what a story

[Guest guest]

Will Work For Food

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just

off the corner of the towns-square. The food and the company were both

especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street.

There,walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his

worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I

will work for food." My heart sank. I brought him to the attention of my

friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on

him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with

our meal, but his image lingered in my mind.

We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and

quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square,

looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful,

knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through

town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back

in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me "Don't go back to the

office until you've at least driven once more around the square." And so,

with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's

third corner. I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the storefront

church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked; feeling both

compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on.

The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an

invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest

visitor. "Looking for the pastor?" I asked. "Not really," he

replied,"just resting." "Have you eaten today?" "Oh, I ate something early

this morning." "Would you like to have lunch with me?" "Do you have some

work I could do for you?" "No work," I replied. "I commute here to work

from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."

"Sure," he replied with a smile. As he began to gather his things. I

asked some surface questions. "Where you headed?" "St. Louis." "Where you

from?" "Oh, all over; mostly Florida." "How long you been walking?"

"Fourteen years," came the reply. I knew I had met someone unusual. We

sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His

face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years.

His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and

articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright

red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."

Then 's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in

life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen

years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the

beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a

large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but

the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those

services he saw life more clearly.

He gave his life over to God. "Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I

felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."

"Ever think of stopping?" I asked. "Oh, once in a while, when it seems to

get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles.

That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them

out when His Spirit leads."

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and

lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then

I asked: "What's it like?"!"What?" "To walk into a town carrying all your

things on your back and to show your sign?" "Oh, it was humiliating at

first. People would stare and make comments.

Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that

certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to

realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts

of other folks like me."

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his

things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come

Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For

when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a

stranger and you took me in." I felt as if we were on holy ground.

"Could you use another Bible?" I asked. He said he preferred a certain

translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his

personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said. "I'm not

sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see." I was

able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very

grateful.

"Where you headed from here?" "Well, I found this little map on the back of

this amusement park coupon." "Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?"

"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star

right there needs a Bible,

so that's where I'm going next."

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his

mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours

earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his

things.

"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages

from folks I meet." I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his

calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong.

And I left him with a verse of scripture from , "I know the plans I

have for you," declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm

you. Plans to give you

a future and a hope."

"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just

strangers, but I love you." "I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord!

is good." "Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I

asked. "A long time," he replied.

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I

embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.

He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you

in the New Jerusalem." "I'll be there!" was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his

bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see

something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless." "God bless." And that was the last

I saw

of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front

had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I

sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of

well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle.

I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would

stay warm

that night without them. I remembered his words: "If you see something that

makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world

and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with

my unique friend and to pray for his ministry.

"See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, , I know I will...

If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!

"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any

kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way

again."

My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless

and I

picked you.

Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached, please do not break

this pattern, prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost

but a lot of rewards, let's continue to pray for one another.

God bless and have a nice day!

"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies

reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power.

Holy spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment.

Where there is pain, give them your

peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence

through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name. Amen." (I know I picked more

than four, and you can, too.)

[Guest guest]

Will Work For Food

Wow, what a story that touched me so much. We had a guy come thru here once that sounded just like that and my husband went and bought him his meal and told him he would pray for him. Thanks for sharing this beautiful story.

Lu