Pastor Ray Romprey and his wife, Mila, stood on the stoop, ready to rap on the door.
Julio — someone in their ministry network told them — was desperate for food but, more importantly, God’s healing love.
Armed with a Box of Love®, the couple knocked and waited.
The Box of Love was one of dozens gifted to their Hayward, California, congregation, House of Faith Church, from Cru® Inner City. Given to partner ministries like House of Faith, each box is packed with a complete Thanksgiving meal for six, plus some gospel literature, which trained volunteers use to share the Good News with recipients.
Thanks to faithful donors, Cru Inner City supplies a variety of Compassionate Products™ to hundreds of urban ministries that already have relationships with neighbors. It’s done in the name of good stewardship since our partner ministries already have a pulse on community needs.
Pastor Ray was hopeful as he and Mila waited for someone to open the door. Their experience ministering in the Bay Area taught the couple that people are often more responsive to the gospel when they feel loved by those doing the talking.
When Julio emerged from the other side of the door, the odor of alcohol smacked them in the face. In his condition, Jesus was likely going to be a tough sell.
“When we came with this Box of Love, it was such a tool for us to come in and pray for him,” Pastor Ray said. “I didn't know him, but he cried on my shoulder the entire visit.”
Over the years, alcohol, drugs and legal issues followed Julio like a dark shadow. His mother’s recent death only intensified the alcohol abuse as grief weighed him down. He politely joined his guests on the porch, followed by his three adult-but-still-young children.
Julio quickly confessed to his brokenness.
Pastor Ray, who faced similar struggles before surrendering to Christ, shared about the power of forgiveness, which was also available to Julio.
“God is big,” the pastor told him. “If He can do it for me, He can do it for you.”
Julio melted, crying in the pastor’s experienced arms.
“When we came with this Box of Love, it was such a tool for us to come in and pray for him,” Pastor Ray said. “I didn't know him, but he cried on my shoulder the entire visit.”
The Box of Love provided an opening, but the transforming work of the Holy Spirit — made real through the redeemed life of a broken-man-turned-pastor — prompted Julio to give his life to Jesus Christ. His three children, witnessing the conversion, followed suit.
“He eagerly trusted Christ’s brilliant love and His power to heal and change his life,” Glen Kleinknecht, then-director of expansion for Cru Inner City, said of Julio.
The following Sunday, Julio, his children and a nephew attended church. The new believer, humbled by the love of God, dropped to his knees at the altar. As forgiveness and hope began to take root in Julio and his children, attending church became a regular practice for the entire family.
Twelve months later, Julio and his family marked their yearlong salvation anniversary by packing Boxes of Love® to help others in their community.
“The one who was served has now become the servant,” Pastor Ray said after the Box of Love distribution. “Julio is helping bring the hope of Jesus to the community.”
“He just blossomed like a butterfly! Sure, in his recovery from alcohol, he sometimes slipped — but he always fell forward!”
As the Holy Spirit continued to work in and through Julio, his friends began to take notice, with more than a dozen responding to the gospel, finding their own faith in Christ.
“He just blossomed like a butterfly!” Mila said. “Sure, in his recovery from alcohol, he sometimes slipped — but he always fell forward!”
Julio, a single father, was grateful — and astonished — by the new “family” that enfolded him and his children. That new church family became particularly important to his kids after Julio passed away from the lingering effects of alcoholism.
“He passed away right there in his house with a smile on his face,” Pastor Ray said. “To be able to see that and be a part of that, to know that what we do has changed his eternal destination was such a privilege.”
Before his death, Julio offered fatherly advice to his eldest son, Cesar, hoping the young man would remain steadfast in his own relationship with the heavenly Father.
“You need to be mentored by Pastor Ray and Jimmy Badillo,” Julio directed his son.
Like Pastor Ray and Julio, Jimmy also led a troubled life — until someone reached out to him with his own Box of Love. Jimmy is now associate team director and project coordinator for New York City’s Box of Love program, which enlisted 65 churches to deliver 3,500 boxes last year. Nationwide, our Inner City teams provided more than 17,000 boxes, reaching more than 100,000 people, through 349 churches in 2024.
Kleinknecht said Boxes of Love are a vital outreach tool for our partner ministries.
“Inner city churches have an inside track to their neighbors,” he said in a promotional video for Cru. “They know their problems and their needs. What they don't have is sufficient resources and ministry tools to meet those needs.
“This is what drives us to mobilize thousands of churches across this country to expand those churches’ capacity in offering spiritual and practical help, and helping those churches journey with those experiencing poverty to move to wholeness. Our Cru Inner City leaders are high-capacity. They are committed leaders.”
That philosophy, he said, trickles down and multiplies.
“Can you imagine every person who lives in poverty having a direct connection with a follower of Jesus? Someone who lives in their neighborhood, and who has access to resources, which can help that hurting person move toward wholeness?”
Kleinknecht cited God’s promise in Psalm 34:6 (English Standard Version):
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.”
“The biblical imperative remains to reach and disciple those struggling as we help meet their practical needs,” he said.
Lori Arnold serves as the senior writer for Cru's inner-city ministry.
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