God works in mysterious ways…
Different type of night for sure. Rained heavy at the time of normal pick up. Returned the bus to storage. A few of our folks who serve every week still wanted to out. So we all jumped in one car and went to get pizzas. No bus, just us and one car and lots of pizza. We went to 11th and Garnett, and encountered lots of folks. Some we have met before, some we had not. Had a great witnessing opportunity with a guy named “Cazz”, he wants to get back to California to his family. Yet, the highlight came later in the night when one of our ladies says “we need to go to her old stomping grounds”. We head to Admiral and Sheridan, but The hotel had burnt down, So there goes that idea. We headed to some other areas with hotels, and here is where it gets downright sad. As we went behind super 8, we found a homeless gentleman sitting alone named Michael. Michael is 54 years old, with a long beard and pony tail. He is extremely frail, and very weak. He is not in good health. He literally had a hard time tearing the paper towel for his pizza. It would be safe to say he doesn’t have much more time here on earth. He tells us he is gonna sleep “under that truck over there”. We continue to talk with him. He describes himself as Agnostic. He was explained the Gospel in great depth. He is a very intelligent man. We continue to talk about life, he talks highly of his brother in Texas. He speaks of his dad dying of cancer. I speak of my dad dying from sclerosis of the liver. Honestly for me personally it was like looking at my dad. As we ask him what we can do for him, he simply asks for a “hug”!!! Maylisa leans down to hug him, and he doesn’t want to let go. He says “that felt real good” and “that’s been a long time”!!! She is crying at this point. It’s a pretty emotional time for all of us. We head to Walmart to get him some clothes and hygiene products. His clothes were way too big, he might of weighed 100 pounds. He can barely walk. He is 100 percent sober as well. We attempted to get him into a close hotel (that’s another story in itself) yet we could not. He was content with sleeping under a big truck. We left him with a fresh wardrobe etc, but more importantly he got what he really wanted, a hug. He says in his very weak voice “love you guys” as we left. It was definitely a night to remember. It was not easy to leave Michael tonight. Please pray for Michael to make the same decision that my dad made on his deathbed. A decision to accept Jesus as Lord. We don’t need a double decker bus to GO spread the good news, all HE needs is someone willing to GO OUT loving others and pointing them to the Author of Love. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That’s true Love!