“And Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17
On Monday, Chad spent his day helping move a lady who was being evicted. She also needed help towing her car to the auto shop. She and her pet guinea pig were locked out at 8:30 in the morning, so Chad, one of the men from QSBC, this woman and her guinea pig all rode together to the auto shop.
On the same day, another couple in our church landed here from New York. They are looking for work and needed another week in their motel room. We agreed to help them because they are making progress they just needed some assistance.
Chad and “Craig”, from New York, were standing at the counter of the motel to pay for the room. The owner of the establishment read the name of our church out loud in a thick Indian accent. “You are from a church?” he asked. Chad answered, “Yes, I am the pastor.”
The owner went on to explain that there was a crippled woman living in his motel who cannot walk without braces on her legs. Her husband has been beating her and forcing her into prostitution. “If I give you the room number, will you go visit her?” He asked.
They took the number and went to find the room. Chad said he knocked on the door, and after some yelling and shuffling the door opened. He looked down to see a badly beaten woman. She had crawled to the door on her knees.
Both of the man and the woman are terminally ill with cancer, and they had no food. The woman had grown up in church. Not knowing how much longer they have to live she had been praying day and night for a pastor to find them. Chad prayed with them and the couple from our church who are living in the motel drove the woman to the store to buy groceries. That night her husband was hospitalized with low oxygen levels. If the woman is able, she wants to come to church on Sunday.
So many people we encounter are hurting tremendously. While their situations at first glance seem overwhelmingly complicated, what they really need most is to be shown the love of Jesus Christ. I pray we will always have the strength and courage to follow Jesus to the dark places. With confidence in The Gospel and by the power of The Holy Spirit we can witness lives transformed!
Rescue the Perishing
By Fanny Crosby
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently,
He will forgive if they only believe.
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Cords that are broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing, duty demands it
Strength for your labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them,
Tell the poor wand'rer a Savior has died.
Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
