Our Mission building has a wonderful history!
Before we started to rent it, it had been an Italian restaurant. I met the owner a handful
of times before I became homeless. When I was homeless, I would approach him and ask him
for 25 cents worth of spaghetti when I was very high and very hungry. He
would invite me in, and as I sat with his wife, he would feed me a feast. At these times I
would actually start to get warmed up, and I feel cared about. 15th Street has
always been the safest block in Coney Island to me. As I pushed my shopping cart, filled
with bottles and cans to redeem, I would always go up and down this block. I was always
ashamed and would walk on the opposite side of the street from the restaurant. Sometimes
though, I would stop and longingly look into the windows. I never could have imagined that
the Lord had prepared that building for Salt and Sea Mission. The only place I had
ever begged for food while I was homeless became the place where we serve people
daily—feeding them spiritually and physically.
This building, however, costs $2500.00 a month in rent and we are
responsible for all repairs. You can see by the pictures how dilapidated it is. The roof
is actually detached from the sides! Our last roof repair was done by Pastor Mike
Masters and his group from Indiana. Two days later it was leaking again. We now have
gaping holes in our Sunday School room, upstairs kitchen and living room. My office lights
can’t even be turned on because the water pours through the electrical wires. It
seems as if we call the plumber each month. Thousands have been spent. We’ve
gotten a new water heater and repaired our boiler. It again needs repair work, and as I
write this we have frozen pipes, broken radiators, and no water. It seems such a waste, to
me, to keep spending money on repairs. I know the next step is to buy a building—an
investment for the Lord, not for someone else.
