A California megachurch pastor has raised more than $100,000 for a winter shelter programme for the homeless by living on the streets of Sacramento together with other rough sleepers in the city.
Reverend Rick Cole, pastor of Capital Christian Center, has been spending two weeks living among homeless people in an effort to raise $300,000 for the Winter Sanctuary.
He is also the chairman of the Sacramento Steps Forward, a non-profit group that coordinates homeless outreach in the city, and which operates the Winter Sanctuary providing shelter for the homeless in the coldest months of the year at various houses of worship in the area.
Nearly 100 men and women are driven to churches and temples by bus, where they are given a warm meal and are also offered counselling, as well as a comfortable place to sleep.
Since the programme costs approximately $300,000, Cole thought he should do his bit by making at least $100,000 for the cause. According to Huffington Post, even though the pastor reached his goal within a week, Cole decided to stay and complete the two weeks that he had promised to spend with the homeless on the streets. The pastor has the company of two other friends for encouragement.
Cole walked out of the comforts of his modern house with just a few clothes, sleeping bag, a driver's license, and $60 in cash.
"I'm having conversation after conversation that just moves my heart. It makes me wonder, will I have the same care for these people when I'm driving by them in my car as I do right now when I'm walking with them every day? I hope this will burrow so deep inside of me that I will be a different person at the end," Cole said.
