One Among Many

Details: 25 March 2011

Last year, a single woman in her 30s with multiple problems, many of which are medically related, insisted on moving to Florida.

At the time she was unemployed and was at the point of an eviction. She unfortunately lost a good-paying job. She related that once she went Florida, she would not encounter any difficulties finding employment. She was even more convinced a horse stable would employ her. She even had one identified. I tried in vain to convince her otherwise, despite laying out a short- and long-term roadmap to independence by staying in Nebraska.

Despite our offers to help her she exclaimed, "Father, all I need is a rental car and you will never see or hear from me and my pets again!" She was convinced that once she crossed the Florida border, her problems would melt away like wax in a flame, including her medical difficulties.

Shortly after arriving in Florida, she called twice, pleading for help. I was unable to call her back since she lacked a phone. After a while, her calls stopped. Time after time, I tried returning her calls, using the numbers she gave, to no avail. After numerous attempts at returning her calls, I gave up. She did not call, either. ‘She either is working somewhere or she dropped of the face of the earth,’ I thought.

Recently, out of the blue, I received a call late one afternoon, "Hello, it’s me!" She somehow made it back to Nebraska. "Do you have a space heater?" she asked.

After returning to Nebraska, she was fortunate enough to find a job and was waiting for her first paycheck. She is staying in an unheated room off someone’s home. Her plans include finding an apartment once she is paid.

After purchasing a space heater, I made plans to meet her at a local bus stop after her work was over for the day. She looked good but somewhat thinner. She was happy to see me. After giving her the space heater and some funds to buy food, I gave her a blessing and left knowing we can blow the dust off the old plans for independence, minus finding a job.

I do not have the opportunity to get to know many clients as well as I have this woman, but our goal is to love Jesus Christ present in each person as they see the face of Christ in us. There are many ways we can assist someone like this. Help with finding employment, first month’s rent, utilities, deposit, food, clothing, vehicles, insurance, furniture, appliances, house wares, counseling, or literally anything needed for someone to gain back their independence.

Please pray for this woman, and all of the clients that walk through our doors. We pray first and foremost for the salvation of their souls, and secondly for their material and psychological needs.

Thanks to our generous donors across southern Nebraska and beyond we are able to help her and others like her, for she is one among many sons and daughters of God the Most High that walk though our doors. I love also to remind our benefactors that you, your families and intentions remain in our regular prayers.