Hey everyone, I just got back from an amazing week of ministry in DeRidder, Louisiana, and I wanted to share a profound story about a man named Stephen I had the opportunity to meet.
While serving alongside Samaritan’s Purse in Louisiana doing Disaster Relief clean up, my team was sent to one of the worst work sites I have seen during my two weeks of ministry. The trailer home had trees covering the entire yard and parts of the house, the roof was completely torn off the house and was mangled in the backyard, the car was flattened by an enormous tree, the home had no water, electricity, or piping for sewage. The home was destroyed, nowhere near a livable condition for Stephen and his family to live in.
We spent the day working on debris clean up and tree removal around the yard where I mostly chainsawed larger trees and brush so others could remove the branches. As an individual who loves to get the job done, I spent most of my time focused on the work and not as much on the needs of the homeowner, and the moment I decided to sit down for a water break, the Holy Spirit wrecked me.
God strongly convicted me to talk to Stephen about his life and his story, but I strongly opposed, and after about 10 minutes into the midday spiritual wrestling match with God, we made a deal that I would stand on the other side of the house. Assuming Stephen was in the half-exposed house, I didn’t think much about stepping around the corner until my Team Lead, Mike, ushered me to come over and talk to the person I was avoiding, Stephen.
Caught off guard, I decided to speak to him about his experiences in the hurricane and his life in DeRidder. From our conversation, I learned that Stephen was a recovering meth addict who worked at the local fast-food restaurant called Checkers. His family was homeless and the only place they had to call home after the storm was the leftover trailer home that his aunt once lived in. He told me about his time in and out of jail and how he chose his family over continuing down the road as a meth dealer. After 20 minutes of emotional conversation and vulnerability about where he is in his life now, I got to share with him a story of redemption. Stephen is loved dearly by the Father. No matter how broken Stephen is and the mistakes he has made in his past, He is still loved, cherished, and redeemed by a God who has never stopped providing for us. Stephen needed to know that his laundry list of failures are wiped clean by God and all he had to do is say Yes. All Stephen had to do is say Yes to was a relationship with God.
But Stephen didn’t say yes. My job is not to tell someone that they should believe what I believe because I did something nice for them. My job is to tend to the physical and emotional needs of each homeowner as we do our best to fix their home from the devastation of the hurricanes. I was blessed with the opportunity to hear his story and how he was looking for more and in return, I offered my perspective about how Jesus saved my life. Just through sharing my own testimony, I hope that Stephen would see that there is hope amid tragedy and that maybe one day he would understand my perspective. No matter what happens to Stephen and his family in the future, God still loves them fiercely and will never stop putting people in their path to point to something greater.
