So last Wednesday myself and my roommate Ray went out into the town to seek the under-resourced neighbors of Burlington with the idea that we could find someone to invite back to the BBQ that we were having that evening. We first went to a park that another member of our GMS community had told us about. It was a brisk bike ride away but it was empty. We continued to ride around town but with no luck. Finally we decided to call one of the homeless shelters in the area and simply ask them where we could find their guests during the day. Sarah, the receptionist on the phone gave us two locations and we were on our way. The first place she told us to try was a park that oversees the waterfront, sadly this park was also empty. The second location that she mentioned was “The Turning Point” a rehab center in downtown Burlington.
There we got a chance to meet a few great people, that’s where I met Jill. Jill was a woman no older than 45 who told me about her experience in South Florida. She had been down in Florida when she was pregnant with her first son Nathan and was completely captivated by the beauty of a sunset that she experienced. She described it to me in such detail struggling with her words trying to express how she felt. She said that she felt “high” although at the time she was not on drugs, she described it as a higher sense of being. I thought of a specific incident that happened to me my junior year of high school that I thought related very well to what sh
e was saying. It was at a water polo game and I had just scored and had to swim back to the wall, when I came out of the water I happened to be right under one of the stadium lights that lit up the pool at night. That’s when I realized that although my parents had to work and could not make it out to watch me play, God was watching and he wasn’t watching the game, he was watching me. I told her this story and told her how I felt immense joy, and overpowering love. She quickly agreed that that is how she felt watching the sunset. I was able to share with her how that experience is a “God thing” and how much He loves giving us those simple joys.
Jill is one of the few people that I hope to share God with this summer in Vermont. We are going to have weekly BBQ's and I look forward to inviting more people to join us. I need to raise an additional $1,700 to pay for room and board for the summer and am asking you to prayerfully consider funding me to continue my work here.
Also, please continue to pray for my team, they are SOO GREAT!
In Him!
