Dear Centenarians,
From time to time
throughout ministry, there are surprising moments that reinforce my faith in
God’s ability to transform people’s lives from near-emptiness to fullness. Such
a moment happened two weeks ago in worship, when a once-homeless person showed
up dressed in dapper business attire!
The last time he was
at church was two years ago, on a “Blessing of the Animals Sunday.” I drove him
to the DMV the following day so that he could obtain a State Identification
card, which he said he needed for a job interview.
After I dropped
him off and headed home, I simply chalked up this experience to many other
similar ones I’ve had over the years. The cynical part of me was convinced that
nothing would come of my efforts to lend
him a hand, and I would never see him again.
You can imagine
how shocked and surprised I was when he appeared in worship, dressed as he was!
During the lunch following worship, he shared that the day after he obtained
his state identification card he was hired by a nearby department store as a
security guard.
After a few
months of doing that, he answered a truck driving ad in the newspaper and was subsequently
hired by the trucking company. The company relocated him to Oklahoma, where he was born. He now drives
cross-country routes for the company (which is why he was in L.A.), and he had gotten married along the
way!
Perhaps the most
uplifting thing about our conversation was when he referred to Centenary as “my
home.” Realistically, I know that our chances of seeing him again in worship
will be few and far between.
However, God has
given him this congregation as a “home ” during his travels, and we are blessed
by God to be a part of this person’s amazing transformation into a new life.
Grace and Peace,
Reverend Mark M.
Nakagawa
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