This is perhaps one of the simplest and yet most helpful ministries of all. The cost is moderate but infrequent. Here is how it works.
Lets say it’s been raining hard for a few days. If you are homeless and living in a tent you are most definitely getting wet and miserable as each day of rain passes. Also, you are not able to panhandle to get money for food or anything else. You are stuck where you are. I have personally seen homeless men in wheelchairs sitting under overpasses for as long as 3 days straight waiting for the rain to pass. Wet, cold and miserable. (I helped them)
So here is what you do. You save up your dollars when its not raining. Try to put together around $40 – $60 dollars. If it rains for a couple of hours during the day and the sun comes back out don’t worry about that. But when a system sits over your area and it rains for days that is when you would take action. For this ministry to work you would have already found, identified and introduced yourself to some people at a homeless camp that you are comfortable going to. After a day or two of rain, get your umbrella, grab your can of money and drive over to the camp. Go in the early afternoon so that the people you help get the use of the room for the longest period of time possible. Identify ahead of time the motels that are nearby within walking distance. The closer the better. The cheaper the better. Walk up to the camp and announce your presence. They will most likely be zipped up in their tents waiting for some relief. Announce that you were wanting to get a room for them and ask who has an id. That is very important. The room needs to be rented in their name not yours. So whoever meets you at the motel needs a good id. They will already know and understand this. Out of the motels nearby ask which one they prefer. They will automatically choose the one that is the most friendly to them. Once you identify the motel tell them you can meet them there in a few minutes. They will walk there most likely in their rain gear and you will drive there. Wait for them to arrive and then go to the front desk with them. Tell the front desk clerk you need a room for the night and negotiate your best price. Your homeless friend will use their id and you will pay with cash. Once the transaction is complete go out side and just talk to them a little bit about whatever you want to talk about. You do not need to present the gospel to them or tell them you are a christian or anything like that at this point. Unless you feel led to. Trust me when I say that if a person comes out in the rain, befriends you, pays for a warm dry room for you and your friends to stay in, you are going to know that they are a christian.
Now when you leave here is what is going to happen. The person that rented the room will go back to camp and then one by one the people that they know will be able to go to the room, get dry, get a shower, and get a good nights sleep. They take care of each other. They will know not to overload the room. They will know to be discreet. They will know to keep the noise level down. But most of all, they will know that the God that loves them has sent a kind soul to help them in their time of need. And that is the real reason for what you do. Sharing the gospel with another human being is not a right, it is something you earn through kindness.