Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. - Psalm 119:105

     Today I met a man named Joe. It was the first time I’ve gone and ministered under the bridge. Tommy and I grabbed some water bottles and started walking. Some people wanted water and some people shrugged us off. We came across these two older white men, Bobby and Joe. They took the water and we started talking with them. Tommy sat and talked with Bobby while I talked with Joe.

     Joe is homeless by choice. He has been traveling from city to city via Greyhound bus for 15 years. He has a house on Lake Michigan that he gave to his daughter. He travels to a different city every few months. He receives a social security check every month and though it’s not much, it’s enough to get him a couple weeks in a motel. After that, he hits the streets.

     Joe told me that when he came to New Orleans he bought a cup of coffee and was sitting on a corner in the French Quarter when Bobby walked by. Bobby told him he looked like a tourist. Joe laughed and they started walking. Bobby doesn’t want to be homeless. He became homeless by a series of bad mistakes. Joe sees this and wants to help Bobby get back on his feet. Everything he gets, whether it be a cup of coffee or a cigarette, he splits it in half with Bobby.

     The whole time Joe’s talking, I get this overwhelming sense of joy just radiating from him. He gave up his material possessions, and his comfortable life, for a life of uncertainty. He doesn’t know what he’s going to eat tonight, let alone tomorrow. Joe told me that before he decided to travel around he worked for a telephone company. While he was working for them he was struck by lightning and was crippled in bed for two years. After he recovered he went back to work, but it just wasn’t doing it for him anymore. His wife divorced him and he set out on an adventure that has shaped his life even more. And he’s happy.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:6

     Every city Joe goes to, he ends up coming across one hopeless soul that he just can’t let stay that way. He does his best to get these homeless men and women back on their feet and living semi comfortably. He is a believer and knows that God will always be with him, whether it be in a nice, comfortable house or under a damp bridge. Not many people would choose that lifestyle. Joe is all about the simple pleasures in life. According to him, there’s no reason not to be happy. He loves fishing and after he gets his social security check at the end of this month, he and Bobby are going to go down to the Bayou, set up a tent, buy a fishing pole, and live a relaxing life of fishing all day.

     I feel like Joe is doing something similar to what we’re trying to do, but on a smaller scale. He is bringing hope to the hopeless and light into the darkness. His happiness and smile is contagious. Talking with Joe makes me feel like there is hope in New Orleans. There are people that want to be happy and are avidly seeking that happiness. I realize that Joe is only one man and the light he’s shining will only go so far into the darkness. But think about it- all it takes is one person to change the world. One person to light that spark in someone that motivates them. One person to pray with someone who’s desperately in need of the Lord. Joe may not be spreading the Gospel, but he is spreading the light. God’s light shines through Joe and you can see it. When you first see Joe, you think he’s down on his luck, but he’s not. He’s happy where he is. God placed him there for a reason and he knows that.

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. - Psalm 107:14

     Today was my first day on project and I’m already seeing the Lord work through the people around me. I’ve been here a couple of days already and I keep getting this overwhelming feeling that this week is about bringing light to the darkness. Talking with Joe just confirmed that. This trip will bring amazing things…I can feel it.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. - John 1:5