Homeless Man Shares God's Message
Story submitted by a Friend of Cornerstone who wishes to remain anonymous. The name of the person in the story has been changed so he can also remain anonymous.
How Charlie Opened My Eyes
Each time I’ve gone to Metcalf Park to minister to the homeless it has been a real blessing. There is a concentration of people who are far more disposed to be seeking God and He always provides someone who I am able to encourage or share something with to help them along their way, and in the process, I somehow end up being even more blessed than I think they are.
That was especially true today as I was sharing with this man Charlie and ended up being amazed by the way that God was using him to reach all sorts of homeless people in ways most other ministries wouldn’t be able to.
His wife had left him with 3 boys when the youngest was 3. After raising them all, he got tired of the rat race of working like a slave in southern CA and turned to the streets in San Bernardino for 17 years. He has been in Kingman the past 3 years.
His understanding of Scripture wasn’t perfect, having learned most of what he knew on the streets, often from other homeless people, but he had a great faith in God that more than made up for it. He also learned a lot from a number of professional people whose lives got turned upside down, so they ended up homeless and he was able to help them.
Some of the stories he told me were like out of the book of Acts - in God’s provision and the way he was able to help people, including rescuing several women who had disappeared and were being trafficked and held in different homeless camps.
Most people probably suppose that anyone who is homeless like Charlie couldn’t be that way by choice and must be the victim of bad circumstances or mental illness or something like that. But in visiting with him and experiencing his overflowing and simple faith, I couldn’t help but think that he is freer and more useful to God than so many others whose worldly resources and education eclipse his. I couldn’t help but rejoice in the mighty ways that God works. Truly God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wisdom of the wise.