Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: The Family Reunion (06/05/08)
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TITLE: Forever Family | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jackie Colburn
06/08/08 -
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His hair resembled an untidy Afghan and the heat of this mid-summer day smothered him with a stench that mixed sweat and dirt.
With his left hand cradling his right elbow, he nodded at me when I offered a handshake. An awkward introduction.
His manner was cautious. In an attempt to break the ice, I stepped aside and presented my office as a game show hostess would present a prize.
“My name is Joyce. Please come in.”
“I’m Ron,” he said as he walked past me and entered the office.
Eight chairs surrounded the large rectangular table. I pulled a chair out for him and then one for myself. As we sat side by side, I scanned the benevolence application he dropped off the prior day.
From my peripheral vision, I saw him rub his elbow. I laid the application on the table and exchanged it for a nearby Bible.
“Ron, I research community requests to determine what assistance, if any, the church can offer in certain situations. You state on your application that you aren’t currently working but you have a wife and one-year-old twins. Why aren’t you working?”
As the ball rolled into his court, he unveiled a small piece of his story.
“I hurt my elbow on the job and I’m waiting on workers’ comp. I need food and diapers for the twins.”
I flipped through the pages of the Old Testament and stopped at Deuteronomy 15:11. With the pages of the Bible open, I asked Ron if he would allow me to read something to him.
“You see Ron, the only way we would have ever met is if God gave you a need and He gave the church a supply. There is a divine reason that you are here today.” I pointed to the text and read out loud while his eyes followed my fingers on the page.
“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”
Silence permeated the room for a few moments as I watched Ron ponder those words. The sun’s rays through the open drapes now revealed dried tears on his dark face.
Perceiving the Spirit at work, I gently continued, “Do you see yourself in this verse?”
Tears welled up in his eyes as he pointed to two particular words on the page. “Needy. Poor. I’m needy and poor.”
I nodded in affirmation and then flipped the pages forward to Luke 4:18-19. “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’”
Tears now cascaded down Ron’s face as he took his eyes from the pages of Scripture and looked at me. With quivering lips he spoke.
“According to this, you’re supposed to tell me something. What is it?”
For the next few minutes, time stood still as I watched the resurrection of this man’s heart. Once again through the preaching of the Gospel, the Spirit of the Lord grasped a man’s heart and brought him from darkness into light—from death to life.
The church supplied his need, spiritually and physically. Ron told me he felt like he had known me forever and we experienced a family reunion—brother and sister.
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A few months later, Ron called me with another food request. Eager to see him, I agreed to deliver.
Upon arrival at the door of his inner city duplex, a voice from inside beckoned to me. I gazed around the small living room. The floor hosted at least 15 old sleeping bags. I scrunched my eyebrows and looked into Ron’s beaming face.
One by one, I pointed at the sleeping bags. “What is all this?”
He laughed through the face of an angel. “New family members. The poor and needy—our brothers and sisters.”
“Food for the family reunion.” I handed him the bag and smiled.
All Scriptures from NASB
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Well done. thank you for writing this.