Hearing the Voice of the Homeless ~ One Visit at a Time

*If you are new to my blog or have not been here in awhile, you many need to read the next to the last post, Answered Prayer, to understand the current post.*

July 2, 2011, I and my friend, my bodyguard, went to our downtown square to meet Greg, a homeless man who said he would share his story.

This was as my husband put it, an exploratory mission.  This was my first time to meet Greg.  I didn't know exactly how I would handle the interview.  I had a notebook full of questions, but I also thought it might be best to just let him talk and say what he wanted this first time.  After praying before I left home, I left it in God's hands as to how it would play out.  I asked Greg if I could record and he gave his permission.

I started out by telling Greg that I believed he was an answer to my six month prayer.  I told him how many of you bloggers said you were praying for him and were putting him on prayer lists.  This made him smile big and he said he could use all the prayers he could get.

He pretty much talked with me asking just a few questions to spur him on.  He whizzed through his 46 years of life in just a little over an hour.  Needless to say, I will need to spend much more time with him to get a full story.  But here is what I came away with.

Greg at first glance might be thought of as an intimidating character, but once you begin talking with him, a deeper and more interesting, less intimidating person comes to the surface.

In his eyes one can see a hard life.  In his eyes there is a sense of searching…a sense of need…a sense of desperation…and lack of hope.

I saw a man who had gotten so deep into a hole, he didn’t know how to get out.  I felt he was scared, angry, and depressed.  He knew where he was at because of his bad choices from the past, but now he is sick with cancer and wearing a colostomy bag.  I doubt anyone is going to hire him because of that.  He doesn’t have a lot of education.  He left home at 15.  He earned his GED in prison.

Greg has within him a desire to become a person who can take care of himeself, but because of circumstances, his ability to realize that desire has not materialized. Greg appears to be the kind of man who has lost his dignity, yet needs to retain an element of dignity for himself.  He is searching for a greater purpose, but lacks the education and experience to fulfill it.  His powers of observation seem to be rather strong as he recognizes the body language of the people around him…few if any ever speaks to him, even fewer show any kindness or sense of compassion toward his plight…probably from fear…most likely from simply not understanding.

There is a measure of loss in his life as he once had a daughter who apparently died when she was 19…I know nothing about the circumstances surrounding that event, but in his eyes, one can see the pain and  probably guilt he carries about what happened.

Greg seeks help from his plight, but finds only superficial and temporary assistance.  What he needs most is something that will allow him to regain a sense of self sufficiency which by itself will lift him above the stigma of being homeless.

Greg has become a survivor in a system designed to only sustain the status quo…he needs more than that…he needs something that will elevate his sense of pride in himself.  He has a strength inside that could be tapped, but life has suppressed the best of what he could give, and now only the worst of what he has become shows.

I did give him a bag of food but other than that I cannot offer him much tangible help, but I can offer friendship and I can give him the opportunity to have a purpose right now, and that is giving him a voice to tell his story in hopes that it can be shared somewhere, somehow, to help others, the younger generation, showing them how making wrong choices can lead to such a desperate lifestyle. This man said he wanted his story to help.  This man feeds the squirrels every day in the downtown square because he said he wanted to give back and this was the only way he knew how right now.  This shows me a man who still has a heart, a soul, and a spirit worth listening too.  He said people walk by him every day not looking at him, they could care less.  I want him to know that I care. I want him to know that someone is listening.

Greg kept saying that he hoped he would go to Heaven, that he hoped he would see his daughter again one day.  I told him I didn't want him to hope, I wanted him to KNOW that he would be there some day.  I looked down and saw the yellow, plastic bracelet I had received from my church the week before.  It had John 14:6 written on it, which says, "Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  I told this to Greg.  I slipped it off my wrist and told him I wanted him to wear it for me and to remember those words.  He held up his arm and let me slip it over his hand and onto his wrist.
I pray that he will accept this completely in his heart one day soon and will KNOW that one day he will have a permanent home, his sins will be washed away, and he will never have to be called homeless ever again.

We ended this visit with a prayer.  After I said "Amen" and raised my head, I noticed he still had his head bowed and whispered his own little prayer.

I’ve asked myself why am I doing this.  Why little ol’ me, a housewife and mother, is drawn to these people. Others have asked me this too.  Maybe I should just forget about it and walk away.  But I can’t.  My mind won’t stop thinking of them.  I believe God will not let it stop.  I asked God once several years ago what did He want me to do.  I believe He is guiding me one step at a time.  Showing me one piece of the puzzle at a time.  To walk away now would be abandoning what God has started.  And I am curious. . . what will this puzzle look like when all the pieces have come together?

I am anxiously awaiting my next visit with Greg

 Please be in prayer with me about this,

Thank you!

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