"It's easy to judge, but #ToListenIsToLove." / Faye Pouesi
A couple of months ago I was walking down the main road of my township when I passed a man sitting on the footpath across from a bakery and a few other shops. As I passed him, I felt a gentle prompt in my spirit to turn back and check in with him. My thought was ‘don’t be silly’. As I carried on to the lights to cross the road, I was aware of a second inner prompt. ‘what if he is just hungry Faye’. At that, I turned and went back to him and as I walked toward him, I felt a deep sadness, an overwhelming sense of him.
I never approached him as I got closer, instead I turned and went into the bakery and purchased food and a drink for him. When I handed it to him, I noticed his eyes? They were deep blue, and they were sad and lost and sorry and hopeless. As I bent over and handed him the bag from the bakery he lifted his head and thanked me, and I knew, I knew in my heart of hearts that he was powerless to his situation, that he was sorry for not having the ability to make changes on his own. Thankful that someone saw him and fed him. I also knew when I looked into his eyes that he was so incredibly lost. I could feel him, his isolation, and the historical chains that held him captive.
I have seen him a few times since that day, and yes, he was sitting on the pavement, it was obvious he had used some type of substance. Yes, I brought him food and we engaged in a conversation. He told me he was not homeless, that he rents a room in a house not far from where he was sitting. He told me he has little money for food and what money he has left over once his board is paid goes to his addiction, he told me it helps him to numb out.
You know, I understand that, I understand from my own lived experiences how drugs and other substances work as a numbing agent. It was not until I was introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ that I started to experience freedom and hope. In saying that, it took me five years after giving my heart to the Lord, for me to overcome my addiction to drugs. It took Him, Jesus to transform my heart, to extend His hand out to me through those people in His church. It took Him to prompt His church to walk in love with me, to be family to me, to be Jesus to me. To give me real life experiences of Love in action in order to stamp out the overwhelming shame that I carried back then.
I honestly believe that day when I walked past that guy sitting on the curb across from the bakery that the spirit of the Lord prompted me to go back, He, challenged my beliefs and my inner judgements about beggars. He prompted me to think about those stories written in the Bible about those cast out in society back then. He sent His disciples out to proclaim the kingdom of heaven, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy and drive out demons.
He said freely you have received: freely give.
What does that mean for me today? I learnt about the kingdom of heaven through the love exposed to me from my church and I believe and know, my wairua/spirit was healed through the love extended to me from my church family. My heart was transformed. Today, I believe in a church where a community of care is practiced daily.
A church that extends the hand of Jesus into their community and asserts His love in everything they do, eventually saves lives. I believe church is equipped to reach out to the homeless and the beggars in our communities. To the families who are struggling with mental health and addictions, to the families exposed to family violence.
Start with saying hello or hi, let the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ prompt us to engage in a conversation that depicts love, empathy, compassion, and a message of hope.
Faye Pouesi