Interview with Dave Shearin of Street Life Ministries - Part 1

For 13 years, Dave Shearin has been the Executive Director of Street Life Ministries, a non-profit ministry that serves the homeless in Redwood City and Menlo Park, California. Street Life is a church that meets on the street with three locations. They meet four nights a week serving dinner, providing worship music and bringing God's word. They serve over 50,000 meals per year. Rick and Robin highly recommend and support this ministry and encourage our listeners to give generously. To donate, go to their website www.streetlifeministries.org.

Dave received the Lord because his back was against the wall and there was a place to go to receive Jesus and that is how they want the ministry to be. Here is his testimony.

Dave's parents told him from the start that he was adopted but instead of making him feel more special, it made him feel more different like he didn't fit in. He felt like he had lost his identity, he didn’t know who he was or where he was from.

His dad was a partier, drank a lot and smoked marijuana. His dad’s violent and abusive nature made him feel afraid and isolated. In 5th grade, Dave discovered his dad’s liquor cabinet and he started to smoke joints left in ashtrays. Later his father also used cocaine, so Dave got all of his drugs for free and shared them with his friends. When his dad did some time in jail, his mother said get sober or she would leave. So, his father got help and got clean, but Dave resented it because he no longer had access to free drugs. He began connecting with drug dealers and he started stealing. Dave went from LSD to methamphetamines and found himself homeless in his addiction. Dave didn’t like who he was, he had no identity, and he didn’t know Jesus. Alcohol and drugs weren’t the problem, they only numbed the pain and masked the problem. 

Before a judge he was given two choices: go to jail for 5 years or take a suspended sentence and go to Salvation Army. He took the latter. Up to this point, what he knew about Jesus was the opposite of who He really is and if God was anything like his own father then he didn’t want that again. At Salvation Army, he learned God was loving, caring, and forgiving and Jesus gave His life and bore the punishment for his sins on the cross, something he never knew before. The Chaplin asked if he could pray over him. It was a dramatic conversion, his body shook, he confessed his sins, and he screamed, 'yes' to receive Jesus as Savior. Dave felt free and completely forgiven. 

Dave is 15 years sober and knows that without having Jesus, he would have never been able to face reality head on like he does today. Now life is different and a different way of living. Before he dealt with anything by picking up a needle or a bottle, but later when you become sober the problem is still there. Now he has Jesus and gets to experience things that he never would have been able to handle before.  

Salvation Army got him into a sober living environment. He read the bible vigorously and started going to church. When he lost his job and he thought God forgot about him. His AA sponsor directed him to Street Life. On the first night, he ran into three guys he used to rob and get loaded with and they were still getting high. In the next months, Dave got them into Salvation Army and all three got sober. Two are doing great, but the third man relapsed, overdosed, and died. One out of ten makes it more than five years. Recovery is hard. You have to put in the work. You have to have a relationship with Jesus. 

So, from the moment he served, he fell in love with the ministry and knew this is where he was supposed to be. Listen next week to Part 2 of our interview with Dave Shearin and learn about all the great things Street Life Ministries does to help the homeless, bring people out of their addictions, and tell them about the love and power of Jesus Christ. 

Transcript

Interview with David Shearin, Executive Director of Street Life Ministries, a ministry that serves and feeds the homeless in Redwood City and Menlo Park, California. 

Dave was given up for adoption at birth and very early on in his childhood he felt different and didn’t feel like he fit in. His parents told him from the start that he was adopted but instead of making him feel more special, it made him feel more different. His adopted father was harsh in raising Dave, believing that you taught a son manhood and making him tough by being tough on him. He felt like he had lost his identity, he didn’t know who he was or where he was from. His family didn’t go to church or believe in Jesus. 

His dad was a partier, drank a lot and smoked marijuana. He was verbally and physically abusive to his mother.  His dad’s violent nature made him feel very afraid. With no siblings and he didn’t have anywhere to go, Dave became more isolated by staying in his room a lot during his childhood years.  In the fifth grade, Dave discovered his dad’s liquor cabinet and began tasting various types of liquor. He found he enjoyed the taste and the way it made him feel, he instantly felt alive. The alcohol made him feel more open and more courageous and more social. Then he started to smoke the half joints of marijuana that his parents left in their ashtrays. He shared the marijuana with his friends and basically became the drug supplier to them. He partied a lot just as his dad and drank to access frequently. In high school, cocaine was a big drug of choice and his father also had that in the house. So Dave got all of his drugs for free during this time.

When Dave was a sophomore in high school, his dad got into trouble and did some time in jail. His mother gave him an ultimatum that he either got clean and sober or she would take everything he owned, take his son, and she would leave him. So, his father made the choice to get help and got sober. It was right at that time that Dave realized he had a resentment toward his father that was magnified when he no longer had access to free drugs in the house that his father would buy. Now Dave had to try and find out what he needed to do to get the drugs. So began connecting with drug dealers and he started stealing small trinkets from his parents jewelry cabinet to get drugs. 

Dave didn’t do well in school and was dropping LSD in the school parking lot. Dave believes that for himself, everything was a gateway. Marijuana and alcohol was a gateway to harder drugs and there is no limit to where you will go in your addiction. Dave went to methamphetamines which was the final drug that ended up bringing him to his knees.

Some people can see the dangers of drugs early on when they experiment and are able to stop from letting it led to more drugs; but for the majority of people, they can’t stop. For most addicts it is about escape.  Dave didn’t like who he was and he had no identity and he didn’t know who Jesus was. He was insecure and timid and was beat up in school. The alcohol and drugs weren’t really the problem, they masked over the problem. 

Dave is now 15 years sober. And he had to work very hard to look inside and take off all of his masks. Now during this Chinese Virus, everyone is wearing masks and you can’t even see if a person is smiling or not, it hinders communication. The physical masks we wear now cover up emotions just like alcohol and drugs hide a person’s true mental and emotional issues. 

Dave states that an addict is constantly trying to numb themselves from the pain but the use of drugs and alcohol ended bring more pain into a person’s life. This type of pain for Dave was he was lying to people, robbing from people, going to jail, and making his mother cry. A lot of pain and damage was caused in his relationships. Dave was putting more scars and damage on himself than he realized. And the more pain, the more numbing through drugs and alcohol was needed. You don’t want to face reality so the drugs have to get stronger and you have to have more and it never ends. 

Dave knows now that without having God in his life, he would have never been able to face reality head on like he does today. Today life is different and it is a different way of living. Instead of running away from problems, he hits them head on but he goes to them with God. He asks God for help and God always comes through with help like bringing other men in his life who have already walked through similar problems to help him. Where before he would have dealt with any problems by picking up a needle or a bottle. You just try to hide from the problem but unfortunately when you become sober the problem is still there. So, you just keep using and using. Dave says that now that He has Jesus, it is great. He gets to experience things today that he never would have been able to handle before.  

To continue Dave’s story, he found himself before a judge who gave him the opportunity to go to jail for 5 years or take a suspended sentence and go to Salvation Army. Up to this point he had no relationship with Jesus and any time he heard anyone speak of Jesus, he said it made his skin crawl. He was told that Jesus was the opposite of who He really is. Dave said that fathers are not perfect and he knows that his own father was not perfect. Still his father was aggressive and caused a lot of pain and damage. So; if God was anything like his own father then he didn’t want to go through that again. Dave thought God was going to wag His finger in his face and tell him how stupid he was. Once Dave went to Salvation Army and it was explained to him who God really was, a loving, caring, and forgiving God. And when he was told about Jesus and the how He gave His life and bore the punishment for the world’s sins on the cross, he said, wait a minute, that is something he had never been told before.

Dave selected and entered the Salvation Army program, but it wasn’t long until he was in a situation where he was in danger of being kicked out and if that happened, he would indeed go to jail. Dave went to the Chaplin and asked if he could get him out of his predicament. He said I can’t do that but he knew someone who can. Dave thought he meant another person and asked who that was so he could talk to him. The Chaplin explained that it was Jesus. Dave thanked the Chaplin but said he was not interested in his hocus-pocus and Holy Ghost. He was mocking him. The Chaplin asked Dave what he really had to lose? So, Dave thought maybe if he just goes through the motions of what the Chaplin wanted, then he would pick up the phone and help him get out of this jam so he agreed to the Chaplin’s request just with the hope of staying out of jail. The Chaplin said that all he was going to do was pray over him and if he wanted to agree and confess sins, that he should do that.    

So, the Chaplin started to pray over Dave and all of a sudden his body became hot. He started sweating and his nose started running. He was shaking and felt like he was three feet off the ground. And the next thing he knew, he was confessing all his sins. Then the Chaplin asked him if he wanted to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and he just remembers screaming, yes, yes. So the Chaplin prayed the sinners prayer over him and Dave accepted Jesus into his heart. Dave had no idea what had happened to him and he said, what did you just do? Dave felt warm and free and like nothing he had ever felt before. The Chaplin explained that when Dave accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, the devil and the Holy Spirit cannot live in the same spot at the same time. Dave was purged and completely forgiven. As it says in II Corinthians, he became an new creation in His image. And then the devil has to free in Jesus name. All his sins were forgiven right on the spot and now the Holy Spirit resides in his heart. He didn’t fully understand it all but it was something he had never experienced before. 

As he walked out of the office, the man who was going to kick him out of Salvation Army came by to apologize for the way he spoke to him earlier and they wouldn’t be kicking him out.  Instead they suspended him from one program and put him in their shelter program where he spent the next 30 days in repentance. When he went to see his attorney, he brought him some incredible news. The charges against him were completely dropped and he knew it was all related to Jesus. Dave feels like God can speak to some people with a soft voice but he feels when God speaks to him, because he is hardheaded, He speaks to him loudly like with a 2x4. Dave was so anti God for so long but the way God rushed into his life and showed miracles was so amazing. We all have different personable relationships with Jesus.

Dave went back to Salvation Army and they helped him get into a sober living environment. At that point, Dave only had a 7th grade reading level but now he was reading the bible, memorizing scripture, and couldn’t put the bible down. He saw his life on every page. He started going to church and met a man there who became his first sponsor. Three years after he became sober (which was at the age of 35), during the economic crash in 2008, Dave lost his job and he thought God stopped loving him and forgot about him. But his sponsor let him know that God is trying to get his attention. There was a ministry right down the road from the AA meeting called Street Church where they feed the homeless. He encouraged Dave to start serving there, get God, get grateful, and realize that your life is not over, and that there is more to life than your paycheck.

The first night he served at Street Church, he ran into three guys that he used to rob and get load with and they were still getting high. The whole time Dave had been homeless he didn’t know Street Church existed and here were these guys coming to get fed. So, in the next couple of months, Dave got them into Salvation Army and all three got sober. Two are doing great and are off the streets and have job, but unfortunately the third man relapsed, overdosed, and died. And this is for par with addiction. Usually, one out of ten that makes it more than five years. Dave doesn’t want to discourage anyone but recovery is hard. You have to put in the work. You can’t just say, okay I’m sober. You have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. So, for the moment he served, he fell in love with the ministry and knew this is where he was to serve and where he was to be.  

Dave feels that the reason for the mass homelessness in San Francisco is because of the changing laws for incarceration for drugs. There is not punishment for drug use. For what Dave was facing 5 years for, today people don’t even get a ticket. As a recovering addict, when you tell someone who is fully in their addiction, that if you have a big bag of meth or cocaine that there really is no punishment for it, that doesn’t help an addict. If there is a consequence of going to jail for drugs, it does put a little hinderance on it. It isn’t a cure all but they at least then know that they have to go to court, probation, or do drug testing, and it does make the addict think about what they are doing and have to make some decisions about their lives. For Dave as a pastor and leader of the ministry, when they get phone calls from the police department that someone has been arrested, that is their opportunity to jump in and get involved and begin to do outreach. When a person isn’t locked up and constantly on the streets getting loaded, most of the time people are overdosing and dying. There is no off switch. 

Dave goes on to share that there is now a new drug called fentanyl and people don’t know that is laced in all drugs including marijuana and you don’t know how much is in anything you purchase. It is like heroine on steroids and it doesn’t take much to overdose. For those who don’t die, they become deathly addicted to it. It makes it harder and harder to help people get off the street. The streets are riddled with homelessness in California right now.

Dave has been leading the ministry now for 13 years. Street Life Ministries is a church that meets on the street. They have three locations on the Bay Area Peninsula. They meeting four nights a week. They will be bringing back activities like bingo and movie night after the Chinese virus settles down. The ministry serves at night and serves dinner and then provides worship music and short sermons of God’s word. They serve over 50,000 meals per year. The homeless can come to eat whether they stay for the message or not, there is no pressure. 

Dave received the Lord because his back was against the wall and there was a place to go to receive Jesus. And that is how they want the ministry to be. You can give to this wonderful ministry by going to www.streetlifeministries.org and go to their donation page. They are a 501(c)(3) ministry.