A life changed by 'God's grace and guiding hand'

I received an email recently and it brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy.

When you work with the homeless you go through a lot of heartbreaks, but all of those tough times are worth it when you see one of them truly turning his or her life around.

The person who sent me the email is the sister of a former homeless man in our hometown of Dothan, Ala. He was homeless and living in a tent in the woods when we met him a year ago. I remember telling Martha, "We're going to reach that guy." Through the power of God's love, we did.

Through working with him we experienced many heartbreaks with him. We also experienced many joyous times. We helped him come off the streets and move into his own apartment about six months ago. He's at Love In Action every Tuesday night for Celebrate Recovery and every Wednesday night for Bible study. He's about to complete Discipleship Phase 1. When he doesn't have to work on Sundays, he's at church with us.

I told him Wednesday night that it was so good seeing him smile. He was always battling depression, but now he's smiling and thanking Jesus for everything.

This is a testimony to God's wondrous love. Showing the homeless that God loves them and so do we means everything to them, and this is just one example. I want to thank those of you who pray for us, donate financially, donate items, and give of your time. We couldn't have reached this person without each of you. It takes the Body of Christ working together to get this kind of result.

He still has a ways to go, but he's doing so good. You don't have to know his name to pray for him, so please keep him in your prayers. He has incredible potential to do great things.

The email is below. I left out his name and the person who sent the email to protect their privacy. But as you will see, God is doing a great work. When a family member notices a change, that's saying something, because they have seen the absolute worst and most heartbreaking moments. Now, a change is taking place. A change that only Jesus Christ could make in a person's life. And I thank and praise Jesus for this and for everything we see Him do every day.

Here's the email:

Hi Ken,
I want to thank you and Martha very earnestly for all the thought, love and kindness you have put into the relationship with (my brother). My heart goes out to you and your lovely wife. You are true Christians in which the world needs more of.

(My brother), by God's grace and guiding hand, continues to strive and progress toward a more stable, alcohol free, Christian life, and I thank you and Martha and all others who have reached out to him.

For many years (he) has been a lost sheep and the Lord truly has sent his shepherds to watch over his flock and continues to do so.

With God in our hearts, let this be a better place to live.

Truly, together in the Love of Christ,
(his sister)