Celebrating 15 years of God's grace! Another life transformed!
Tom*
The Hunger Prevention Program was growing – soup kitchen and food pantry - and we could no longer bring in the hundreds of cartons of food deliveries ourselves. We began recruiting men from the Saturday Breakfast Program to help us. One of the men asked if he could bring his friend, Tom Hendricks, and Tom joined the group. Every Wednesday morning, these men come to The Father’s Heart to bring in the delivery and assemble hundreds of food pantry bags. The men are always served lunch when they are finished and receive a small stipend.
All of the men were friendly and appreciated the warmth extended to them. All, except Tom. He was always sullen and angry. If you greeted him he would not acknowledge you or even look up.
A couple of years passed and Tom started warming up. He began acknowledging the greeting. He even smiled on occasion. Soon he allowed us to engage him in conversation. Then he began allowing Pastor Perry Hutchins to pray for him - a big step.
But an even bigger step was when he began to ask Pastor Marian Hutchins to help him with his living situation. He was homeless and he liked being homeless and independent. But now, as he was growing older and missed stretching out his legs in a bed, he was thinking it may be time to take the step. You see, in NYC, if you sleep sitting up on a park bench or in a subway, no one will bother you. But if you lay down, you may be brought to a shelter. So, he spent all of his nights sleeping in an upright position. Pastor Marian researched services for him and the others and directed them to programs that could take them further.
Today, Tom has his own apartment, a phone, and a job. He is currently applying for better employment because now he has grown in self-confidence and no longer wants to be tied down to government-run programs. He is fun to be around, has a great sense of humor and turns out to be quite a lover of books, movies and music. He has come out of his shell and is aspiring for so much more. He loves to cook and often talks about the different recipes he uses. Actually, all of the men originally recruited - all homeless - now have a roof over their heads.
To God be the Glory!
*Not his real name |