Terry the Homeless Man

We are in Salt Lake City this week. Here is an encounter I felt was worthy of posting:


There are many in Salt Lake City who are homeless. Most people view them as a "nuisance to society", and I have to admit we walked by a lot of them who had signs begging for money before God spoke and said, "they just need to be loved." So, as we approached the next homeless person along our path, Bill and I were drawn to him. We struck up a conversation with this red-headed man named Terry who had the typical homeless features--weathered skin, overgrown hair and beard, wornout dirty shoes and dirty clothes, and a look of hopelessness and discouragement. I could see a lot of hurt in Terry's eyes as we talked with him. He'd suffered many 'hurts' in his lifetime. Whether it's all true or not doesn't matter. The fact that God led us to Terry, so we could minister to him is more important than anything.


So, here's part of Terry's story. Terry was a member of the Latter Day Saints Church (Mormons) for 2 years but was raised as a Southern Baptist. When asked if he was saved he said, "Yes, in the Baptist church and I was also baptised. I used to do cocaine and drink alcohol, but I don't do that anymore. I quit when I went to prison for 7 and 1/2 years. When I was going to the LDS church my wife ran up some bills and I went to them for help. They wouldn't help me, so I broke in and stole $46,000.00 which landed me in prison."


"What did you do with the money?"
"I gave it all away to the people on the streets."


Terry showed us his right foot through the holes of his shoe. He said in 2007 he lost his toes due to frostbite. "Most people think I'm an alcoholic and I'm drunk all of the time because of the way I walk, but I don't drink anymore. I get blisters on my feet from walking. That's why I have this (pulls out tissues) to keep from getting them."


My heart ached for Terry, so I asked if we could pray for him. In a very gentle voice Terry said, "If you'd like to say a prayer over me that would be fine."


"Do you believe God heals?" I asked.
"I believe God can do anything he wants to."
"What do you want from God? Do you have something in particular?" Bill asked.
"Whatever God wants is what I want."
"But, what do you want?'' Bill asked.
"The Bible says a man shouldn't be lukewarm, so I don't want to be lukewarm."


We prayed over Terry, and he received an answer to his prayers today.


Later today I began thinking about Terry and wondered how God would use him. Maybe he will minister to the homeless men and women and bring them to Christ. I KNOW he is going to have a positive effect on people and is going to have a wonderful testimony to share about how God changed his life and gave him purpose to live.


We all have a story to tell and I loved hearing Terry tell us about his. I learned something today. Just because a person is homeless doesn't make them any less a person than the rest of us. They are deserving of "hello" and "How are you?" just as much as the other people which we pass on the street. Thank you God for opening my eyes today.


"God bless you, Terry."
"God bless you!"


In His Steps in Salt Lake City,
Judy