April 26, 2024
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A common daily habit for many people – a hot shower – is a tremendous luxury and Gospel tool in Southwest Missouri. Freeway Ministries in Springfield recently began offering Get Clean, a shower trailer that serves those without access to regular cleanliness.
“Get Clean is an opportunity for unsheltered and underserved people in our community to take a hot shower,” says John Stroup, executive director and co-founder of Freeway Ministries.
“When you live on the streets, a shower is an overlooked need," Stroup explains. "We often hear people say, ‘Clean up and get a job.’ But where does that happen if you don’t have access to showers?”
Stroup describes how the shower is the first step to having a gospel conversation. “A shower restores dignity. A shower gives hope. We are then able to share the hope that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We tell them about how a shower can make them physically clean, but the blood of Jesus can clean them from the inside out.”
Census information from last November documented more than 2,500 individuals in the greater Springfield area who meet the federal government’s definition of being homeless.
“The need is greater than we knew,” Stroup says. “We have people that walk in off the streets to take a hot shower, and we send out buses to bring in people from the local day shelters and homeless camps to shower.”
Many individuals return weekly. Stroup says, "We’ve seen four times more men than women come to our outreach, but adults of all ages come.”
The shower uses a generator and onboard water tank for mobile use, which Stroup hopes to provide in the future. Currently, the shower is located at Freeway’s headquarters in Springfield. It’s available on Tuesdays and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Showers are provided at no cost to individuals.
The Get Clean shower is just part of the services offered by Freeway Ministries.
“From the minute they walk in the door, we start to form relationships with people that we would never sit down and talk about life with,” Stroup says.
Each person receives a list of resources and necessary items, which could include new-to-them clothing, toiletries, socks, and new underwear. They get help finding shelter, getting food, escaping trafficking, receiving childcare, finding transportation, leaving abusive relationships, and any number of other needs.
Every week the organization feeds approximately 600 individuals. It has 11 transitional Discipleship Houses in Southwest Missouri that are alternatives to prison and offer individual services for men or women.
Each house offers a year-long program teaching individuals how God can change their lives from hopelessness and addiction to being productive members of society.
All of Freeway’s locations serve hot meals, provide free clothing, transportation, and childcare. The locations also host weekly meetings similar to church services.
“At our outreach service, you will see the widow, the single mother, the retired judge, church families, the homeless, the farmer, the addict, the doctor… people from all walks of life, coming together to worship the same God,” Stroup says.
Freeway gets no government funding but is supported by businesses, churches, and individual donations.
“We have built relationships with organizations and businesses,” Stroup says, “that donate the majority of our food. These food donations then enable us to give to smaller outreach ministries to help them in their work.”
Stroup founded Freeway Ministries to reach the hard-to-reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, “one broken life at a time.”
“We hear people tell us that they want to help the homeless but don’t know how. We bridge the gap.”
Once homeless himself and addicted to drugs, Stroup describes his journey from being a drug dealer, to incarceration where he found Christ in a prison cell, to beginning a ministry that helps others find Jesus in his book, From The Pit To The Pulpit.
His second book, Stop Loving Your Kids To Death, provides Biblical help to families trying to help their addicted children. Both books are available online through Amazon.
For more information about Stroup and Freeway Ministries, visit www.freeway-ministries.com.
