Who We Are...
James, a former professional blues singer, appeared to 'have it all together' while he worked as a dual-diagnosis counselor. No one noticed the terrible struggles that were going on deep inside. One day, he simply got up from his desk, said 'goodbye' to a co-worker and headed to San Francisco to call it quits. His nearly lifelong struggle with addiction, and life in general, had gotten the best of him. While waiting for the right moment and method to end his struggles, James found himself living in his car. When the car was taken by The City for non-payment of tickets, he found himself with nothing but a shopping cart and a few possessions. How far he had fallen from the glory days as a professional singer! Now he had lost hope and was really ready to quit. However, God had other plans for him. God used the beautiful folks from the Homeless Church of San Francisco to reignite the passion and hope in Jesus that James had lost touch with. They brought him into their home (The Grace Healing Home) and nurtured him with the Love of Jesus back to a place of hope and a future.
Having lived on the streets himself, he became a Pastor's Assistant with a unique perspective. His first-hand experiences gave him an especially compassionate heart towards those who were still suffering from homelessness and addiction.
Karla was home in Connecticut when she saw a 78 second video on 'The 700 Club' featuring The Homeless Church of San Francisco. While watching, she felt the powerful presence of the Lord. She soon contacted The Homeless Church and was invited out for a week-long visit. After the visit, she went home and met with her Pastor. Together, they decided she should put her house on the market and see what God would do.
The next day she told the manager of the service station that was repairing her car of her plans to sell her house and move to California. The woman 'happened to be house-hunting' and asked to see the house that afternoon. Six days later, the woman showed up at her door with a realtor who waived the $6,000 commission. She offered the full asking price for the house, bought all the furniture and the lawn tractor, and even offered to keep Karla's cat! Karla then knew, without a doubt, what she was to do.
She quit her corporate job in Connecticut, gave away all her possessions that wouldn't fit in her car and drove across the country to volunteer full-time running the woman's home for The Homeless Church. Little did she know that her Father also had a husband waiting for her here in San Francisco.
She and James were married on March 30, 2003!
Together, we (James and Karla) opened, lived in and ran a home for women called The May Rose Home as part of The Homeless Church of San Francisco under Pastor Evan Prosser and April Prosser. What a tremendous, life-changing experience! Between frequent 'street visits' to folks still living in the streets and daily Bible studies in the home, our lives have been incredibly full of the presence of the Lord. We have witnessed God's hand personally affecting the lives of those who were seeking Him in amazing ways. What an incredible privilege God has granted us - allowing us to live among some very precious people who were fighting their way out of drugs and street living and learning to accept and live in the love our Father has for us.
Many things have changed since then, but our love for Jesus, each other, the streets and our family at The Homeless Church remains. The women's home has since closed and we are dedicating our time to other activities. James is retired and is blessed to be able to spend considerable time supporting Pastor Evan and April Prosser at The Homeless Church men's home (Grace Healing Home). I am blessed to have an incredible job getting paid to do one of the things I love to do! I work in a transitional housing program for people with mental health and/or addiction difficulties. And in my spare time...well, that's covered on another page in this site (What We Do.)
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James & Karla Woods
StreetFire Ministries
3230- San Bruno Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94134
650-270-8301, karla @ streetfire.org
© 2004 streetfire.org - Copyright includes pictures.