Pastor to the Homeless, Rudy Rasmus
January 8, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller
Pastor Rudy Rasmus is not your average pastor. His church is filled with 9,000 people, and a third are homeless. This is an excerpt from a recent press release:
The Rasmus family planned to rebuild the church and awaken the spirits of street dwellers who were otherwise forgotten, jobless, impoverished and addicted. Instead of shunning them away, Rudy and Juanita invited them inside, offering them a safe haven and a place of refuge. Many who suffered from mental illness, drug addictions and AIDS were offered hot showers and nourishing meals.
“The biggest misconception many people have about homeless people is that they’re lazy…There is no way you can be lazy and survive the streets. (The streets are) harsh, cold and brutal. Imagine this: You don’t have any money; you don’t have any resources; everything you own is with you and you’re literally moving your apartment every day. That is not a lazy person’s practice. A lazy person is a person who has resources and doesn’t use them.”
The downtrodden, once mistakenly identified as lollygaggers, found a friend in “Pastor Rudy” as he opened his heart and mind to them, listening attentively to their stories. He and Juanita soon founded Bread of Life, Inc., which currently feeds 7,000 men and women monthly. They eventually added Daybreak Community Health Facility, which provides rehabilitation for drug addicts and AIDS patients. St. John’s Academy for the inner city’s at-risk children and Touch 1 followed suit.
From Suzie: Go to Pastor Rudy’s website to find out more about Pastor Rudy, his church, and his anti-hunger initiative, as well as listen to stories from those changed by God’s love.
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