Loving The Unlovable

My friend and colleague Hugh Hollowell has written this.    I publish it here for your reading:

                                                                                                                                                            -LaCount Anderson

 

When I met them several years ago, they were homeless. She had delivered five children, all of whom had been taken by the state. He was a crackhead living off her food stamps, who made spending money by turning tricks for the white-collar types that cruise the homeless camps looking for sex. 

 

He has several kids by different women.  She has a two pack a day habit. They had a baby together – his family was fostering that kid for the state while they “got things under control”.  Then they found out she was pregnant.  Again.

 

Luckily (!) about this time, they were on a city bus that hit a car. As a result, they got a small settlement. They paid a year’s worth of rent on a place infested with fleas & roaches & moved in just in time for her to deliver the baby. The state let her keep this one.

 

They still had no money, no job. They had food stamps & whatever church they were stringing along for help that week. He was still turning tricks & she was selling her food stamps and WIC allotment. Apparently, the state was impressed by their industry & let them have custody of their other child, who is now three.  The last time I was over there, the kid was watching a VHS tape of New Jack City & eating a cold hot dog while a roach ran across his foot.

 

Last week, I get a phone call the day before I go out of town. He ran off with the neighbor, with whom he has been having an affair. The neighbor is HIV positive.  And the lease on the apartment runs out at the end of August.

 

Her mental health caseworker & I talked to her for hours, encouraging her to file for child support & get a restraining order. She said she will. While I am out of town, he moves back in with her. And why not – it’s almost time to get food stamps again. It’s hard to blame her – the thought of being alone with two kids has her terrified.

 

Loving these people is not easy for me. It is easy for me to say that they are where they are because of the choices they have made, or their moral failures, or whatever. But if I only love people who are lovable – well, even terrorists do that.

 

My Evangelical friends complain I don’t talk enough about my faith in these letters. Well, understand that the only thing that keeps me answering the phone when she calls is my belief that she is valuable to the God I profess to believe in. And the only reason I am not filled with total despair for those babies is the assurance found in the ancient prayer that one day it will be “on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

But until that day comes, I don’t know anything to do but to try my best to love them, even when it is not easy. And to pray really, really hard.  

 

They could use your prayers, too. Truth be told, so could I.

 

Love Wins. Always.

Hugh Hollowell

 

Love Wins Ministries

Raleigh, North Carolina

Posted via email from lacount's posterous

Recycling At Union Mission

Union Mission has been blessed by financial gifts, food donations, and donations of clothing.     We are truly grateful for the ongoing support to this ministry that has been serving the Roanoke Valley since 1951.   You may not be aware of a recycling program that helps to support this ministry.   We are able to recycle cardboard and old clothes.    No need to throw these items in the trash.  Union Mission can turn these items into money that goes to help the homeless and those in need.      Here is how you can help:   Bring your clothing and cardboard, even clothes that are unusable, by Union Mission at 1310 Roanoke Ave.  Roanoke Rapids, NC or call 252-676-1441 and we will pick up your donation.    You can also email us:  director@umrr.org.    The main need at this time is to recycle old clothes.   Remember:  If your clothes are not becoming to you; we would like for them to be coming to us! 

 

Posted via email from lacount's posterous

Warmth and Cold

I encountered him a few weeks ago.   This homeless man who had been out in the cold all week.  Apparently he had just been released from the hospital and had no place to go. A few nights on the street didn't serve him well as our temperatures have been cold.   After a good meal, his health seemed to decline a bit more.   We sent him to the hospital where we were hopeful that he could get the care he needed.  

 

He came by today to tell me thanks for helping him that very cold day.  It turns out he was in process of having a stroke and the hospital saved his life.  Cold weather is not good for folks out on the street.  This man is still on the street but knows we will help him if he comes by.  

 

This past week with the high winds, the wind chill factor was treacherous.   We had 3 men come into the shelter.    I was able to provide a warm place to stay; it turns out two of these men decided that I had something to offer and they are willing to listen. So, they are staying with me at the shelter and begin new jobs on Monday.   They will stay with us at the shelter attend church, Bible study, and have many conversations with me when they are not working.    I guess you can say God used the cold winds to blow them our way and now we are able to show them the warmth of the light of Jesus. 

 

LaCount Anderson

 

Posted via email from lacount's posterous

Little Rewards Along The Way

Nick called today.   Many times over the last year or so I have thought about young Nick.   He had been released from prison and was transferred to my care at the Union Mission a few years ago. We concluded our work with Nick and I had not seen nor heard from him since early 2008.  

I remember our first meeting and how shocked I was to find this man had been in prison since he was 15 years old.   He had been sexually abused while in prison and had a host of problems.   I also remember he was a difficult young man to work with due to his past history.  

When I received his call today I was delighted to hear his voice.   His voice was confident as he said “Rev. Anderson I was looking through some things and came upon your business card.    I am calling today to tell you I am OK and to say thank you for your help while I was at Union Mission.”      As I talked with him I discovered that he had a really good job; that he had bought a house; and that he was entering graduate school at the University of North Carolina.   I celebrate with Nick his success.   I am glad I had an opportunity to tell him about God and to spend some time teaching him a few years ago.   It felt good to hear “thank you” from someone that society had pretty much discarded.  

How many other Nicks are there?   Many I am sure.   I ask for your prayers as we work with homeless men here in Roanoke Rapids, NC and in eastern NC.   They come from all walks of life, with different problems.  One thing is for sure.  They need God.  

LaCount Anderson

Posted via email from lacount's posterous