My eyes scanned the page and stopped on these words: "What makes a person cry says a lot about that person - whether he or she is self-centered or God-centered. What causes your tears? Do you weep because your selfish pride has been wounded, or because the people around you sin and reject God who loves them dearly? Do you weep because you have lost something that gives you pleasure, or because people all around you suffer for their sinfulness? Our world is filled with injustice, poverty, war and rebellion against God, all of which should move us to tears and to action."
Our youth group at Fayette First took a little trip over to Atlanta a couple weeks ago. It was a fun trip...a day at Six Flags Whitewater, a night at the Atlanta Braves game and another day at Six Flags over Georgia. All in all, a great time was had by all. But even in all the fun, God pricked some hearts and they lamented.
As we watched the Braves conquer the Rockies, we had lots of smiles and laughter. But soon after the final bat had swung, we began our trek to the bus parked down the street. We made our way under the overpass of I-75 and there they were, four of them. One sat on a five gallon bucket and with drum sticks in hand, played on two other five gallon buckets; one played the cymbals; another played a snare drum and the fourth man clapped and danced. You could see the tattered clothing and smell of body odor and know these men were homeless. With smiles plastered across their faces, they played and danced for the crowds walking by. A guitar case was opened in front of their make-shift band and people would drop money in as they passed (interesting thing was there was no guitar to be found...just the case).
As our group traipsed by, some pulled out what change they had and dropped it into the guitar case. We didn't really stop and take in the scene because there were several hundred people behind us and we didn't want to get trampled. Corralling the kids on, I told them we would talk when we got on the bus.
As we got situated in our seats on the bus, I began seeing tears from some of the youth. They realized the situation of the homeless men and their heart broke; they were lamenting. Those gentlemen were doing the best they could considering their situations and although they had a smile on each if their faces, we had tears running down ours. God had pricked their hearts. We decided to collect a little more money and willingly, our wonderful pastor/bus driver pulled us up to the corner so we could "deposit" our collection into their guitar case. If you could have seen the smile on the faces of those men as I dropped the money we had collected, your spirit would be soaring for months.
On the ride back to the hotel, we passed several churches in downtown Atlanta and witnessed homeless people sleeping on the steps. Again, the youth were touched. They see the need and they want to meet the need.
I am excited to share with them that we have tentatively planned to go serve in a homeless shelter in Nashville that serve between 700-800 men, women and children nightly this winter. Their tears have moved us to action. They are learning the blessing of serving instead of being served. I can't wait to see God work in their lives!
Until next time....
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