About a week and a half ago, I met two Latter Day Saints. The one difference though, is that these two people are not Mormon. I had the opportunity to meet Tommy and Gina. They are a couple from a different faith who about a year ago started going out into the streets of Fort Wayne on Friday nights to visit the homeless. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went out with them and a few others to minister to the homeless of Fort Wayne.
Gina and Tommy have done this every single Friday night. They bring the homeless food which has been donated by many people and local restaurant owners. They bring them clothing, blankets, and back packs…all donated by people who know Gina and Tommy and what they do. Gina and Tommy meet at a downtown McDonald’s every Friday night. They are joined by people from a variety of faiths who come to help. My wife and I, two Mormons, joined them one night. They head to parks where they know the homeless spend the night. They head to the Rescue Mission to visit with those seeking food, clothing and shelter there. They go underneath bridges and seek out those who find shelter for the night there.
They not only bring food, clothing and other needs, they bring hope and the peace of Christ. Gina and Tommy truly love these people. They have taken time to get to know them and their stories. The personal, emotional, and spiritual nourishment that they bring is just as important as the warm soup, oranges, back packs and clean socks they hand out (among many other things). They listen, they share stories. They laugh together and cry together. Then when it is time to move to the next location, we gather in a circle with the homeless and offer a prayer for them before leaving.
I was amazed as I watched Tommy and Gina share of themselves with the homeless. The homeless love them back. When Jana and I were walking around the park to tell people that we had arrived with supplies, one homeless man was reticent. He did not want to take handouts. He felt bad that people felt that they had to give up of their things for him. I was moved by his words. He just sat there, with his head bowed, not looking directly at us. But when we told him that Tommy and Gina were there, his face lit up. He immediately got up to go and see them. It was not the offer of food or clothing that moved him, it was love of another.
Another homeless man spent a lot of time talking with me. He was a grizzled old veteran of the streets. He looked me in the eye and told me quite sincerely that “God will never give you a burden that you cannot handle.” He later pointed to Tommy and Gina saying that they were the reason that he could handle his burden. He felt God’s love directly from them. They were an answer to his prayers. And yes, he does pray.
I will let you read Gina’s own account of that night we spent truly ministering to the homeless that Jana and I spent with her, her husband Tommy, and three others from two different faiths.
“Well everyone it was chilly but not freezing this week and for that we are thankful!!! As we went to McDonalds we did not see Mike again ..... we miss seeing him and pray that he is doing ok. Saw some regulars who go in and have some hot coffee and get out of the cold for awhile. We saw Curtis there who always makes our day with his wit and smiles!!! We talked about his week and how he has been feeling.
WE also had an interesting thing happen at McDonald’s this week. Went up to get a coffee for one our friends and the young girl working behind the counter says, “You read the Bible right?” I said “yes” Well she said that she has been recently reading the Bible and had a few questions and wanted to know if I could answer them. RIGHT THEN!!! She proceeded to ask some pretty good questions and yet hard in a way and many ears were listening as one of the questions could have been uncomfortable – mainly for me in giving the answer. One of the workers there was also trying to answer and it got for a second a little uncomfortable which left me thinking “Ok, here I am getting a coffee and getting ready to leave and go feed the homeless and yet here I have this moment where I am caught was OFF GUARD and yet this is what it is all about – so Holy Spirit please enable me right now to answer correctly and precise and quickly” because I knew she wanted quick answers but truthful ones as she was also trying to work. So she asked 3 hard questions and the Spirit showed up and answered them and she seemed content with them. It was again another reminder of how the scripture talks about how we are able to give an answer of hope that is within us. We need to know the word of God and yet be willing to allow God to use us in a quick unexpected moment and I learned that again!!! When we say yes to our Father in Heaven as a follower of Christ, He will use us however He wants and whenever He wants and we need to be willing and be prepared….it was a good reminder for me to keep faithful and keep studying the word and know it and rely on the power of the Spirit every minute. One man asked us to pray for his father as we were getting ready to leave in the parking lot of the McDonald’s. Curtis also joined us and we prayed for his health and he seemed to be emotional which got us emotional and it was again another reminder that while we laugh and joke each week and visit, there is a need deep within each person for friendship, for community, and for consistency.
As we made our way to the park we were SO excited to see one of our friends who comes each week. He is not homeless, but is someone who needs help. He never asks for anything, just always comes and hangs out. Recently, about a couple of weeks in a row when asked if we could bring him anything he said “How about a heater!” Well, we told him that we didn’t have one, but this week was different. We got a call from Lynn and Mark Stebing that said they had two space heaters and wanted to know if we wanted them FOR FREE!!! To that we said YES!!! So this week as we pulled in I cannot tell you how thrilled we were to hand him that heater!!! WOW!!! He said that his house is always at 59 degrees and he has not been able to get the heat fixed – no worries now!! We later took the heater to his house as he was unable to carry it on his bike home – Thanks Mark and Lynn!!!
We also got to talk to our friend who rode the bus down to see us. It is nice to know that he is no longer living in a tent and is able to stay warm. We were in need of some food though so we gave him oranges and canned good for which he was very thankful.
Saw one man who we haven’t seen in a while. He talked about how he used to have a job, and a house until his job shut down and then he couldn’t afford his house and from there it crumbled. He looked at it positively and said that he has no stresses from paying bills etc. He has such a great way about him, and yet living outside we all know would not be easy, and yet he doesn’t complain. He works when he can find it and again never asks for anything (but we always make sure he has what he needs!)
Saw Dan who was not feeling well as he has epilepsyeling. We also talked with a few other guys about a bunch of odds and ends. Also had a interesting thing happen at McDonalds this week. Went up to get a coffee for one of our friends and the young girl working behind the counter says "You read the Bible right?" I said yes .... well she said that she has been recently reading the Bible and had a few questions and wanted to know if I could answer them.... RIGHT THEN!!! She proceeded to ask some pretty good questions and yet hard in a way and many ears were a listening as one of the questions could have been uncomfortable- mainly for me in giving the answer. One of the workers there was also trying to answer and it got for a second a little uncomfortable which left me thinking "Ok, here Iam getting a coffee and getting ready to leave and go feed and yet here I have this moment where Iam caught way OFF GUARD and yet this is what it is all about - so Holy Spirit please enable me right now to answer correctly and precise and quickly" because I knew she wanted quick answers but truthful ones as she was also trying to work. So she asked 3 hard questions and the Holy Spirit showed up and answered them and she seemed content with them. It was again another reminder of how the Bible talks about how we are to be able to give an answer of the hope that is within us- . We need to know the word of God and yet be willing to allow God to use us in a quick unexpected moment and I learned that again!!! When we say yes to God just as a Christ follower He will use us however He wants whenever He wants and we need to be willing and be prepared .... good reminder for me to stay in my word and study and know it and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit every minute. One man asked us to pray for his father as we were getting ready to leave McDonalds in the parking lot and we said yes-Curtis also joined us and we prayed for his health and he seemed to be emotional which got us emotional and it was again another reminder that while we laugh and joke each week and visit there is a need deep within each person for friendship, for community and for consistency. . He was struggling and didn’t stay long – just long enough to get a back pack from us and a few other things and went back out into the night. We ended the night with them by praying again for needs and being thankful for another and the friendships that have taken place. We then took two guys to the locations they are staying and said “See ya next week!!”
We headed to the Rescue Mission next and it was nice to not have to go inside as the weather was just tolerable enough to be outside. Talked with the man who we’ve been sharing about that is 20 and has had a rough past and doesn’t believe in God. We asked how the young girl has been doing that he asked us to pray for and he said that she has actually been doing better and possibly things may be looking up in her home situation which is great to hear. We gave him a book entitled “Can God be Trusted?” As we gave it to him, he just laughed and we asked if he would at least try to read it and he said that he would try!! So we’ll see J We also had another young man express that based on his past decisions, he does not feel that he would be forgiven and go to heaven which is very hard to hear. He was told though of many examples of people in the Bible who also had made some bad decisions and yet God used them and put their stories in the Bible. We encouraged him to follow Christ and he walked away saying that he had some thinking to do on it and so we will keep him in our prayers as well. This week our friend Steve suggested that we pray outside and so we did. WE had a man share that he had been sober for 107 days. And how hard that road has been, one man asked for prayer to stay on the right path, some needed jobs, some housing, many just HOPE, many needing PEACE,…we again let them know to follow Christ for after we leave we never know what needed to be said that wasn’t and so we don’t want to leave without explaining how to know Christ!!
We then headed to the bridge and for me as I said last week, that’s where I finally get to “sit on the couch” [a bunch of rocks under the bridge covered by a sleeping bag] and relax. One friend said that I couldn’t turn on the tv though hahaha!! So there we sat and talked. One of our friends talked about his week and how he had a seizure and yet he remains in such good spirits. Our other friend joined us in talking about raising kids and oh how crazy it is at times. We talked about some other guys who also stay under the bridge and their circumstances, guys who have come and gone and just life. We were happy again to give them oranges and they were happy to get them (thanks Karen)..again not really asking for anything except a 9 volt battery to which we gave him 2!! We prayed as we left for them and said, “thanks for letting us sit on your couch, be safe and we will see you next week!”
So all in all, it was a great night and we were again asked “how do you get all the stuff you bring? And we explained it them…word of mouth, facebook, churches, etc..and again they were amazed and so are we. We are amazed each week at what we have to offer because of everyone’s help. Thanks so much. It’s a great feeling when someone say do you have this or that and we can say YES we do!! I head a man say when I was getting some body spray out for him that we always have everything!!!! (by the way we need more body sprayJ!! So some people to thank…Bev and Cliff Gunnnion, Joanne Emerick, Karen Slabaugh, Lori Wisel, Bill Sobieski, Diane Geeting, Sarah Lapadot, Sheila, Todd Plympton, Jana and Bruce Fey, Julie, Bethel United Church, Auburn Massage Center, MJS Apparel, Pathway Community Church, and whoever dropped off stuff at MJS. WE need to remember always to thank our God for His blessings, for His provision, for our health, for His work on the cross, and for His love for us and how He always meets our needs. As we talked at the Rescue Mission, God may not do things according to our timetable but he is NEVER LATE and He does prove again how faithful HE is, that HE can be trusted. Thanks everyone and please please look through your closets and let us know if you have anything you are not needing because what you don’t need someone else may!! Thanks and God bless…”
What wonderful people. You don’t need to look up the definition of the word “Saint” to know that these two people are saints. Yet, I looked it up anyways. (it’s a mormon thing to look up definitions of words for use in sacrament meeting talks, blogs etc…) Going back to the Greek and looking at how the word is used in the Bible, the word “saint” did not refer to sanctified deceased persons, but rather to living persons who had dedicated themselves to God. Tommy and Gina have literally done that. Different faiths have different takes and definitions of the word “Saint” but there are a few things they all share in common…
Across all faiths, Saints are
a. Exemplary people and role modelsb. Extraordinary teachers
c. Sources of great benevolence
d. Often an intercessor for God
Gina and Tommy fit all of these characteristics. And if someone wants to quibble with me about calling them an intercessor for God (and Gina and Tommy would probably be the first to do so!), if you talk to the homeless they will all point to Gina and Tommy as intercessors. They have felt God’s love through them, they feel that God has answered many of their prayers through them, They have come to know Christ their Great Intercessor through them. So yes, in a very real way, Gina and Tommy are Saints. Just ask any homeless person in the streets of Fort Wayne. Given that they are doing their work in these the Latter Days…that makes these two wonderful non-Mormons true Latter Day Saints.
~ Bruce Fey
~ Bruce Fey
No comments:
Post a Comment