Random Compassion

The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me!"  Matthew 25:40

Most folks know by now that we have begun our new program "Under The Bridge" designed to help homeless and helpless people.  Just this week we helped two individuals maintain housing, and just yesterday we encountered two more homeless folks that we aided. To say God is opening a door for us is an understatement. We are planning a big event for June that will further open the door to this, but for now I want to talk about yesterday.

First of all I encountered a homeless man on the ramp leading to Hwy 20 near ATB. I gave him a few dollars and spoke to him about where the encampments were and how people would respond to our event. He told me where to place the flyers, where they were and then I unveiled to him some of what we plan to do and there was a definite excitement in his response. Many may give money but not too many also have a conversation.

Then, a few hours later two ladies who came to our meeting last night and had gone to get some food, ran back into our building into my office very disturbed about a homeless man they had found laying on the ground behind a dumpster near us and behind the convenience store on the corner. They grabbed some blankets and clothes, I gave them a few dollars to pass on, and they came back with a touching story about how he wrapped up in that blanket so thankful for the warmth.

Lots of folks may pause here and get upset that maybe both those men we encountered may spend the money on alcohol, etc. To us, and how it must look in God's eyes, we just helped two lost souls who would qualify as the least of these, which means we did it essentially for Him, not for how they use our kindness.

But there is a sidebar here. Helping one man opened another door to help another man, that is definitely how God works. And though the ladies knew nothing about me helping the other man, they know how we help every man & woman who comes to us at ATB. So they gave back.

That's how it works, from the top (God) to his believers, to the ones who become new believers, to the ones who may one day become believers. In fact one of the ladies was recently baptized at ATB.

I don't know about you, but I am jacked up to find just one more, and then another, and then another......