The purest and happiest moments of one’s life unfold in totally unexpected places and ways. I believe these are divinely orchestrated occurrences. There have been moments of such incredible joy, ones so surreal that I found myself having to take a step back and simply marvel at the beauty of it all. Sometimes, it was during prayer, other times when family and friends surround me. This week the moment came as I sat beneath an overpass.
Every summer for the past six years, I have had the privilege of serving the city of New Orleans through MissionLab, a nonprofit organization that is passionate about seeing lives changed through short-term missions. Located on the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus, the organization’s goal is to equip its participants to share the Gospel by serving the city and its people. Since my first trip down to New Orleans my group has served through heavy construction. We even sort of built a reputation for ourselves for being the “we will literally help with anything” construction crew. However, this year things were slightly different. This was our first year serving the city through homeless ministry.
Homeless ministry extends from anything to distributing water, lunches, and toiletries to the homeless population in the city; but as I soon came to understand that perhaps the most important part of the ministry is simply listening to what these people have to say. It is absolutely incredible how much the simple act of sitting with someone and hearing their stories can change a person.
MissionLab strives to aid anyone who needs any sort of help. Whether it is physically or emotionally, MissionLab is there for the people of the city it so loves. New Orleans isn’t known for its honorable moralities, and MissionLab is aware that most people carry a negative opinion of the city. Nevertheless, the organization devoutly seeks to bring to the surface all that is good in New Orleans while not dismissing its culture. MissionLab works in a unique way by bringing together the served and the serving.
While I was readily looking forward to participating in this new area of service, I was also quite unnecessarily nervous. Throughout the morning my group had prepared and packaged many care packages containing sandwiches, along with socks, chips and water, to pass out when we arrived at our site for the day. The site was located under a broad stretch of overpasses, not far from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. After many wonderful stories from my sister, Abby, a summer missionary for MissionLab, I was excited to see what exactly homeless ministry would be like, yet a nagging worry clung persistently to the back of my mind. What if no one wanted to talk to me? What if I said the wrong thing? What if I just didn’t know what to say? All these pointless worries and more prodded at my mind as we bumped along the freeway, nearing ever closer to our destination.
Just as I had begun to ask God to calm my nerves, I suddenly began to feel my soul quiet. In that moment, the Lord was so near as our bus slowed and parked on the curb, half a block from the overpasses. He had known exactly what I was going to ask before I even had the chance to pray the words. He knew I was worried and He knew my thoughts. With His presence so obviously felt in my soul that everything I had been fretting over then seemed entirely ridiculous. There is no need to be afraid of the unknown when the Lord makes Himself known.
After unloading our things and finally reaching the bridges, many people looking to fill their rumbling stomachs immediately approached the group. Ever polite and never once uttering a complaint, the homeless graciously accepted our small gifts, most of them departing soon after to reclaim their place in the shade. Once most of the food had been distributed, we began to walk up and down under the over passes. Traveling from person to person in teams of two or three, my team was soon sitting down with a man named Lionel as he told us his story. It wasn’t his life’s story really, but he had plenty to say. He unloaded burdens and worries onto us as we eagerly listened to all he had to say. Lionel told us he felt so run down, sometimes, a man nearly 60 years old having to live and sleep under a bridge. However, with every anxiety he confessed to my team, he followed with an incredible statement. “I feel so much worry, but I know that the Lord is with me. He has taken good care of me and I suppose he can do it for a little bit longer.”
Lionel admitted that despite his situation he knew that God was speaking truth over his life every single day. Even in the face of adversity, Lionel believed that his life had been extremely blessed. He went on talking, sometimes about his plans, the Bible, or any other concerns he had on his mind, backing up his every word with biblical truths and such a positive outlook that was almost unbelievable. After praying over Lionel, asking God to meet his physical as well as spiritual needs, we bid the thoughtful man goodbye and continued down the block.
Near the end of our time under the bridges, we were able to meet one of the kindest souls alive. Her name was Kim, and as we spoke with her I could feel God’s love pouring over all us. We talked with Kim as she stood guard over her and her husband’s belonging as he went out in search of food. My eyes had gently scanned over what Kim called home: a ratty bed sheet on the ground and one to give a little cover and privacy from the road, a couple of empty crates, and a little heap clothes of what I guessed was her and her husband’s closet. I quickly though of my own clothes back home, clean and more than I could possibly need. Kim couldn’t have owned more than a couple of pairs of shorts and a few shirts.
I was very humbled as we spoke to Kim, about her family, her husband, their plans to try to get out of New Orleans. She was positively the most kindhearted woman I had ever met. My team was blessed to be able to pray with Kim before departing, the three of us simply asking the Lord to make His love, presence, and guidance abundantly evident in Kim’s life. That moment will forever be imprinted into my mind, a moment I will continuously look back on and remember the faithfulness of God and the promise that He will always be there for us when we call on His name.
I can honestly say that I have never received such an incredible blessing until I met those amazing souls beneath the bridges. Layers of pride continue to be peeled away even now as I reflect on my days serving the city. Without the guidance and goodness of the Lord, I know I would have never been able to accomplish this week on my own. I daily pray for these strangers I now call my friends. It's hard to even think that I might have never gotten the chance to if I had fallen prey to the fear and worry that struggled to hold me back. MissionLab provided me with a truly unique mission experience this year, and I couldn’t have been more blessed to be part of it.
