The roller coaster ride of ministry

Ministry to the homeless is filled with times of great rejoicing and heart-breaking moments.

The past 24 hours was a good example. While eating lunch with my wife and one of our Love In Action board members, Dwight Deal, the ministry phone rang and Martha answered it. On the other end of the phone was a very familiar voice. It was Patrick. We met him when he was homeless in Dothan.

I remember when we first met him. He was totally plastered. We were helping another homeless man at the time and he was friends with Patrick. Even though Patrick had been homeless for a while and was drunk, I remember telling Martha, "We're going to reach that guy." And, thanks to the power of the love of Jesus, we did.

It was a roller coaster ride at times, but we helped him come off the streets into his own apartment and get a job. He eventually moved to Pensacola to work with a company to clean up the Gulf oil spill. When that job dried up, he stayed there and became homeless again. He found a ministry with a shelter and started working with them.

It had been about six months since we last heard from him, so we were excited when he called. He said he was doing good and that this ministry in Pensacola reminded him of Love In Action. He said he was working on becoming a pastor. Praise God! He has an incredible testimony and he realizes what God has done in his life. Our prayers remain with him and that he will stay on this path.

Then, this morning my mom received a phone call from a homeless man in New York City who has become part of our family. Many of you are familiar with Benjamin. He is like a brother to me and a son to mom. Though he is a few years older than I am, he calls me his big brother.

We met Benjamin around eight years ago in Brooklyn. It's a long story, but we worked with a church there to help get Benjamin into a rehab program in Chicago. We brought him to Alabama twice. Once was to sing at mine and Martha's wedding.

Once he made it back to New York, he went down the wrong path and ended up in prison for about four years. When he got out he was doing so good. Martha, mom and I went to NYC last summer and visited Benjamin. What a grand reunion that was.

For the past six months we haven't heard a word from him, which is strange. He always calls. He had strayed again, and this morning he called to apologize over and over again and to say he was going to turn himself into the police because there were two warrants on him. He said that was the right thing to do, and he was tired of running.

He said God used him in prison the last time and he wanted to get close to God again so God can use him again. Mom was in tears when she hung up the phone. It's so heartbreaking. Benjamin knows the difference between right and wrong. He has all the potential in the world, but he keeps falling.

But you know what? God will keep picking him back up and we are still his family. We still love him. What Benjamin and others like him need is stability and accountability. That's why were pray that one day we will have a facility of our own to house homeless men, women and families, and provide a strong, Christian-based rehab program to give them the support they need to change the choices they make in life.

Please keep Benjamin and all the others in your prayers. We can reach them. They are not lost causes. God never gives up on His children. We shouldn't either.