My friend Richard

This past school year I took the year off and did a discipleship program at a place called Camp Eagle. Probably the most life changing nine months of my life. During the program, we did a study on the poor/homeless/ and God's heart for them. It was a really eye-opening study for me. We read the book "Under the Overpass." I highly suggest it! We went to San Antonio to serve at a local homeless shelter and got to talk to several homeless men and women and hear their stories. Now, I don't want to sound naive by saying that none of the people on the streets who are asking for money are going to use it for drugs or alcohol. But I honestly believe that the amount of people who do want money for those purposes is much less than we imagine. 
     This past week I met a man named Richard. I saw him for the first time about a week ago standing at a street corner near my house. I had never seen him before. He was holding a sign, and all I could see was "Food." I pulled into a Subway, bought a giftcard, and then gave it to him. When I got closer, I could read that his cardboard sign said "Will Work For Food." I didn't really talk to him, just handed him the giftcard through the car window. But I couldn't get him out of my mind. What if he had a family? That giftcard wouldn't have done much good. Did he have a place to stay? What kind of work was he looking for? I saw him again on Friday, on my way to work. I rolled down the window and told him that I wanted to help him, but couldn't stop at the moment. He said he would be there the next day, so I told him I could come back. On Saturday, my brothers and I went up there to see if he wanted to have lunch with us. He said no, but we did get to talk for a minute. He said his name was Richard, and he was from the Valley. He is up here for the holidays, staying with his brother and mom. He use to be a truck driver, but then he developed epilepsy, and has not been able to find a steady job since. And he can't get any insurance. He is working on getting his disability, so that he can get well fare, but its taking a really long time. Back at home, he does odd jobs around town, like mowing lawns. He said he has over 600 customers! While he is in town, his brother drops him off at the street corner and he stands there all day trying to get a day job. 
      Anyways, it always makes me feel more compassionate towards people on the streets and more willing to want to try to help them when I meet people like Richard. It was really just a whole lot of bad luck and health problems that put him there. And he is not asking people to give him money, or even food. He is asking people for a job, for a chance to earn some money to make it through the day. So if you happen to think about Richard, pray for him. That he would make enough money to live on, that well fare would come through for him, that he would be healed of his epilepsy.