Karl visiting with a man living at a tent city in Victoria, BC.
THIS PAST FATHER’S DAY our church did a street outreach in the city of Courtenay, BC, where we handed out a letter called, “The Father’s Love Letter.” During that Sunday afternoon on the street, a couple of us met up with a man named John who was sitting at a park and begging for money. As we approached John, we discovered that he was very friendly and eager to hear about Jesus as he received The Father’s Love Letter. We asked him if there was anything that we could pray for. He requested prayer for his dad who has stage 4 cancer with very little time to live. We prayed for John and his requests and then I asked John if he would be interested in coming for breakfast the following morning so that I could share more about Jesus with him. John agreed and we met the next morning at a restaurant right beside the motel in which he was staying. Right now, due to Covid-19, homeless people are allowed to stay in motels paid for by the government.
The following morning, I met John at the restaurant as planned and we talked for 45 minutes. John shared about his ailing father and I asked him when he had last seen him. John responded, “It’s been several months! I can’t see him because of Covid. My dad lives in Campbell River but the transport bus between there and Courtenay has been cancelled due to Covid.” Well, it just so happened that I was on my way near Campbell River to meet a family at Homalco First Nation. I offered John a ride and 10 minutes later we were on our way. I shared about Jesus all the way to Campbell River and John listened intently. Just before we reached our destination John asked if we could stop talking about God for a while — and I agreed.
A few hours later, I picked up John and we began heading back to Courtenay. I never mentioned the Lord once on the way back! We just talked, laughed, and played a game of spot the Canada flags! Upon reaching his motel, John opened the door of my truck and said only one thing. “Just so you know, I am thinking about giving my life over to God — but it’s hard!” It would be hard for John because he had been an alcoholic for the last 39 years and homeless for the last 10! My prayer and hope were that God would reach out and touch John’s heart. God was doing just that!
Later that evening, as our family had just finished dinner, John called and asked if there was a prayer meeting somewhere in Courtenay that he could attend. I told John that I thought there was one and that I would have to call him back in five minutes. I called Nate (our pastor) and asked if we could put together a prayer meeting on very short notice— as in, two-minutes notice! Nate agreed so I went to pick up John and the five of us met at the same park where we met John the day before. John shared about his life and his terrible dependence on alcohol with much anger and sadness. John cried as he explained how he wanted to put his trust in Jesus and how he knew his life was worthless without God! That night, at an airport park in Courtenay, John gave his life to Jesus! He was still rough around the edges, but God meets us just where we are and doesn’t leave us there if we choose Him! How good is our God!
John made a commitment to go into detox so he could get rid of alcohol once and for all from his life. A couple of days later our family headed back to Alberta for two weeks as John was heading into the detox program.
Upon our return, I called John several times and could not get a hold of him, so I drove over to his room at the motel where he was staying. John was not there and I was informed by a couple of his friends that he had had an accident two weeks before. He was leaving his room on the second floor and tripped down the stairs where he hit his head on the concrete below. John passed away from his injuries shortly after. We were in complete shock!
Just two weeks before, John was planning and praying for a completely different life. John wanted a clean life with no more struggles with his booze addiction, a life that would be pain-free, and trouble-free. John could not have known that God saw the same life for him but without struggling on this earth any longer. God had a better way of dealing with John’s pain and anguish — as described in Revelation 21:4, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” How incredible it is that in two short weeks, Lord willing, John’s life was completely transformed and that he knows more about God and eternity than I will ever know on this earth!
I think about the man on the right-hand side of Jesus who repented to his Saviour saying, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). That man who had been a sinner all of his life humbled himself at the end of his life and repented for his sins just before he was to die. And Jesus said to him in the next verse, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
We serve an awesome God who is faithful to save! Just one look at John’s life proves that our God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save anyone at any time, according to His plans and purpose!
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that’” (James 4:13-15).
