CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It wasn't that long ago that street evangelist Brandt Russo was thrown out of Houston's Lakewood Church, the country's largest and arguably wealthiest house of worship.
Now, Russo is returning to Lakewood, to Houston and to other cities he's visited on a spiritual journey that has brought him to West Virginia.
Street evangelist Brandt Russo is on his way to Houston, New Orleans and Philadelphia to film a documentary about life on the streets.
Russo plans to travel from Houston to New Orleans, then to Philadelphia, traveling on a bus converted to run on used vegetable oil and staying on whatever streets he finds himself on during the journey.
"I'm just the tour guide," Russo said. "I think it's going to be an upward investigation from bad to good."
Russo planned to leave Aug. 8 on a trip that's expected to take about two weeks. Bob Wilkinson, a technician for West Virginia Public Television, will film the trip. He hopes to track their progress through his MySpace Web site, www.myspace.com/astraydogfilm.
Wilkinson, a friend of Russo, said he shares some of Russo's views.
"Politically and spiritually, we're pretty similar," Wilkinson said. "Really what we've been about is to work to try to get past differences between people and get back to the root of things."
An ordained minister, Russo found his long hair and tattoos didn't necessarily endear him to parishioners. He decided to give up his worldly goods and move to the streets, living and praying with the homeless.
Although he maintains a bank account to support his ministry, "I live my life with no money whatsoever," Russo said. His home, when he isn't on the streets or staying with friends, is a 1987 GMC school bus rigged to run on vegetable oil and outfitted with beds and its own kitchen. He hits up restaurants for used cooking oil, which owners are usually happy to let him have for free rather than pay to have the oil taken away.
Among the survival skills Russo picked up on the streets is the art of Dumpster diving, for which he relies on everything from furnishings to food.
"The United States, by itself, throws out $5 billion to $6 billion of food a year," he said.
By law, grocery stores and other shops that sell food can only keep food on their shelves for a certain period of time, after which they just throw it away. Russo said homeless shelters can't legally accept it, but that doesn't mean the food has to go to waste.
"That's how I've fed myself for the last year, and fed 10,000 or 15,000 homeless people I've had the pleasure of sharing time with," he said.
The trick is to go just after the stores close, before frozen food has a chance to thaw or other items have a chance to spoil. Russo knows when all the local stores close, and usually makes a circuit looking for food.
"It's better to go every night, because you know what was there the night before," he said.
Street evangelist Brandt Russo is on his way to Houston, New Orleans and Philadelphia to film a documentary about life on the streets.
Owners and store staff usually don't mind Russo picking through their garbage, especially once they know what he's doing with the food. Sometimes, they ask him if he's looking for anything specific and bring it to him.
"As long as you have respect for the property, I've never had a problem," Russo said.
Often, he said, the discarded food is good quality, expensive product.
"I've never eaten healthier in my life," Russo said. "A lot of what they have is stuff that didn't get bought. Who's going to buy a $13 block of cheese?"
Russo's journey eventually led him to West Virginia, where he came on a religious tour. People seemed to be more accepting of his lifestyle, so he decided to stay.
Wilkinson and Russo have a rough plan for the trip, but what actually happens will be up to the health of the bus, their reception along the way, and the hand of God.
"We have an idea where we're going to go and what we're going to do, but we're going to let the road take us wherever we end up," Wilkinson said.
Russo expects the journey to be inspirational.
"We as people have the power to change things through good will," he said.
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