Yesterday, a long-prayed prayer came true in my adopted home church as Love Manhattan rolled out. It was so good.
Better than Josh Garrels-jamming-in-my-Hobbit-House good.
Better than chocolate-and-peanut-butter good.
Better than even the WildCats-winning good.
At the beginning of the Sunday conversation, a young plaid-shirted dad stood up and talked about why he volunteers in prisons. He’d been there enough times in his twenties to have a judge once tell him that he appeared to be heading for a “life sentence on the installment plan.”
Somehow, somewhere up in Nebraska, someone took the time to become his friend. This 60-ish-year-old-man chose to drive and invest in a younger man who was trying to outrun his life via drugs, alcohol, etc. You know the drill.
T
he older man returned again and again to visit with this messed up fatherless kid – even inviting him to move to Manhattan, Kansas, when the kid’s sentence was up. And the kid did.For six months he lived a life lavished in unconditional love and opportunity until one night at 2:00 in the morning, he scribbled out a note to his adopted family “full of all the excuses of why he had to return to the old life” up north.
He walked away from his support system.
Within weeks, his money was blown and he was facing another round of wrecked.
Over the days of his flight, he left many calls from the 785 area code unanswered. Finally, as a most-desperate young man, he picked up his ringing phone.
“What I received on the other end of that phone call was unconditional love…and now I have a desire to show others that love and compassion…”
Fast forward a few years, a lovely wife, a few sparky kids, and an independent business later and this young man makes the time and the drive to a prison almost two hours away to connect with men in the shadows. He doesn’t stop there. He mentors these men as they leave the prison system into the parole system and onward.
He takes the time to show others the love and compassion he received.
* * *
Steve, our pastor, is a “Big.” This soft-spoken, humble, transplanted southerner has mentored a local young man for four years under the Big Brothers/Big Sisters umbrella. They do normal things each week: errands, homework, dinner. Sometimes, Steve will introduce his “Little” to some of the finer things of local living like K-State sports (and yes… purpleville’s football is in a rebuilding year.)
Recently, the two showed up at a BatCat’s practice (local for “WildCat Baseball Team”). It was fun – as most college sports are – and both Steve and his “Little” had a great time. After practice, without any hint to his Little about what was coming, the entire K-State Baseball team swarmed up to meet Steve’s “Little” and take photos with him.
Yea. That’s community…and life changing for a lot of us who weren’t even there that day.
The Point
Our growing Church has come to grips with the fact that most folks won’t come knocking on the church door.
Love Manhattan.
Love offered as we’ve received.
I’d say I’ve found a place to rest my weary head and heart before I jump back out into a lost and dying world.
In the meantime, I know of a few more ways I can offer fresh water to the thirsty folks on the plains.
If you are interested in the biblical texts Steve highlighted, mosey on over to Jeremiah 29:4-23 and Titus 3:4-15. Enjoy.
Link to Love Manhattan podcast, http://www.faithmanhattan.org/resource/podcast.php.
