My Heart Was Touched!

Thursday was a hard day for me. A student at STI came in to see me early that morning. She shared as she shed tears about how she had found herself homeless. Not something she had planned. While she had a place to live starting in December, she had been sleeping on various couches and in her car for sometime. As she told the story, her crying increased and I finally just gave her the Kleenex box.

She shared how her family was from out of town and while she worked part-time while being a full-time student, she knew very few people and none of them were the kind of people where she felt she could ask for a bed or much assistance of any kind. I knew one thing, I wasn't going to allow her to sleep one more night in a scary parking lot. Sad thing was I felt I couldn't send her to the local mission because of all of the terrible stories I had heard about how people were treated! (isn't that sad!). I even considered asking Evie if our guest bed would be available until we could get a place for her to live. I knew that I would be crossing the line professionally to bring her into our home (isn't it sad what we have become as a society!).

Well to make a long, long story short, I got her some help and a short term loan from STI to help her until she could get her financial aid award money. She thanked me probably 10 times. At one point I looked at her and asked her how old she was? SHE WAS THE SAME AGE AS MY DAUGHTER!!! WOW! I knew I HAD to do something to help her.

The powerful thing about this was I had just attended an evening class at STI the night before this young woman had come to see me and had shared about the STI Emergency Loan Program where students could borrow up to $500 to help with non-educational expenses until their student loans had arrived. I thanked God for STI, for these emergency dollars from the STI Foundation and that this young woman would feel comfortable enough to seek help the next day.

At that moment I thanked God for allowing me to serve STI in ministry. I knew that God had planted me into a new ministry in a secular place and knew I was where I was suppose to be. It is a good feeling knowing one is doing the Lord's work. Her final comment as she walked out the door was, "Mr. Patterson, you are a good man!" I responded with, "No not really. It doesn't have much to do about me actually!" I knew what I meant! Thank you Lord for giving us times of ministry in your name.

Markus

"Hungry you fed me, naked you clothed me, sick you visited me..."