Shoes for Santiago

 

I recently made a trip back to Denver so that I could reconnect with the organization that sent me as a missionary to Montreal, as well as my church community there and some of my supporters. The visit was great and it was a good opportunity to update everyone on how things are going so far in Montreal.

During the visit, one of the people I met up with was my friend Michael, who lives and works at Christ’s Body Ministries, the organization I worked for when I lived in Denver. We met early one morning to have breakfast together and, as we were walking to the restaurant, we passed a guy who was asleep on the steps leading up to an apartment building. I thought to myself that he looked familiar but I wasn’t sure at the time exactly who he was.

On our way back from breakfast, we passed him again and this time he was sitting on the steps with his head down over his crossed arms, showing his tattoos. I recognized the tattoos but I still wasn’t sure who he was. After walking a little further, I felt an urge to see if he was okay and ask if he needed any help, so Michael and I walked back to him.

I gently touched his arm and asked him if he was okay. When he looked up, I immediately remembered his name… Santiago, a regular client of Christ’s Body Ministries. He also recognized me right away, got up to embrace me, and asked me where I had been.

Santiago explained that his sister who is disabled was just recently displaced and needed to find shelter. He also said that he needed to go see his parole officer but had no way of getting there. Michael offered Santiago two bus tickets and I asked him if he was hungry. Santiago gratefully accepted the bus tickets and said that he hadn’t eaten for a while and would love something to eat.
 

As Santiago and I were talking and sharing our mutual faith in God, I noticed that he was wearing flip flops and that his feet were very badly beat up. He told me that it’s hard to find his shoe size in any of the shelters that provide clothes. So I stopped walking and said that we should pray for shoes in that exact size to be provided for him that morning. He agreed with me in prayer as we asked the Lord for a solution to Santiago’s need for shoes in a specific size.

 We continued walking and, no more than half a block further, we came across a pair of Nike running shoes sitting on some steps. We were astonished to find a set of car keys, a wallet, and a cell phone inside the shoes. Santiago handed me the personal belongings. I looked inside the wallet for an address and it appeared that it belonged to a guy who lived in a different county. I pressed the alarm button on the car key pad, but no car in sight responded. The phone was locked. I decided to bring the personal belongings to Christ’s Body Ministries so the staff could contact the owner and make sure he got them back.

As for the shoes, they were the exact size that Santiago and I had prayed for, so I told Santiago he should keep them. I didn’t think the owner of the shoes would mind as long as his wallet, cell phone, and car keys were returned. Santiago praised God for the provision and it built both of our faiths to see how quickly God provided for the needs of one of his children.

Michael from Christ’s Body Ministries contacted the Denver Police and they were able to reunite the owner with his belongings.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

God Opens the Doors which Man Closes

In my previous update, I wrote about how caring for my homeless friend, Dan, has impacted me. I would like to continue the story, as it continues to be a situation that is deeply impacting me. The names of most of the individuals in this update have been changed to protect their identities.

Dan was eventually admitted to the hospital so that the doctors could determine what was ailing him. However, in the middle of the week, while the hospital was in the process of conducting the tests, a doctor decided to prematurely discharge him from the hospital, without notifying anyone. The Director of the Open Door, Caleb, received a call from a patient rights’ advocate, Amy, who has been working with Dan for several years to get his welfare and pension in order. She informed Caleb that Dan had been discharged from the hospital but was disorientated and possibly lost in the hospital, and Caleb notified me right away of what had happened.

At about the same time that we received the call, I was radioed that I had a visitor. I went to go see who it was and it turns out that my visitor was a guy named Derek. I had first met Derek the day before in the hospital while Dan was visiting with his sister. Derek told me that he had felt God calling him to go to The Open Door and meet me, but really didn’t know why. I quickly realized that God was instrumental in sending Derek to meet me so that both of us could work together to find Dan and ensure that he was in safe place. I was given permission to leave the shelter early, and Derek and I left for the hospital.

The dilemma we had on our hands was that it was already late afternoon… most shelters are filled for the night long before evening comes around and we had to find a suitable place for Dan to spend the night. I have only been in Montreal for 7 months, so I haven’t yet gotten acquainted with all the overnight shelters and their admission requirements… I think this is why God sent Derek to meet me. Derek has been lived in Montreal for most of his life and he is very involved with feeding the homeless through an outreach run by his local church, River’s Edge (http://edger.ca/serve/community-kitchen/). Derek is also familiar with all of the resources available for homeless people in Montreal, and he has a contact at the Old Brewery Mission. We called right away and a staff member at the Old Brewery Mission told us that they might be able to give him a bed as long as we got him there before 7:30 pm or that they would, at the least, give him a mat to sleep on.

Once we arrived at the Old Brewery Mission and introduced Dan to the front desk worker, we were surprised to find out that Dan’s niece had worked there for over 10 years and that, because of his niece’s loyalty to the shelter, they would make sure that he had a bed and was well taken care of. What an amazing blessing from God… man may close a door but God surely opens doors!

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receive; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

The very next day, I received a call from Dan’s sister who let me know that Dan had had a diabetic attack that morning and that he had been readmitted to the hospital. I called the hospital and was able to speak to the doctor who was overseeing his care. It was ironically, or not, the very same doctor who had decided to discharge Dan prematurely just the day before! Fortunately, he realized that it had not been a good decision to discharge him and I was able to advocate once again for Dan’s care during that conversation. In the words of our pastor, Dean Downey, who gave the message this morning at church, I realized the wisdom behind “defending the underdog without attacking the attacker”. I am thankful that I was able to weigh the words I used in that conversation so that the focus was kept on how to help Dan from this point forward, instead of focusing on the doctor’s actions.

We are now praying for and working to get Dan admitted into a respite facility once he is discharged from the hospital so that he can continue to receive the medical care that he needs and that an overnight shelter is not equipped to provide.

Will you continue to pray for Dan’s health and welfare, and that we will be able to help Dan find a safe place for him to stay where his health problems can be overseen on a daily basis?

Thank you for your continued support of my mission!