Sunday, January 8, 2012

Not a typical Sunday...

Wow...I'm posting again!  Haha...I felt like I was starting to get in a pattern with Saturday night posts only, so in an effort to throw off tradition, I felt led to post again.  :)  Plus, after the day that I had, I couldn't help but to post what the Lord did today at "A Church Without Walls."  Here's what happened...

I arrived at the Greyhound bus stop around 9:30 am to see who would await me.  When I arrived, there were 8 people waiting.  I wasn't as open about my invitation last night, as I only have 6 seats in the van.  I can fit 7, but only have seats for 6.  There was a sweet lady named Gloria who really wanted to go, but she fell off the bus and thinks she may have broke her hip and or rib.  She didn't sleep last night and told me she was afraid that she would fall asleep in Church, so she said she would wait until next week to go.  I told her it was ok if she fell asleep in Church and to not worry about that, but she didn't feel comfortable, so I didn't pressure her.  I was able to take her up the street to the city bus stop and she was happy about that.

We piled everyone in the van and two things really stood out to me.  #1...a man named John who I did not see last night and who went to Church with us last week, was there waiting to go again.  I was excited that although I didn't see him last night, he was drawn back this week.  #2...One of the ladies who went with me last week, brought her husband.  This man was not very receptive over the past couple of weeks to me, but last night was different for him.  It's almost as if I had gained his trust.  He loved Laura's Chilli and he kept commenting on how good it was.  He even said, "I don't even like tomatos, but this is good!"  In the previous weeks, he didn't say much and last night we talked for quite awhile.

I'm very thankful for the way that many people welcomed these men and women when we arrived at church today.  I even noticed a young teenage girl purposely come up and shake their hands and welcome them.  It was nice.  Although, most of them are very active and into the worship, they have trouble staying awake during the preaching.  The messages have been powerful, but they are tired from sleeping in the streets or on the floors of shelters.  I must confess that I felt a little weird to have all of my guest sleeping, but at the same time God was ripping down my walls of comfort and I had to laugh about it.  I can't imagine sleeping on concrete or church building floors each night and not being tired.  Plus, being out in the cold and coming into a warm building just naturally makes you tired.  The more I thought about them sleeping and my uncomfortability/embarassment, the more God began to deal with my heart.  I think that is the best part about this ministry for me...it's causing my heart to struggle and God is addressing areas of darkness in my life and growing me closer to him, making me more like Him.

After worship today, I took my guest to a Church in downtown Norfolk where they were serving lunch.  I let everyone out, except for Mary and Allen.  They were the husband/wife couple that I was referring to earlier in the post.  Mary is 78 years old and Allen is 70.  They are homeless because they were swindled by one of their daughters and spent their lives savings on caring for her and even lost their home.  Allen served in the United States Army for 6 years.  They have been married for 49 years.  They are currently waiting on an apartment that is being provided by section 8 housing.  However, it won't be available until Feburary 15th.  Until then, they are sleeping in the streets and various shelters.

After I dropped everyone off, Mary and Allen asked me if I could take them by their storage unit, as they had cloths there and they wanted to change into a clean outfit.  Allen told me that he hadn't had a change of cloths in 3 weeks.  I took them by the storage unit and they haven't been able to pay for it recently and owed $205 to get their stuff out.  There was a lock on their unit, until they could pay.  Mary told me that they have a 10X30 ft unit packed full of furniture, but they had no where to put it until they get their apartment.

I brought Allen and Mary to our house for the afternoon and Laura made them hotdogs and tater tots.  Allen ate 3 hot dogs, 3 dill pickles and  many tater tots.  Mary ate as well and we sat around our kitchen table, just chit chatting about life.  It was nice to have people inside our home, who don't look like us or like the same things as us.  I'm so tempted to not want to hang around people, I don't connect with and I believe I have starved myself of God's mercy by living this way.  I learned so much about life today from Mary and Allen.  I was freshly grateful for how good God has been to me and our family.  I laughed with them, cried with them, and experienced God's love through these precious people.  Allen is 70 years old and he rides a bike about 20 miles round trip each day from downtown Norfolk to Military Hwy.  Mary can barely walk and told me she pays $3.50 per day and rides the city bus - most of the day - to stay warm and have something to do. 



Best part of the story:

Allen's bike was stolen about two weeks ago and the police department found the bike.  Allen uses this bike to get around, while downtown.  I took him by the police station to pick up the bike, today.  He was extremely happy!  He thanked the police officer over and over for his time and his hard work.  We put the bike in my van and started to take off.  Mary was on her phone and I heard her say, "Barbara, Barbara....we got the bike, we got the bike!"  Here's the amazing part.  I found out that Barbara is a lady who takes Mary to the VA hospital for her Dr. visits in Hampton, VA.  Mary and Allen were giving the bike to Barbara's 19 year old grandson who has been walking 2 miles to work everyday.   She said, "Jimmy, it's all I feel that we can do to repay her for bringing me to my Dr's appointments.  If it weren't for Barbara, I would be very sick."  I couldn't believe it...These people were giving away a bike - their only form of transportation - and they are homeless!  How precious is this?  This is priceless...

Although, we couldn't get into the storage unit for Mary and Allen, luckily Allen wears the same size clothes as me, so I was able to give him a clean pair of jeans, sweater and a fleece hoody.  We agreed that we would wash his old clothes and continue to allow them to recycle their dirty clothes for clean clothes each week.  Mary and Allen left our house around 4:30 pm.  I dropped them back off at the bus stop, where they would wait for the bus to pick them up to take them to the shelter for the night.  Not only did Mary hug me, but Allen shook my hand with a firm grip, looked me in the eyes and said with the most sincere voice, "Thank you for what you've done for us today, Jimmy."  I was very sad at that moment.  I didn't want to leave them in the street, but didn't know what else to do.  I thought about how God sent me to the homeless, a couple of months ago.  Now, I was meeting the very folks who were praying for someone to come.  Mary told me she asked God for 5 years to bring someone to them and I wondered why God put this on my heart.  This is the sacred church that Christ loves.  These precious, priceless people are on the very heart of God.  He's moved by the poor and the needy as much as he is for the clean and the pretty.

Forever changed and forever grateful,

Jimmy




  

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