Continued…
Jim called me soon after this, all excited. Somehow, he ran into an old friend who gave him a hundred dollars. He gave it to his potential Landlord for safekeeping. “I TOLD you God was taking care of you, Jim! That is so great!” He said that the landlord was giving him until Friday to come up with the rest of the money. I prayed some more (after getting off the phone with him.) it still remained that Jim had nowhere to sleep. Desperate, I put out a plea on Facebook.
“Dear friends, I'm taking a short break from fundraising to ask you for a different kind of help. Without giving too much info…I met a new friend recently who happens to be homeless, and legitimately in need of help. I am absolutely certain of this!! He needs a shower and a place to stay while we figure out where he's going. I'm also doing odd jobs this week to help get him set up at a new place (a local bishop has agreed to pay first/last month’s rent if he can come up with a deposit.) please message me if you have any questions or know anyone who can help. I am also fairly certain that my sweet friend needs Jesus. Please pray for him, for me, and for what part God might have for you in this. Thank you.”
An hour passed. Two. No replies. I prayed. I brainstormed. I called/texted people. Nothing. This was getting frustrating. “God, I AM IN OVER MY HEAD. I have no money and no place for him to stay. There’s got to be SOMEBODY who can help!”
I finally went to my mom, and she handed me her credit card, offering to pay for a cheap hotel overnight. I called Jim. “Jim, we couldn’t find a place for you to stay, but my mom has offered to pay for a hotel. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
We found him a cheap room across the street, and I asked him where he had put his clothes/sleeping pad. “Oh, I threw it all out. It was covered with ants.” WHAT?? At this point, Jim had no extra clothes and nothing to sleep on. I prayed desperate prayers. “Jesus, I know you will provide. Please do it SOON. Show him that it’s YOU caring for him, not me or anyone else.”
The next morning, Jim called me. Somehow, there was a Social Security check on its way to his bank account by midnight that night. Between that and the hundred he already had, he was set to move into an apartment!! It was an honest-to-goodness miracle.
Jim’s story doesn’t end here, and neither does my friendship with him. I’m still not certain that he knows Jesus, but I’m hoping to get him introduced to some older men at my church who will come alongside him and lead him in that direction. He still calls me about once a week, and I’ve been to see him at his new place. It’s such a blessing to see how God provided for him.
I suppose I never fully realized what a stigma is attached to being homeless. People in my life have been referring to Jim as my “homeless” friend, or even more insulting, “that hobo.” This offends me beyond my ability to articulate it. One of the many things Jim has taught me is that homeless people are just that-PEOPLE, who happen, for one reason or another, to be without a roof over their heads. It’s not a situation ANYONE would want to be in, and then to add the judgmental attitudes of others who insist on using this as your identity….How awful. I admit, I've been one of those people. there were times that I wondered if Jim was telling me the whole truth, if I could really trust him…times that I didnt feel safe around him. I hope that from now on, Jesus will remind me to give people the benefit of a doubt.
I have no doubt I am going to meet many individuals this next year who are so much worse off than Jim was, with the same desperate need for the love of Jesus. I have no idea how He’s going to love them through me…
…But I am SO excited to find out. 
