with them. Over and over again, he said no. But they never stopped showing up and they never stopped asking. Eventually one week they asked again and Tom said, “Sure… I guess I’ll go.” And so Tom began to leave the building with them to go out to lunch week after week.
Fast forwarding to today, Tom goes out to lunch with his friends on a regular basis. He also goes out to explore his new hobbies of bowling and pool. (Our HOPE Team Members turned him on to these.) If you ask Tom if he’s a Christian, he’ll tell you no. And yet Tom comes to Bible Study almost every day and he even attends church from time to time. Why? Because he knows that Christians love him and care about him. We see God moving in his life because of Christian young adults showing up and loving Tom.
God often uses HOPE to change the trajectory of Team Member’s lives forever as well. They might still be aiming to be a doctor, a college professor, a social worker, church planter, or teacher, but they’ll be a different kind of doctor, college professor, or church planter. They’ll have a deeper understanding of why God seems to love the underdog so much. The hope is that they will have the insight and desire to use their gifts with Kingdom priorities in mind.
This is a radical opportunity for you to come love the homeless and urban poor. This is a chance for you make a difference one life at a time. This is a chance to meet Jesus as he ministers to our city. This is a chance to build his Kingdom in the city.
Jesse Eubanks
HOPE Director
