Thursday, March 27, 2008

What would you do?

There is a guy that I have known since he was in the sixth grade. I met him when I was his Sunday school teacher. His life has been a living hell. We have stayed in touch over the years and I have tried to support him, listen to him, give him advice and help him out any way that I can. He is now 18 and has no place to live. He called on Tuesday and asked if I knew of a place where he could stay. Instantly my heart went out to him and I wanted to let him stay with us. After thinking it through and seeking some advice I ended up letting him know that I didn't know of a place for him to stay and I didn't feel comfortable having him stay at my house. I called some friends to see if they knew of a place and no one did. I was looking for a teen shelter or some type of home and everything was closed. He had a friend drop him off at Wal-Mart because it is open for 24 hrs. I met him there around 11:00 PM and gave him some money for food. He ended up walking around Wal-Mart all night. The next morning I went to Wal-Mart to find him. When I found him I let him know of a place called the Peninsula Rescue Mission. It is a homeless shelter where they will help individuals find work. It is a Christian organization and I let him know that it would provide a place for him to stay and food. They also will wash your clothes and they have showers. Yesterday, I picked him up and took him to the Rescue Mission. After he checked in I went up to his room and helped him make his bed. I can't imagine being 18 and staying there. It is a very nice place, but I think the weight of staying with other older homeless men made it a heart breaking situation. I gave him what change I had and asked him to give me a call this morning. I got a call a little while ago from the Founder of the Mission letting me know that my friend didn't stay there last night. Before bedtime he got his stuff and left. I am scared for him! I have no idea where he went or who he is with. I assume he called some friends and they picked him up. People keep telling me that I did all that I could do, but I am struggling with that. This is a person who has had a hard life and needs to shown love. I keep second guessing myself and wondering if I should have stayed with him longer last night. The Bible talks a lot about helping the poor and helpless. I don't want to just dump him off to someone else so that he is someone else's problem. People keep saying that there are consequences to our actions and that that is why he is going through this. I don't buy that! I have had everything handed to me and I have always had people around me to help me when I am down. I don't know if he does. If I had been through his life I would probably make the same decisions he has. I was reading the Bible in the book of James and it says "What good is it, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17 NIV. I feel like I have helped my friend out but at the same time I have done the bare minimum. So, I'm wondering what you would do? I'm not looking for recognition or pats on the back. I honestly want to know what would you do? Please leave a comment with your thoughts. Is there anything else that I could do? If you do read this please pray for Kenneth. Pray that he would make wise choices. Pray that he would get in contact with me and I could help him out if he wants it. But ultimately I pray that someone would love Kenneth so well that he would see God's love, and ultimately have a relationship with Him.

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