After two plane rides, I arrived safely in Atlanta exactly one week ago. Switching flights isn't for everyone. Especially when you have to walk from one end of an airport to another. But I love the airport in Charlotte, NC so the walk was worth it, although thoroughly exhausting. I'm thrilled to be back in my home away from home. There are new things to experience this year. For instance, we have new temporary dorm housing. I'm definitely more of a fan of where we live now than in our old dorm building. It was closer to the school of ministry I attend here, but it's definitely better to do without the bug problems we all experienced at the old building.
I do hope that these new dorms become our permanent housing, but only time will tell.
As I am back in Atlanta, I remembered a particular outreach ministry that my school goes on every Thursday called Compassion Night. This outreach provides one meal for any and all homeless people who are in line to receive it. While they wait to receive their food, small groups of people start up conversation with those in line. Normally during the school year I am unable to go on this particular outreach because I'm involved with the travel team which meets Tuesday's and Thursday's while Compassion Night is also going on. However, since school technically hasn't started for me yet due to a large fundraising event in New York, I had this intense desire to go this past Thursday night.
It. Was. Awesome. I got to hear a few stories, but one in particular really stood out to me. I unfortunately don't remember his name at this time, but he talked with my boyfriend, John, and I about his ministry. He believes in God and that He has called him to sell/give everything he had away and live among the homeless. And that is what he did for, if I remember correctly, 10 years now. It was amazing to hear this story and as he was talking, I was reminded of a particular video I was shown in youth group years ago.
The video started out with a man sitting at a diner looking kind of down. One at a time, individuals came by; the first one stood and asked how he was doing, but when they realized that the guy sitting on the bench didn't match up with their happy-go-lucky attitude, they quickly moved on; another one came, sat across and made light conversation but soon got up and moved on like the one before. This happened with a few more individuals. But there was something different about the last one. They started out across from him, but after more conversation, instead of them getting up and leaving, they got up and sat next to the man looking down. It's this last person in the video that reminded me of the homeless man that was speaking to us.
I thought that I gave up everything for God by leaving my home, my family, everything I knew in Michigan to attend a ministry school in Atlanta. This man LITERALLY gave up everything to reach the lost. That lifestyle and calling is definitely not for everyone. But it is such an inspiration to see that even in the darkest of places, there are pockets of light. It also inspired me the way he talked about his relationship with God. If you had heard him speak, I'm sure you would agree that he spoke from a real deep knowing of God and who He is. Darkness is being invaded by the light and it is so beautiful. Such an inspiration of hope.
I can hardly wait until next Thursday to go on Compassion Night again!
Thank you for reading this blog post. I really couldn't not share about who I met on Compassion Night! If you would like to watch the video I mentioned in this blog post, the Lord helped me find where it was! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWdQRf0qbZI I hope it inspires you as much as it has inspired me.
~Samantha
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