Simple Grace
What was I thinking five years ago when I offered to take some hitchhikers to Walmart?
Five years ago, I was living in Illinois and at work one day when a father and son came into the church looking for some help. Our church was tucked away off the beaten path, and not the first church this father-son duo would have come across, so the fact that they ended up in our church was suspect. He said he found out that I was the president of the ministerial association (the group of local pastors that got together once a month in town) and he found out what church I worked in. That's how they found me. The father pointed to his son's shoes, which were clearly barely holding together. A few more steps, and I'm sure they would disintegrate into dust. Could we help?
He explained that they were hitchhiking across the country. When I pointed out that hitchhiking was illegal, he shrugged and told me some of the things they had seen along the way. Some really cool things. It took them five days to reach California and then another eleven days to get home (in Ohio). They trained for this. Literally. They ran across their back yard every day with 30-40 pound packs on their back. The real trouble started in Peoria, Illinois when the shoe really started to fall apart. He took out his iPad and showed me some of the adventures: this duo documented their adventure, interviewed the people who drove them around, and took amazing pictures of their trip. Maybe that's what led me to trust them and offer them a ride.
I can only imagine what my secretary was thinking when I offered to drive them to Walmart for new shoes. I think she was thinking she would call the police if I wasn't back in ten minutes. And if I'd seen this duo on the side of the road with their thumbs out, there's no way I would have picked them up (a few years later, my husband and I did respond to a set of thumbs sticking out on the side of a mountain in Vermont...but I wasn't alone so it seemed okay). I took them to Walmart, bought the son a pair of shoes, and then drove them to a diner in the next town over. There's a video on YouTube of the dad interviewing me on his iPad (see below). From the diner, they made their way home.
A memory came up on my Facebook feed today about the hitchhikers. Two years after I'd met them, I got a call one day asking me if I was still in the same church. It was the father-son duo again. This time, they were driving across the country and trying to reconnect with some of the people they'd met along their hitchhiking journey. We met at the same diner where I'd dropped them off and they bought me lunch. We caught up on each other's lives and it was just a neat experience. That was three years ago.
It really was a simple act of grace. How easy is it to just make sure someone has a solid pair of shoes? How easy is it to make sure someone has a place to sleep at night or a meal at dinner time? I reread the newspaper article that an Ohio reporter wrote about the trip and in the article, I'm quoted as saying, "The church is here to help people, and these people needed help."
Aren't we?
Isn't it really that simple? Jesus said in Matthew 5:46-47, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?"
Who do you know that needs help? Who do you now know that needs help? The church isn't just here ...Christians...aren't just here to help the people we know. Who does God put on our path and in our hearts? I hope the father-son duo are doing well, along with the rest of their family. We're Facebook friends now, and we don't stay in touch that often. But they continue to inspire me and challenge me. If they ever make it through Eastern Pa, I hope we run into each other again.
PS: I'm not advocating that you pick up hitch-hikers. Safety first, safety first, safety first!!!
Click here to see the video Mike (the dad) took of my while I drove them to the diner in Central Illinois.
Click here for a news article that ran in the Ohio paper about their trip (not the one in which I'm quoted...apparently you need a paid subscription to see a story from that long ago!)
(pic from the diner after they bought me lunch)
Five years ago, I was living in Illinois and at work one day when a father and son came into the church looking for some help. Our church was tucked away off the beaten path, and not the first church this father-son duo would have come across, so the fact that they ended up in our church was suspect. He said he found out that I was the president of the ministerial association (the group of local pastors that got together once a month in town) and he found out what church I worked in. That's how they found me. The father pointed to his son's shoes, which were clearly barely holding together. A few more steps, and I'm sure they would disintegrate into dust. Could we help?
He explained that they were hitchhiking across the country. When I pointed out that hitchhiking was illegal, he shrugged and told me some of the things they had seen along the way. Some really cool things. It took them five days to reach California and then another eleven days to get home (in Ohio). They trained for this. Literally. They ran across their back yard every day with 30-40 pound packs on their back. The real trouble started in Peoria, Illinois when the shoe really started to fall apart. He took out his iPad and showed me some of the adventures: this duo documented their adventure, interviewed the people who drove them around, and took amazing pictures of their trip. Maybe that's what led me to trust them and offer them a ride.
I can only imagine what my secretary was thinking when I offered to drive them to Walmart for new shoes. I think she was thinking she would call the police if I wasn't back in ten minutes. And if I'd seen this duo on the side of the road with their thumbs out, there's no way I would have picked them up (a few years later, my husband and I did respond to a set of thumbs sticking out on the side of a mountain in Vermont...but I wasn't alone so it seemed okay). I took them to Walmart, bought the son a pair of shoes, and then drove them to a diner in the next town over. There's a video on YouTube of the dad interviewing me on his iPad (see below). From the diner, they made their way home.
A memory came up on my Facebook feed today about the hitchhikers. Two years after I'd met them, I got a call one day asking me if I was still in the same church. It was the father-son duo again. This time, they were driving across the country and trying to reconnect with some of the people they'd met along their hitchhiking journey. We met at the same diner where I'd dropped them off and they bought me lunch. We caught up on each other's lives and it was just a neat experience. That was three years ago.
It really was a simple act of grace. How easy is it to just make sure someone has a solid pair of shoes? How easy is it to make sure someone has a place to sleep at night or a meal at dinner time? I reread the newspaper article that an Ohio reporter wrote about the trip and in the article, I'm quoted as saying, "The church is here to help people, and these people needed help."
Aren't we?
Isn't it really that simple? Jesus said in Matthew 5:46-47, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?"
Who do you know that needs help? Who do you now know that needs help? The church isn't just here ...Christians...aren't just here to help the people we know. Who does God put on our path and in our hearts? I hope the father-son duo are doing well, along with the rest of their family. We're Facebook friends now, and we don't stay in touch that often. But they continue to inspire me and challenge me. If they ever make it through Eastern Pa, I hope we run into each other again.
PS: I'm not advocating that you pick up hitch-hikers. Safety first, safety first, safety first!!!
Click here to see the video Mike (the dad) took of my while I drove them to the diner in Central Illinois.
Click here for a news article that ran in the Ohio paper about their trip (not the one in which I'm quoted...apparently you need a paid subscription to see a story from that long ago!)
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