Stepping Stone Mission carried out its ninth "Rehabilitation and Spiritual Training for the Homeless' program. 18 homeless participated in the training, which took place from Feb. 9 to 13 at Daniel Prayer Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia.
This ninth session was titled, "The Intercession of the Holy Spirit," and involved early dawn prayer at 6 AM each morning, and had one seminar in the morning and two in the afternoon and evening each day. The program also involved worship sessions each night, one worship session which included a speaker from Antioch Church in South Korea.
Those who attended shared that the program is always a meaningful experience.
"This spiritual training is the greatest blessing of my life," said Lee Collins, one of those who attended. "Everything we did, and every valuable word that I heard challenged me and made me decide that I want to live the rest of my life to help others who are more in need than I am."
"I got to grow closer to God through this training," said Samuel Walker. "And I was able to understand what the biggest problem of my life was. Thank you."
Shin Young, who came from Korea but is now homeless, said that he, too, had a "great time," and was touched by how much the pastors prepared for this program.
Most of those who attended said that one week was too short and said that they would've wanted to have the training for a minimum of two weeks.
Stepping Stone Mission has been carrying out these programs twice each year, once in February, and once in September. Those who have been trained through the program also become eligible to be nominated as a small group leader for the program, and small groups meet each night throughout the program. On Friday, all of the small groups gather and everyone is able to share thoughts with one another.
Through the nine training programs that have taken place thus far, some 200 leaders have been raised up, and many of those who attended the programs have also been able to come out from homelessness. Many of those who are still homeless but attend the programs gather their own money to cook and give food to the other homeless people around them.
Regular training sessions take place every Wednesday and Friday, from 11 AM to 2 PM. Stepping Stone Mission also offers after school programs for the children of those who are homeless, and also regularly participates in community service programs on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons.
For more information, visit steppingstonemission.net.
