Story: Homeless

Story: Homeless

A man interrupted us.  Some of us were obviously not from Costa Rica, and he took the opportunity to ask for food.

This guy was different, and it surprised me a little.  I soon found out what he really needed.

Our group was walking downtown, in the capital city of Costa Rica, and the streets were crowded.  I sent Ileana with the rest of our group, to go eat down the street and wait for me.  One of the male students in our group wanted to stay with me and watch how I interacted with the man.

I asked the doctor what kind of food he wanted, and he looked across the street and saw a chicken place he liked.  So, we ate chicken.

He spoke perfect English.  I could tell from his vocabulary that he was highly educated.  He told me that he had studied in the United States and worked as a doctor there.

In my mind I asked Jesus what I should talk about. I heard a thought to ask him if he had relatives he could live with.

His life had fallen apart, but he didn’t want to reveal too much.  He returned to his relatives in Costa Rica, but that soon became fractured.  He admitted he was at fault as much as any of them. He spoke eloquently.

There was a pride in his voice, as he talked about why he didn’t live with any of his relatives.  He was living on the street.  He asked for a place to stay.  I didn’t have a solution, but I asked Jesus what to do.

I heard in my mind to ask the man to forgive his family and go back to them, but he couldn’t do it.  He had treated all his relatives poorly, and he didn’t want to humble himself and stay with any of them. He chose to stay on the street.

He let me pray with him.  If only he would turn to Jesus for a permanent spiritual household, then everything would change.  The man didn’t shelter with Jesus, and had given in to pride and anger.