Please pray for Charles

When ministering to the homeless you never know what you will be doing from one day to the next. You may be celebrating with them for getting a job, or you may be staying up late praying and talking with them. Tonight, we helped a homeless man bury his best friend.

Charles and New Kirk had been together for the past 12 years. New Kirk was a German Shepherd. He was a good dog. He was weakening from arthritis, but he still fetched his tennis ball. Charles just started living in our transitional house last week. He had told us about some of his and New Kirk's travels and adventures. He took good care of New Kirk. He made sure his shots were up to date and that he had plenty to eat.

Charles called me a little after 6 tonight. He just said "New Kirk is dead." Charles is a man filled with pain, anger and hurts. New Kirk has been his only joy. He hasn't had a family other than his dog. I knew I had to rush over to Charles after he called. When I arrived he was on the ground with New Kirk, hugging him and crying. My heart broke.

I love animals and I love pets. We all understand how close we get to our pets, and when they die we cry. However, New Kirk was more than a pet to Charles. He was all he had for 12 years.

Richard and I took Charles and New Kirk's body back to the wooded camp where we first found them. That's where Charles wanted his best friend buried. So, that's where Richard and I buried him. Another homeless man living at the camp had made a cross and we put it in front of New Kirk's grave.

Charles wanted to pray and he thanked God for his dog. Then we prayed for Charles. He has come so far in such a short amount of time. In fact, my friend Doug, who introduced us to Charles, had told me earlier today that he couldn't believe Charles when he saw him at our Bible Study Wednesday night. He said Charles looked like a different person, and it wasn't because he had gotten a haircut.

New Kirk's death is a big set back. Charles is staying at the camp tonight and maybe tomorrow night. He's been on his own since he was 13. He's 47 now. He doesn't know what having a home means. He doesn't know what having people around him who cares about him means.

We told him to grieve, then when it's all out of his system call us and we'll take him home. He said, "I do have a home don't I." Then he said he had told someone that after all of these years of not trusting people and not wanting to be around people because of constantly being hurt, he had finally found some good people who really care about him. Praise God. That's hope. Hope that Charles is going to bounce back from this setback.

Please pray for Charles. Pray for his safety and that he will come back and continue the new journey he started last Sunday. I can see Charles coming to the Lord and learning how to live a life that so many of us enjoy. I then see Charles reaching others who live in tents in the woods.

Thank you for your prayers.