8/12/20
Ok, so my last blog was long enough, but I wasn’t done telling you about my time in Denver and at Denver Rescue Mission. I want to tell you about ATL. That stands for ask the Lord. I’ve mentioned it before in at least one of my Costa Rica blogs. Fun fact, ATL is an every day thing that doesn’t just happen in a foreign country at a designated time. It also happens at home in the USA, both on the mission field and off in our everyday lives.
You too can engage in asking the Lord if He has something He wants you to do today or in any moment at all.
So, before our dinner shift at Denver Rescue Mission we had some time to hang out walking around Denver engaged in ATL ministry. To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming and frightening just because of being in downtown Denver in such a big area with so many people around.
But I went out with Eva, Erica Everette, and Ryan to see what God wanted for us that afternoon. We got a few little things in our heads that we thought we were hearing from the Lord, like the image of a stroller and following a giant red key on the side of a building and going back to a restaurant that Eva and I had visited during ATL the day before (where we met a couple who was on their honeymoon and it was so sweet to talk to them and share with them and learn from them).
So, following the key takes us kind of in the direction of that restaurant and across the street are a few men with a stroller. From there, however, Erica kind of felt a push toward following signs that claimed to point you up some escalators to “The Best View of Denver.”
We went up to the area which dead-ended at a restaurant and a balcony area with some other buildings. Erica and Eva turned on some music to just worship over Denver, Ryan talked to a man by the escalator, and I felt led to pray over the families that work at a currently closed movie theater. I can only imagine how difficult it is for those families without jobs in this time. And then I joined them at the balcony which overlooked 3 floors below.
On a bench at the bottom was a barefoot man, sleeping I thought, but I couldn’t 100% tell he was ok. I prayed for some signs that he was alright and an idea of what to do. I watched multiple people sit on that bench and ignore the man. It struck me how easy it was for them to ignore someone who really didn’t look ok. But he did show some signs of movement and I was relieved he was for sure alive. After probably 20 minutes, Erica asked Eva and I what or who God was highlighting to us and it turned out to be the same man. So, she encouraged the courage for the 3 of us to go down and just sit on the bench and try to talk to him.
Gil was absolutely receptive to a conversation with us. And he told us he was celebrating a day of sobriety and a commitment to the Lord and striving to keep on the good path and do better. He woke up fast and became animated as he shared his heart with us, and on some occasions with everyone who was close enough to hear him yell at the times he got passionate. He said he didn’t need new shoes because he’d given his shoes away to someone else in need and would do the same with any shoes he got. Eva felt led to give him a spare mask (Kellie’s mask designed for her fundraiser. It says “Love Everyone Always.”) because Eva felt this sentiment of loving everyone was the sentiment Gil exuded in everything he said.
I’ll admit, I’m not sure about everything Gil said. It seemed to me that he still really needed to be searching for God’s truth and strength in his life. He is homeless and striving to overcome a difficult past for sure, but he sat with us open to our perspective and our prayer and open to share his perspective and prayers. He is absolutely confident in himself and shared his confidence in God’s love for himself and all people. It was a good encounter, a relationship built in the short time of an hour and a half. Definitely a divine appointment of the Lord and something that can be continued through email.
And then we had to leave for our shift at Denver Rescue Mission. We told him where we were going as he walked with us the whole way back to our van. And he said he would walk the few miles to join us and receive dinner because he wanted to see us again.
And that’s exactly what he did. He walked into that shelter with confidence and joy. Perhaps a little too much confidence and joy as the staff had to remind him a few times to wear his mask. But it means something that we were able to build a relationship in such a short time that he wanted to join us and see us and spend time with us again.
That’s how building relationships matters. That’s the impact you can have just by taking a small step out of your comfort zone to ask someone how they are or to compliment someone or in whatever way to be obedient to the prompting of the Lord. You never know how it will matter. You never know the long term impact of what you say and do.
Be kind to someone today. And always obey the prompting of the Lord.
