Out of the Darkness Street Ministry hits the streets of Winnipeg every Tuesday night to bring love and the story of Jesus to the homeless. This Tuesday was different than the rest.

On February 13, the Tuesday before Valentine's day, volunteers from all around Southern Manitoba and from all denominations got together to bring a special love token to the homeless in celebration of this special holiday. Over 30 people joined the ministry team to hand out chocolate roses and goody bags to homeless people they came across at Siloam Mission, Salvation Army, and Love Lives Here. 

Donald Bouchard, Evangelist and founder of Out of the Darkness Ministry, says,"last night we went down with a big bundle of chocolate roses to share some love and hugs, and to pray for people. It's a simple act of kindness and makes the people leap for joy. They don't receive much love. They face a lot of criticism on the streets. For them to have people come down from Steinbach and different areas of the city to come down and love on them with no ulterior motives is just an amazing moment for them."

About 60 chocolate roses were given out to the homeless last night, but Bouchard feels that 400 could be given out easily. "We've been doing this now

for a couple of years and have developed trust and relationships with people on the street. People give you big hugs, shake your hands, and feel free to share their joys and burdens with you. I went into Siloam last night at different tables and people shared their addictions, their pain. We were able to pray with them with our hearts, take them into our arms and love on them. When they see you, they know you're there for them. It's amazing."

Donald Bouchard has been evangelizing on the streets for well over 25 years, but he's taking a different approach with the Out of Darkness Ministry lately. For the past 3 years, volunteers with OOTD are mentoring people on how to share their faith and how to approach people while being genuine about what they share.

"Sometimes we give out goody bags with toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, things like that, and the Out of the Darkness comic book. Different tools to approach people to make them happy and make them feel like someone cares."

Not all volunteers who would like to come, simply cannot. Bouchard notes, "We have a bunch of elderly people from St Anne who prepared about 30 bags of goodies with all kinds of stuff like scarves, socks, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, and delivered them to my home yesterday. So we gave out these bags of goodies and people were just amazed."

Bouchard says, "It's an act of kindness. They deserve it. Everybody is someone's child . . .  Some people are older and have different scenarios. We try to target people that need help, love, care, and attention."

Out of the Darkness Ministry always tries to create a spirit of community by beginning the night prayerfully. During the summer, Out of the Darkness Ministry tends to stay outside a lot longer and have the opportunity to serve food.

If this is a ministry you would like to serve, you are encouraged to contact Out of the Darkness Ministry via their Facebook group.