Abandoned in Dothan

Kellie and Martha

Why would a parent abandon a child in a strange city? That's the question Martha and I were asking ourselves Friday night.

A friend had met a young lady who was stranded in our hometown of Dothan, Ala. He gave her our phone number and said if they can help you, they will.

She called me crying. Her name was Kellie and she lives in South Carolina. She came to Dothan on a bus with her stepfather to visit her mother, who is in jail. Two days ago her stepfather disappeared without a word. Their hotel room was paid through Thursday and they had to be out by noon Friday. She kept waiting for him to return. He had told her two days ago that he found some work and was going to do that to make a little extra money, but he never returned.

She checked the hospitals and the jail, but he wasn't at those places. She was scared and didn't know what to do. Thankfully, we could help her.

Martha and I picked her up and Martha instantly gave her a hug of assurance that everything was going to be OK. Kellie was crying and kept saying, "I can't believe he left me. I can't believe he left me."

We were able to purchase her a bus ticket, and the lady at the Dothan bus station did a great job of finding a good route for her. At first, the next bus for Kellie's destination wasn't going to arrive in Dothan until 2 a.m. But Judy kept looking and found a route where she could leave at 7:30 Friday night and arrive home Saturday afternoon.

Kellie has family back in South Carolina, so she's going to be OK. Martha and I praise God for bringing her to us. It gave us a chance to minister the love of Jesus Christ to her. While I left the bus station to go get Kellie some food (she hadn't eaten in about two days), Martha listened and talked to her. My precious wife just poured the love of Jesus into that young lady, who was only 22 years old. She looked like she was 18.

Kellie was so thankful for the help, and we stayed there with her until she got on the bus. We didn't want to buy her a ticket and leave. We didn't want her to feel abandoned again.

We will probably never see Kellie again. That's the case with all of the transient homeless people and those abandoned like Kellie. But, for that short time, we have the opportunity to show them and tell them about the love of Jesus Christ. Then we send them on their way. But they will remember the words and the acts of love. They will know there is a God in Heaven who loves them.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." That's what God expects all Christians to do. We must plant the seed of God's love into people, and water it with His Word and more love. We can't save them. Only God can. If we do what we are suppose to, God's Word will not return void. That seed of God's love will grow, and sooner or later, a harvest will be reaped.

So pray for all of those like Kellie and all of the transient homeless people we meet. Pray that the seeds will fall upon good soil, and that the Holy Spirit will bring the words and the acts of love back to their remembrance. They are precious people. They just need to know that someone loves and cares for them. That hope of God's love is all they need to pull them out of their situations.