It was a chilly Saturday in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. Our first off day after a week of ministry working on a horse ranch painting, scooping poop, feeding and grooming horses and leading riding students for walks on the beach.
I was walking with three of my teammates into town to get wifi at a local coffee shop when we were approached by an older man limping with the assistance of a walker.
“Madam, I am hungry,” he said to me. His speech was muffled and his South African accent was thick. I looked at his feet. He was wearing tattered pants and worn-down sandals without any socks.
He shared he had recently had hip surgery and hadn’t been given a pension for food for the month because they didn’t have enough for everyone. A quiet peace filled my spirit and I knew I was supposed to feed him.
“What would you like to eat, sir?” I asked.
“Fish and bread.”
Jesus, I thought. Is this real life? I looked at my teammates. Kelsey’s eyes were huge. I knew she was thinking the same thing.
We walked very slowly up the street towards the first restaurant. He told us his name was William and I asked him if he knew Jesus.
“I love Jesus,” William said. He shared more about his life, told us his wife had passed away and he’s raising their daughter. He began talking to Kelsey and John about his favorite passages in the bible when we arrived at a restaurant.
Amber and I walked inside while Kelsey and John continued talking with William. The restaurant didn’t have fish so I grabbed a menu and took it outside for William to choose something else.
“Would you like anything they serve?” I asked him.
“Just fish and bread,” he replied. I couldn’t stop thinking of when Jesus fed the 5,000 with just two fish and five loaves of bread. What are you saying, Lord? I wondered. I can feed your people just as Jesus did?
The next few restaurants were a little ways up the street but I knew walking wasn’t an easy task for William. Amber and I walked ahead to find fish and bread and left the others behind.
We found exactly what he wanted at the next stop. We sat to wait and wrote William a note of encouragement. I asked the Holy Spirit to write through me and tell William what He wanted him to know:
“Jesus has a mansion waiting for you in Heaven,” I wrote, along with Mark 11:22-25, “And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
God wanted William to know He wouldn’t live in poverty forever and He would continue to provide if He had faith he was taken care of.
I took the fish, bread and letter to him in a bag and Kelsey and I gave him a little extra money to buy a meal for his daughter. He took out his bible from the pocket inside his jacket and stuck the money in the pages.
“Thank you, madam,” he said.
Kelsey and John shared they had prayed over him while we were getting his food, so we gave him big hugs and watched him walk towards the sea to eat.
William shared with them his favorite passage, Psalm 23. Kelsey challenged our team to memorize it followed by another verse or passage each week.
“The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”
We know William was put in our path to show us we were sent to Jeffrey’s Bay for a purpose. We’ve been chosen as His disciples to serve Jesus and His children.
When we fed William, we fed Jesus.
What a blessing we were given, to meet such a man on a day when we were off ministry. We pray that we continue to have eyes that see Jesus every day for the rest of our lives.
Are you seeing Jesus in the poor and hungry? If you aren’t, have a talk with Him and ask Him to show you His face.
