Buses take ministry to the streets
Dozens turn out for help and counsel
Every Friday night, a colourful 68-passenger bus parks behind a Saskatoon credit union and opens its doors to visitors. The bus is part of Love Lives Here Bus Ministry, a parachurch initiative that brings food, clothing and the love of Christ to the city’s core neighbourhood.
Love Lives Here Bus Ministry started in Winnipeg in 1985 as a charitable organization to reach out to drug addicts and prostitutes. Within a short time, it had established branch ministries in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Bruce Wiebe heads up the Love Lives Here Bus Ministry, which Perry Hubick brought to Saskatoon when he became pastor of Life Outreach Church in 2008. He had been formerly involved with the ministry in Regina.
Every Friday, 10 to 15 volunteers from various city and area churches meet at Wiebe’s home for prayer and preparation, and then take the bus to its credit union location. Wiebe says the volunteers are mostly collegeage people, plus some from the workforce.
“They see it as an opportunity to reach out to children and adults in need,” he said. “We have a good solid team, and the five in leadership are very committed.”
From 9:30 p.m. to midnight, volunteers hand out soup, sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and sweets to people from the area. The food comes from businesses, private individuals, churches and the Christian community. One Warman woman considers it her ministry to donate sandwiches every week. The team also hands out things like knitted scarves and gloves.
Wiebe said the focus of the ministry is building relationships with people.
“Sometimes volunteers will meet with patrons during week for coffee and conversation. We also host a Bible study and prayer time, and have a bit of a children’s ministry going as well,” he said.
“Up to 40 per cent of those who visit the bus pretty much spend (the) whole evening there. The bus hardly holds them all. In summer, we do barbecues at the stationary bus. We get over 100 visitors then.”
The mobile ministry has another vehicle, “a 30-passenger decommissioned bus done up as a coffee house with the seats turned sideways,” Hubick said.
Under his supervision, the mobile bus goes out on Friday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to midnight or 1 a.m. with food, coffee and clothing. The bus parks in a half-dozen different locations.
“We’ll see anywhere from 10 to 60 people on a Friday night,” Hubick said. “Some are people just landed in the city. They’re sleeping on a relative’s sofa, or in a Dumpster or under the bridge, or looking for an unlocked car where they can spend the night. We try to find a safe place for them.
“Maybe we’ll see girls standing on the corner. We’ll stop and offer them food and coffee. The only time they’re unwilling to come in is if they have a pimp threatening or intimidating them. Some will spend half the night in our bus. They don’t want to be on the streets, but they’re threatened, coerced, forced to do what they do. If they’re aboriginal, they may have come from the reserve and ended up in a gang house where they’re forced by brothers or uncles to work in family prostitution.
“We also have people show up who are on parole or just out of jail, or people wandering the streets. We get to know them and try to help with clothing, food hampers, blankets and basic necessities.”
Or maybe, Hubick said, someone has just had a hard week and wants to sit down and talk or vent.
Depending on the time of month and the season, the number of people who use the ministry every Friday varies. Wiebe said there is a predictable cycle each month: once social assistance cheques run out, people get desperate and head for the streets to sell drugs or themselves.
“We’ll pray with them, and we always try to share the Gospel,” Hubick said. “We’ll direct them to a shelter or detox centre if they need that kind of help. A lot of times it’s a girl with a little child who needs diapers or formula or food. We try to help with that, too. We talk to them about the dangers on the street and try to connect them with agencies, including churches, where they can get help and even skills training.”
Hubick said the ministry is always in need of clothing, food, Bibles, Christian tract literature and financial donations.
For more information, visit www.lovelivesheresaskatoon.com.