Down and Out in the Cold

Chris can hardly believe his life right now.

In his eyes he’s a troublemaker. Someone with a past. A man not worth fighting for. Because of you, he’s beginning to see himself with fresh eyes.

Chris’s journey back to hope began in the early days of the pandemic. He was in transition, and needed a place to stay and a plan. One by one, family and friends turned him away, fearing COVID-19. He faced one roadblock after another.

He stayed in his buddy’s unheated workshop for a few days while figuring things out. A jack-of-all-trades himself, he was surrounded by half-finished projects and tools. “I can fix things; how can I fix my life, too?” he thought.

Sleeping on an old lumpy truck seat his buddy left him, Chris’s lanky frame spilled off the sides and onto the concrete floor. It was cold. Uncomfortable. Lonely and unsettling. “Even jail is better than this,“ he thought to himself while shivering in the damp air. In a global pandemic and cold, who would offer hospitality?

Thanks to you, he found a place where he wouldn’t get turned away. Warm shelter. Hot meals. People around him with whom to share conversation and connection.

Still, Chris needed more. Everyone kept talking about becoming a full-time student at the Mission. Would it help him find a permanent solution to his troubles?

“I decided to join the Discipleship program and find out,” Chris says. “What did I have to lose? I found it’s made a huge difference. Here, staff pushes me forward. They have given me leadership opportunities that have built up my confidence.”

When no one else would, your gifts brought Chris in from the cold during COVID and gave him a new way of living.

“Someone out there is looking out for me,” Chris says. “It’s opened my eyes to faith. Anything that has happened to me is a good grace.”

 

 

Load Comments (2)