To the poor and homeless, every penny counts!

Sunday, October 2, 2022.
This day, God gave us the privilege of serving 42 people.

To the poor and homeless, every penny counts!

We saw him bent over at the rear of a parking lot. Pulling in close to him we held out our packet of cash and a Dunkin Donuts card and said, “Excuse me, could you use a little help?” Initially, he seemed confused as he looked at what we were offering. Then he lit up, smiled and said, “I was just picking up pennies over here.” Taking the cash and Dunkin card, he looked at it carefully. Then, looking back at us he said, “Thank you! God bless each of you.” As we drove off, I thought of a winter many years ago when I was out of work. Heating oil was sold at a minimum amount of 100 gallons. I remembered searching through the pockets of all the coats in every closet looking for change to come up with the price of the minimum delivery of 100 gallons.

“There but for grace of God go I.”

“Kenny”

He was sound asleep in the doorway of an abandoned storefront. Heavy traffic buzzed past him only a few feet away. Much like Lazarus, he wasn’t being deliberately neglected, he was simply unseen, part of the landscape. We couldn’t pull over as traffic was heavy. Going around the block, we watched for an opening and pulled to the curb ahead of speeding vehicles and blaring horns. Raising our voice above the noise of traffic, we hollered, “Hello, could you use some help?” Hearing us, he looked our way and got to his feet. As he approached our truck, we introduce ourselves. He replied, “Kenny, my name is Kenny. Yes, I could use some help for sure.” We gave Kenny our packet of ten dollars and a Dunkin card, along with the On the Street Ministry prayer. He gratefully accepted our additional gifts of water, clementines and a snack. Tucking his new found treasure in his pockets, Kenny thanked us profusely. We marveled at his ability to sleep amidst the sounds of the whining engines and blaring horns. But there was no mystery as to why Kenny chose to camp there: It was safe. He wasn’t isolated. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of cars and people he was less likely to be bothered or set upon.

“From the tragedy and hardship of others there are lessons to be learned.”