The Unexpected Gentlemen

Every

Single

Person

So

Much

Pain

They

Have

A

Story

Do

Not

Judge

Have

Mercy

Have

Hope

The

Maker

Can

Redeem

Their

Story

Raquel, Lauren, and I chose the ministry option with the stipulation: you have to be okay working with men that might cat call you.

 

A little apprehensive and nervous but also determined in spirit to love men that might not treat females right, I went to my first day of work at Thrift and Thrive.

Thrift and Thrive provides job training for men recovering from homelessness at Re:Center Ministries. All the donations cycle in, serve the environment well, and funnel money into helping those in need.

 

We spent our time on the linens; they easily get behind on this section.

One of the female employees took us to the back where all the donations are sorted and priced. The men gave us a nervous but interested, lit-up, “hi” and moved on with their day.

The moment we noticed them, saw them, initiated conversation with them there was a sort of honored shock written on their faces.

 

The sort of shock when an unappreciated, unseen, dehumanized, beaten up by the world person receives God’s love letter addressed to the world…

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. – 2 Cor 3

 

Can I tell you these men coming from paths of trouble, addiction, and the streets, that I prepared to be making offensive comments, respected us and cherished us and melted my heart, some even to friendship? I could be myself and share myself and passions with them.

Holding the door, here you go “mam.” Walking past us with the sweetest, gentle small talk.

They counted the moments they talked to us as an honor and made me feel golden.

They went extra lengths to not act as our society would expect them to.

 

Despite physical circumstances and depth of pain that lingers on their faces, they are no different than any of us.

They are image bearers with passions that make them come alive. They have incredibly specific personalities.

They are the sort that inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5,18).

From a humble position undistracted by material wealth, some of them have profound relationships with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, receiving our prayers with open hands and surrender to God’s will.

 

I respect the heck out of these men.

 

Every day they go to the required courses, chapel, have food bought for them, and work a menial job at the back of a thrift store. But with every item they put out in the store, I see the courage to hope and press on even when their past might say it’s not worth it…

 

How long has he been like this?

From childhood…

But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.

If you can? Said Jesus.

Everything is possible for one who believes.

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed,

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!…

But Jesus

took him by the hand

and

 lifted him to his feet,

and

he stood up.

-Mark 9

Most of these men have stood up. 

And with a mustard seed of faith and a dose of devotion, God will use these unexpected gentlemen in the most unexpected and miraculous of ways.

I’d love to introduce you to some of them, by initial, per my journal entries and sketches…

But first, meet M, we’ll call her.

She asked if we’d give her a ride in our van one day after ministry. It would seem, though, unlike the men, she’s not standing yet.

Black lady, a little spacey, but oh so sweet and hurt by the world. We pray over her, laying my hand on her knee, after picking her up in our van. We drop her off in what seems dark spaces. 

She leaves us to enter into another night of a life desperate and strained on the streets. She has 5 kids, and her mother is disabled. She says Covid makes it so hard, and she can use all the prayer she can get. She tells us God bless.

She’s with us in our “nice” van as she calls it, yet her eyes falls shut as we are talking to her..

probably the most comfy and safe seat/atmosphere she’s been in, in who knows how long. Do you know how rough I am to be around when I’m exhausted from lack of sleep? Imagine never having a bed and sleeping without safety always. 

Thank God, Jesus makes the first, last by His blood and not our own efforts (Matthew 20:16). 

One of my favorite humans I’ve ever met is B.

The most unexpected teddy bear of a man captured in heart by the Lord, if only you could see his smile. 

B daily sorts through childhood toys. He sits in chair, and each toy resembles a step of childlike faith towards a better life he is taking. A kind innocence in a man with a rough past. Joy in him that you can’t see in the others. He loves the toys and loves to joke with us about them. 

We shared our goal of sharing the love of Jesus after he asked what organization we are a part of. It took several days, but today he wanted to share more of himself. He explained that this program helps many who need the foundation to live in the “right path” but some just go to be fed and sheltered. 

Nonetheless, he says, it’s better than the way of the streets.

Tattooed face, huge soft man, I knew even before He said so, He knew my Lord. He’s nervous but so excited to talk to us. He says, he’s sad to see us go.

Tender loving care and a mind set right, may His testimony break down walls that rush in Your Kingdom life.

 

Now let me tell you about my friend L.

The older one who sits at the technology section unwraps electronic wires all day. You can’t help but think what is there to unwrap inside the wall of quiet that’s around him. 

He finally opened up today! What did you do this weekend?

I drew.

And a light came into his eyes. A light and a hope and a joy that made him human. Passion that made him alive. 

His reserved, quite, gentle soul couldn’t hold back talking about it and his dreams to do tattoos, cus he trusts us now. 

I showed him my art, and he said he’ll show me his tomorrow. And then he says, with fear of rejection in his eyes, you are coming tomorrow right? 

As we leave and are talking to the boss, he looks back and smiles and almost gets the courage to say bye. Because talking about the type of paper I used on my pastel portrait mattered to him. 

We matter to them. Because they matter to us. They matter to us, because they matter infinitely to God.

May we never dehumanize, may we hope infinitely for people, because that is the measure God has for them. Christ came for them. And they are going to lead us in Worship of the King. 

He proudly browses through his notebook of inked art and receives our praise, like a true human reflecting Creator’s image. 

I don’t know how he’s here; I don’t know how sweet L became homeless. He’s not a women-eating low-life, he’s artistically intelligent and fundamentally put-together. He used to attend church, he might still. He says details count in art and recalls fondly that time he taught a 7 year old boy to practice his art.

I tell him he’d be a good art teacher, he shakes his head yes. I tell him it’s God’s gift to use, he shakes his head yes

 

The one unashamed of the Gospel, who speaks in tongues, D. 

Expressive goofiness and preaching, D, teaches me about the seeds of Islam and being interruptible to other sheep from Jesus’ sheep pen (John 10:16). He talks about the great freedom we have in America.

Black skinny chill dude asks me if I read the Bible and know about Jezebel. He stands and sorts books and movies all day. I say I read the Bible every day, yet I can’t tell him who the heck Jezebel is. 

D says he went to a church service about how believers need to wake up. He points his arms to the sky and says ‘I’ve been awake for awhile!” 

I say the best decision I ever made was accepting Christ, and He agreed “me too.”

Judgment could have kept me from learning from my brother in Christ, but may we not judge. 

It’s clear tho, that in this strange situation where “pretty young ladies,” as the boss lady would say, work on the same ground in mutual affection with men coming from the streets, God is pleased

 

T and R and E

T the most handsome one. After he says something to us with light and connection in his eyes, some dreadful reality steals the light. What could be his story?

T’s loud personality and quiet pain hurts me, and L’s quiet personality and loud pain hurts me just as much. T steps up as the store’s protector when there’s a man outside and sweetly jokes with the granddaughter. 

What causes deep and heartfelt-voiced R to be silent today at the lunch table when he wasn’t before? 

R trusts God that he will use his story. His passion is cars, but he says he’s not ready to go back to being a mechanic. 

(BTW Celebrate recovery is amazing, check them out too)

Toothless and outgoing and goofy E hangs a cross necklace and receives sarcasm. He tells us briefly of hardships of his loved ones and his own past. Sad, he tries to leave the conversation in that moment, but continues laughing with us as the day goes on. The boss lady tells him he needs to change his shirt, too small and tight for his belly to not peak through; he responds in glorious mischief. The spunky boss lady who was called to run this thrift store, jokes that E is the flirt.

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And here is Jonah, an incredible young man of God, charismatic and funny from the beginning.

This is one of his high school jobs. The Lord pressed on my heart to go to the front and ask him what his dreams are. Come to find out he’s gone on a mission trip to Ghana and already preached his first sermon. Pray his dreams of opening a food cart, serving older people, and working in Real Estate will come true; we were blessed to before we left.

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Who in your life have you lost hope for? 

Pray today that Jesus would swiftly bring his redemption to them
 

And where we don’t believe it possible, may he help us in our unbelief and to see people the way He does

May their story and our story be used for His glory

🙂