1/14/09…As we leave Red and Henry behind, we decide to head downtown into places most would dare not walk alone at night. The streets are mostly deserted due to the bone chilling cold. We drive up and down a number of streets to see if anyone is in need of help. We do not so much as meet Walter but stumble upon him. We notice a big lump of blankets behind a UHaul trailer and as we approach the pile of blankets, Walter’s dog PooPoo yelps at us. We ask him if he needs anything and he says he is fine. I think really he wanted us to leave so we would not draw attention to him. Imagine sleeping in your house and someone walks in your front door, goes straight to your bedroom, and asks you do you need anything. It can be a little annoying, especially if you are trying to avoid any detection by police cruising around. This is probably what Walter is feeling…so we leave.
The evening air is bitterly cold. As we are wrapping up the night, the streets are indeed deserted, but Bob feels a need to make one more pass down through an abandoned neighborhood full of deserted shops, broken window panes, and dwellings in disrepair. Miraculously we stumble upon Gerry, one of the men we see on Wednesday’s at the Opportunity Center, a place where we do our evening ministry in a parking lot. We pull up beside him in our van. I notice Gerry is a little tipsy. He has some sort of dried up food or throw-up coming out of the side of his mouth. He tells us over and over, “I can’t get my hands warm, I can’t get my hands warm.” The temperature is already in the twenties with a light wind causing the air to be even colder. Gerry has no gloves on. Kristi steps out of our truck and takes off her mittens and lovingly places them on Gerry’s hands. Gerry is only wearing a baseball cap so I ask him if he wants a toboggan to cover his ears and he says yes. He almost tips over as he tries to put it on so I tenderly say to him, “Remove your cap and I’ll place the toboggan on you, okay?” We let him hop in the truck and turn the heat on full blast. He asks us to take him to his home, apparently an old abandoned warehouse about 2 miles down the road.
We arrive and Gerry has us pull into the decrepit parking lot. We stay as long as he wants us to in order for him to warm up. Then it is time to go but before we do, we pray for Gerry. Then Gerry prays for us. Gerry’s prayer brings a tear to my eye because here he is getting ready to go back in the brutally cold air while we go back to our warm homes, and he is thanking and praising, I mean really praising God for us. It was amazing to hear this and certainly it feels as if due to Gerry’s earnest prayers of praise to his Father, that in turn our Father ensures that people cross paths with Gerry during the times he needs them most. And I think of the teaching in Matthew where Jesus tells us not to worry about food or clothing, but turn ourselves to Him, and He will provide.
After praying, Bob and I step out of the van to wish Gerry a “God Bless” and a “Take Care,” but as we are uttering the words, flashing blue lights suddenly appear from nowhere and a spotlight shines glaringly into our eyes. It seems a police car on patrol happened upon us and I am thinking they probably think a drug deal is going down. One of the officers with a bullet proof vest exits the car and quickly asks us “What’s going on here!?” Me, I am like a deer caught in headlights or more like police lights and offer no response. After both officers approach us, Bob speaks up and lets the officers know we are just trying to help Gerry. The officers begin asking Gerry questions about where he is staying. Gerry tries to give them an answer just enough to suit them but not enough to give away his location, otherwise Gerry may end up in jail. After a few minutes of telling Gerry he is trespassing and needs to move on, or he needs to go to an area shelter, another police car pulls up with flashing lights and a glaring spotlight. Out steps a defensive lineman for Ole Miss, or at least that what he looked like to me. He wanders over and asks, “What’s going on!?”
After a few more minutes, the officers make a comment about us, saying they understand we are part of the street ministry team that comes down here to provide spiritual and physical nourishment to the homeless and those in need. They tell Gerry he can stay due to the inclement weather but when it warms up he will have to move on…and they leave…hmmm.
Gerry keeps apologizing to us saying he has to ask forgiveness of God for telling a white lie; i.e. he did not tell the officers exactly where he was staying. We keep telling him over and over it is okay, God understands. We climb back into our truck, and as we turn back onto the pitted road with dilapidated buildings and overgrown underbrush staring back at us, we see Gerry walking around the abandoned warehouse…
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