1921 CRAIG
I posted some pictures the other
day- of Craig- a homeless guy I ran into while going to Wal Mart.
As soon as I saw Craig I knew he
was homeless.
He was sitting by the side of Wal
Mart- with a couple of well kept carrying bags- and he was organized- as much
as someone can be while homeless.
So before going into the store I
walked over to him and became friends.
I talked to Craig for about 30 minutes
before going into the store.
I told him when I get out of the
store I will take him to breakfast- my treat of course.
Craig turned the breakfast down-
but he asked instead if I could by him a can of BeefAroni.
So I picked him up 3 cans- no big
deal.
When I got out of the store we
took a ride to the park and hung out by the lake for a while.
Of course I told Craig that this
is ministry stuff to me- I didn’t ‘preach’ to him- but I told him ‘my story’ as
he told me his.
He knew that I was reaching out to
the street guys because I believe Christ called us as believers to do so.
I later took him about 30 miles south/west.
I asked him if he needed a ride
somewhere- being I had the day and van.
He told me he was heading to Lyndhurst
the next day- but if I wanted I could start him going that way.
He just needed for me to take him
to a small town around here called Secaucus.
We took the ride- and I parked in
a store parking area.
Craig has these walking routes
all down pat.
I told him that I would walk with
him some before heading out.
As we started the trek, when we got
to the end of the parking lot- he put his bags down [they looked to be well
over 50 pounds].
And he back tracked about 50
feet- picking something up.
At first I thought he saw some
change- the street guys are good at spotting change on the ground.
But as he got back- he had about
10 cigarette butts- he rolled the little tobacco that was left into a small
cigarette- it looked perfect- and the task was finished in a few minutes.
Its stuff like this that will let
you know that the person is a ‘true’ street guy [plus turning down the fast food
offer- and opting for food that you can take with you].
We walked a good few miles-
crossed over a bridge and I told Craig I would start heading back to the van.
Craig looked at me- we shook
hands- and he said ‘peace’.
I could tell he was grateful- for
real.
Sure- I gave him 5 bucks for the
journey- we spent some time hanging out- but he was grateful to have someone to
give him a hand.
I could tell from the start that
he was not a beggar.
He was not looking for a ride
[his plans were to walk the whole trip- till he got to the major highway- where
I dropped him off].
No- he was just a nice brother- a
new friend- you know- like you used to make friends as kids.
You saw some kid on the block-
never met him before- and within minutes your playing some street ball or
something.
I gave Craig the blog site
card/paper.
He doesn’t know how to get on
line- but I told him if he wound up at a friend’s house who has a computer- he can
look us up- and see his picture and story on the site.
Craig was the first ‘real’ homeless
guy I have met since being here.
I can tell from my excursions
that this area is not suitable for homeless guys- they know that and that’s why
they don’t come here.
I talked to Craig for about 3-4
hours in total.
I always try and find out their
stories- and I tell them that I share their stories on the site.
Craig is 49 years old- my age
less a year.
He was originally from Modesto
Cali.
He has been in Jersey for many
years- usually lives in Atlantic City.
That’s the spot where many of the
homeless go- Craig gave me the scoop.
Craig has had various jobs over
the years- some good ones.
But as I first talked to him-
it’s obvious he has some real mental problems [yet very smart!]
It takes about 3 hours for Craig
to communicate 2 hours of stuff you can understand.
I’m sure most people would get
scared the first few minutes- seeing he has some type of problem- and he rarely
makes it to the 3 hour ‘made a new friend’ point.
Yeah- Craig is a new friend I made
on the trip.
He did indeed hear the gospel- as
a friend- and to be honest- I had a good time hanging out with Craig.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
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