One Night Count (Torey)
Early in the morning of January 27th, we had the opportunity as a house to participate in the “One Night Count” of homeless throughout the country. The group of six that I was in had responsibility for counting people on the west side of Aurora from about 165th to 185th. I expected that this would be a mostly impersonal activity, as any communication with the homeless is discouraged by the coordinators of the event, but still saw it as a good thing to do and something to learn from. As it turned out, God had something else in mind.
There was a quiet and withdrawn young man in our group that didn’t appear to know anyone else involved in the count. I decided to strike up a conversation with him. At one point, early on in our talk, he commented with a note of irony that “my friends I’m staying with are probably going to get counted tonight.” I learned that he was living underneath an overpass in Lake City with some other guys he had met recently. It just happened that he had gotten restless late in the night and decided to take a bus out to Shoreline and wander the streets until he found something better to do. He saw the lights on in the church we had assembled at, and stopped to see what was going on.
I spent our time walking the streets talking to him about his current situation, his past, his beliefs, his passions, his aspirations, and the society of the other young people he stayed with on the streets. By the end of our walk I had gotten to know him deeper that many people I’ve known for years, and considered him a friend. After the count, we invited him to join us for an early (5am) breakfast at Sheri’s where the rest of our group also got to chat with him.
Looking back on that night it was amazing to see that although we had all come to participate in the same event, God had given me a unique opportunity and responsibility. I never expected to spend the night talking to a homeless person while others counted them. I fancy myself quite good at counting, and not as good at talking. God didn’t seem to care though, and for that I’m thankful. Regardless of how we expect God to use us, and regardless of what we think our skills are, He will put us to work if we put ourselves in a position to serve.
-Torey
There was a quiet and withdrawn young man in our group that didn’t appear to know anyone else involved in the count. I decided to strike up a conversation with him. At one point, early on in our talk, he commented with a note of irony that “my friends I’m staying with are probably going to get counted tonight.” I learned that he was living underneath an overpass in Lake City with some other guys he had met recently. It just happened that he had gotten restless late in the night and decided to take a bus out to Shoreline and wander the streets until he found something better to do. He saw the lights on in the church we had assembled at, and stopped to see what was going on.
I spent our time walking the streets talking to him about his current situation, his past, his beliefs, his passions, his aspirations, and the society of the other young people he stayed with on the streets. By the end of our walk I had gotten to know him deeper that many people I’ve known for years, and considered him a friend. After the count, we invited him to join us for an early (5am) breakfast at Sheri’s where the rest of our group also got to chat with him.
Looking back on that night it was amazing to see that although we had all come to participate in the same event, God had given me a unique opportunity and responsibility. I never expected to spend the night talking to a homeless person while others counted them. I fancy myself quite good at counting, and not as good at talking. God didn’t seem to care though, and for that I’m thankful. Regardless of how we expect God to use us, and regardless of what we think our skills are, He will put us to work if we put ourselves in a position to serve.
-Torey
posted by 1304 House at 2:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home