Mike Yankoski > Quotes

“Sometimes it's easy to walk by because we know we can't change someone's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.”
― Mike Yankoski

“What says more about who you are in Christ? How loudly you say AMEN in the service or how well you treat strangers in the foyer?”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“You'll never scare anyone into heaven... Telling someone who is suffering deeply that he's going to suffer more is probably a waste of breath. Its like warning someone who is already starving that they're about to get really hungry. But tell him of the restaurant that serves heaping meals to all who come no matter where they're from or what they look like & he's more likely to listen.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“A hungry man can be a fast learner. When you come to a table with nothing but need, you are grateful for things you might have pushed aside before. And when you kneel, hungry & broken at His table, you receive a grace from Him you might, at some other time, have completely missed.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“I was warned when entering seminary that if I was not careful, a dangerous habit could form: I could learn to read the Bible and do nothing in response. I still remember our seminary president warning us that to study to the neglect of action becomes easier and easier with each occurrence. We should be terrified if we have mastered the art of becoming convicted and doing nothing in response.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass

“I suddenly felt entirely weak, unable, and inadequate to bridge the gap between myself and these men. Then I realized I didn't have to bridge that chasm. That wasn't my responsibility. My responsibility was simply to be there, and to trust that the Lord would use me, that He would bridge the distance.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass

“Jesus did thunder warnings of suffering & condemnation, but primarily to those who were convinced they were healthy & in no need of Him. To the weak, diseased, hungry & sin-bound, He had another message. "Come to me, all you who are weary & burdened...”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“Regular church attenders tend to come to our places of worship to feel better, not to be hit with the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, the threatening.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“Remember that the poor are people with names,” writes Bryant Myers, author of Walking with the Poor. “[They are] people with whom and among whom God has been working before we even knew they were there.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“Something critical is missing in places that care for broken and needy people if the only people there are also broken and needy.”
― Mike Yankoski

“Werent those well-intentioned speakers condemning the broken for being broken?”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“We agreed that our own ideas and expectations tended to make us deaf to hearing God’s will. We needed, at least at times, to just lay them down and listen. Leave the next move entirely up to God.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“When I wake up in the mornings I say ‘Thy will be done’ in prayer, and though I mean it to a point, my daytimer is already full. Barring something strange, I know where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are coming from. I know who I’m meeting with, where we’re going, and what we’ll talk about. There’s not much uncertainty in any part of my day. But out here …” I said, pausing to look around, “out here, ‘Thy will be done’ might mean we don’t eat, or we get jumped, or we get sick, or whatever.” “Yeah, sort of different, huh,” Sam said. “It’s like trust means something different when you don’t feel in control.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America

“Still not sure what your risk might be? Then I dare you to
ask yourself a reality-rattling question: "What would I do during my day or in my life for God if I wasn't concerned with what I wear, what I eat, where I sleep, what I own, what people think of me, or what discomfort~ I face? Think about your answer. You're probably at least in the neighborhood of where your personal journey starts.”
― Mike Yankoski

“The Bible says that we must reach out to those in need,” James replied. “Jesus loves us, so we get to love you. It’s a privilege.”
― Mike Yankoski, Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America