Snaggle Toothed and Bald Headed...

Friday night...let's see.

It was the second week...so the new people to the AOM got to switch areas...so they can experience both the Underground and Little 5 Points..

So this week...it was David, Whitney (she's not new...but she took a break last semester...so now she's back!) and myself...

Underground was packed. There were so many people it was a little overwhelming. It isn't normally packed...so it was a little bit different. The people that come to Undergound to hang out are mostly African Americans...youth...20s, 30s...and a few homeless. So we stick out pretty bad...ha.

Well, tonight one such homeless guy started talking to David. He wanted to buy a cigarette off of David...but of course he didn't have one. Well we kept walking and he walked with us and talked to David...David ended up buying him a Snickers. We figured the guy just wanted someone to talk to, to listen to him. After David bought him the candy bar...we asked if we could pray with him. And there we stood in the middle of Underground with people milling around and we prayed. David prayed for him...and then the man prayed for us. It was humbling.

Well...Whitney had some contacts that we 'reunited' with. Two ladies that work at the African Pride shop...Funka (pronounced Foonk-A) and her mom who are from Nigeria. It was really cool talking with them...they mainly caught up with Whitney. Talked a lot about the economy and jobs and such. Interesting coming from an immigrants perspective...

After that we went and talked with Sarah for awhile...she's struggling spiritually. She needs some encouragement. We talked a lot about how she met her fiance--they've never actually met face to face. They met online. He's from Pakistan...it's really all quite interesting. He's a Christian too. Well...we prayed with Sarah and then headed out to George's.

At George's....we met up with Houa, Moua, Ben, and Jimmy (the rest of the team). We talked together for a bit and then some random guy came up and started talking to us. He was pretty high. Okay. He was REALLY high. And he talked for awhile...we nodded. He left.

And then...we met Matthew. "like in the Bible." well Matthew was a character. He came up right after the high guy left...and asked us if anything that guy said was truth. And we said probably not...well Matthew told us to be careful about people that spill out crazy talk like that other guy. Well, Matthew was a little crazy himself....but at least he was coherent. He was pretty funny...he talked about Obama and Bush (who he called a not so nice name "pardon me ladies...")...He also said "Snaggle toothed and bald headed...but I'm still your brother."

What an interesting comment to bring me back to reality. As he was speaking I was more distracted by his sense of humor than the fact that he may be a brother in Christ. He said he knew the Lord and loved him...sometimes I get so distracted by the outer appearance (he really was bald and had maybe 4 or 5 teeth) and the smells to notice the living soul standing in front of me. Matthew then preceded to direct us to the people who would show us what to do (I don't think he knew that we go there every week...). He thanked us for coming to serve and that by our serving he knew that we were good people.

The meal for the night was hot dogs, chili, chicken, bread, and donuts. There was a TON of food! It was awesome to see all the plates leave full....there were also sack lunches that a church group brought by. I handed hot dogs to Houa who was crazy fast at putting the hot dogs in the buns...it was pretty comical.

I got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Boone. Dr. Boone and his wife are both preachers at a holiness pentecostal church in Atlanta. Pretty much every week Dr. Boone preaches before the meals are served. He is a very loud speaker...but sometimes his messages seem to point to 'health and wealth gospel'..."if you are sick or poor you don't have enough faith" so get some more faith and all will be good...and other times his messages are decent and powerful. After meeting them, they're both very nice, I know his heart is in the right place. I can only hope that the people are hearing the important parts, that God loves them and that He can give them true life even if they don't have a house or money. And that He is the one that can restore them and deliver them from their sins.

Overall it was an awesome night that left me with a lot to think about. I hope I never get to the point where I am no longer moved by the plight of the helpless. I hope I can remember to see people the way Christ sees them, with love and hope.