Today is Friday. We started out pretty much like every other day, devotions and singing at breakfast. One of the things I have been blessed with is the testimonial and reports from the teams. Today is no exception. We heard from team members who have been working on the houses. They have had many wonderful reports. We also heard some singing from Willy Nelson tunes to Johnny Cash tunes. I have enjoyed the flashbacks to my mother and father's 8-track days. I forgot those old country gospel songs.
Our team of chaplains decided to go out as a whole team today. There were three of us and one in-training. I was the only man!
We visited the home of a Gulfport police officer, Leonard, whose home was being torn down. A group of Methodist from Georgia were the demo team. They accidentally struck a gas line just as we arrived. The whole place smelled of gas and we were beginning to get a little silly by the end of the hour with them. This would explain our next bit of trouble.
We were able to pray for that officer and also we were given the opportunity to share Christ with a Captain who "just happened" to arrive. We shared with him and prayed for him as tears filled his eyes. What a neat time! We learned that today was his wife's birthday. She is a nurse. We decided to go get a gift and take it to her at the hospital. (ladies will come up with any excuse to go shopping.). But this is where our trouble began. (More a bit later.)
On our way, however, we were given our next divine appointment. As we took a restroom break at the nearby Burger King (another thing women seem to do in groups), an elderly little woman approached us for food money. I dealt with her along with the chaplain in-training. This little woman appeared homeless and by her size she looked malnourished and very needy. She was specific about where she wanted to eat. She asked for a taco from a Taco Bell 2 blocks away. We walked her over and let her order whatever she wanted. The cashier stated that she was impressed with our generosity. To which I acknowledge that Jesus is the reason for any kindness in this world. As we stood at the counter I felt compelled to pray for her so I did, right there where we stood. The cashier join us in prayer as did the dozen in line with us. I did not notice right away the crowd until after my prayer - long as usual - and quickly apologized for my holding up the line. The people did not mind at all. We finished our ministry to this woman and shared the message of the gospel off to the side but loud enough that everyone had to hear us for sure.
Well, we finished with this great witness opportunity and headed over to the hospital with our gift in hand in search of the police officer's wife. Upon our arrival we begin to inquire about where this birthday girl and nurse could be found. We gave the name to several people who said that they didn't know her. We were persistent from desk to desk and several floors. We eventually went to human resources, who said they didn't know her. We asked that she be paged over the hospital speakers. They did it. And they did it again and again. But she did not reply. We went searching again floor to floor. I felt like I was part of an episode of "Designing Women." Finally our mystery was solved - by our Chaplain in-training. She began to ask around and found a nurse with the same first name who also happened to have a birthday today and whose husband is a Gulfport police officer. Our problem was that we had crossed last names of the two police officers we spoke with at the beginning of the day. We never laughed so hard! I think that the gas had affected our brains!!
The long and the short of it was that our mission was complete. We gave our gift and expressed our love and got out of the hospital before security escorted us to the nearest exit!
We completed our day by heading to the Gulfport PD and having a second meeting with the Deputy Chief and other staff. What an incredible blessing and openness we felt.
Late in the afternoon we finally got lunch. We were really hungry.
I finished my evening with one more round of site-seeing and picture-taking in Gulfport.
After dinner several of us did the kitchen clean up and dish duty.
I lay here refreshed with enthusiasm and thank God for the wonderful opportunities.
I will be getting us on Saturday by 5 AM to participate in a ride-a-long for the day with the Gulfport PD. Good night for now!
