"How do you know it was God?"
by Terrance Moore, Summer Missions Program staffPictured: Terrance takes a break to sing with street performers in the subway.
In my first year working for Boston Project, I've been presented several new experiences and challenges. One of these experiences has been working with the homeless through Starlight Ministries. Homelessness is something that most of us from the city have encountered at some point and for me, it was something that I was a bit unsure of how to handle. I mean these are people who have feelings and desires and needs just as I do. I know that nothing makes me any better than them, as life teaches that I can be in the same situation the very next day. In addressing this matter however, what's the best way to respond? Giving them food will only suffice for one meal, donated money will soon be gone, and advice is only worth so much when you have nothing. With these thoughts, I remained dormant on how to respond.
Entering into Starlight's homeless ministry with this mentality, I looked forward to finding new, more effective methods to view homelessness and help those who suffer from it. As my Boston Project staff and I prepared to go downtown for Starlight with this week's youth group, I looked forward to it with no clear expectations on what I would experience. Beginning with the normal provisions of meeting Pastor Clarence, meditating, and praying for what we were about to do, we headed out into Boston Commons to care for those eagerly waiting for sandwiches, socks, fellowship, and just company. Some of my youth were nervous as this was the first of any experience like this for them but, anxiety subsided as we approached the church pavilion on this rainy night.
As we walked onto the steps, a man shouted at me, "How much do you bench?" I slightly laughed it off, trying not to be a distraction. As I grabbed a sandwich and socks, he spoke to me again so I walked over to give him the items and start a conversation. We spoke about weights and football and how I don't play anymore. I told him I had some shoulder injuries and felt that chapter of my life had ended. I shared how I felt serene with that decision because God brought me to a bigger place and purpose with my life at Harvard. He looked at me and asked "How do you know it was God that brought you to that?" I replied that I have several stories of how He has worked in my life but one that I chose to share was a wreck I had when I was younger. I told him of how an 18-wheeler pulled over on my family, ejecting my unbuckled body out of the back window onto the highway mere feet in front of the truck. I expressed how I had no injuries or bruises but only a few scratches; as if God himself lifted me out of danger and gently laid me down out of harm's way.
This testimony touched him and started an hour conversation on God and his love, magnificence, and power. It spanned from my wreck to how God is using us to reach down to the lowest of the low to provide socks and a sandwich for the homeless on a rainy day. The man clearly had a few stories of his own but for the entirety of the conversation, he spoke only about Christ, others, and my situations. As I tried to wrap up the conversation and draw out a prayer request, he only gave me requests for others and even me! Regardless of what questions I asked, he managed to change the subject to someone else. How dare he be selfless enough to only care about others when we just wanted to come help him!
In the spirit of serving, an opportunity to minister to someone else turned into an experience that illustrated the way God loves us. If this homeless man who had nothing, could be so loving and selfless enough to only pray and converse about others, how can we find it so difficult to love others when we have so much more? To me, this was the type of miracle that only God could work in someone's heart and it convicts me to give whatever I may have to Him because whether it's shielding me from danger in a wreck to providing socks and a sandwich to those who have nothing on a rainy day, God has shown his love for all of his children regardless of circumstance and calls for us to love each other unconditionally as well.
