Delmar Beggars

There are quite a number of people who ask for money in the Delmar Loop area, which I pass through at least twice a day walking to and from the university. I bump into these beggars rather frequently. At first I would give them a couple bucks or so, but I know that some of them have lied to me (some of them are regulars). In fact, there was one guy who told me one story last year and only a little while ago I bumped into him again, and he told me the same story. It was actually rather amusing.

So what I have been doing recently is taking a few minutes to talk to these people who ask me for money. I ask them about themselves, what it is like to be homeless, and what they were like before they were homeless. One person said that the hardest thing about being homeless is enduring the winter.

Last night I passed an old man hanging out by Blueberry Hill, a popular restaurant on the Loop. He asked me for money, so I went over and talked with him a while. He had some sort of back problem because he was hunched over unnaturally. He also kept complaining about the cold, and he wiped his nose often with an old napkin because he had a runny nose. As I spoke with him he would still periodically ask others who were passing by for money. I felt bad for him, so I told him that I would give him a couple of bucks if he let me continue conversing with him.

Then I invited him to eat dinner with me somewhere on the loop. I asked him if he was in the mood for sandwiches, but he said he had to eat something easy to chew because he didn’t have any top teeth; but he said that he didn’t feel comfortable going into the restaurants anyway. I finally convinced him to go to Starbucks. I wanted to get him something hot to drink to warm his cold body. I bought both of us some tea and some cake. After we sat down, I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said he did, and it turns out he knows the Scriptures pretty well.

As we talked about the Scriptures he said, “Talking about the Bible is making me feel better already!” or something to that effect. He said that he was in jail for ten years, and that is when he lost everything. He said, however, that he was wrongly accused. He got out about 6 years ago. Now one of his cousin’s lets him stay at his (or her) house, but his cousin requires him to pay 7 to 8 dollars per day for room and board.

As we were finishing up, one of the workers at Starbucks offered us some more cakes for free because they were going to throw them away anyway. We gladly accepted, and Joe (his name is Joe) exclaimed “What a blessing!” Afterwards, we went back outside because Joe had to try to get the rest of the money he needed so that he could buy a bus ticket and pay to stay at his cousin’s house.

I was convinced that he was my brother in Christ, so I had no hesitation in giving him some more money. He was very grateful. Then I prayed for him, and then he prayed for me. He said that he wanted to read the Bible with me, so I told him that I would carry around my pocket Bible so that next time I see him we could read the Bible together.

I then walked with him to the bus stop, but then he realized that he needed one more dollar. I had given him two dollars at first, which would suffice for the bus fair, and then six more. So he needed one more dollar to pay his cousin. He told me not to worry about it though, that I had already done enough, and that he was sure that God would provide for him. I felt like I should stay until he caught the bus (for one, I wanted to make sure that he didn’t go off and abuse the money that I gave to him), but he told me he was sure he would be alright, so I started heading back home.

I looked back half making sure that he didn’t go into some bar and half worried that he would miss his bus. Then I looked in my wallet. I had one dollar left. After some hesitation, I went looking for Joe again. I found him in a small alley scouring the ground for money. I gave him my last dollar, for which he was surprised (in a grateful way), and then we waited at the bus stop for a while. He gave a small yelp every time a cold wind swept past us. He convinced to go home, however, and I trusted him enough to believe that he was going to be true to his word.

As I left (we were still by Starbucks), a black girl and her boyfriend came out of Starbucks. She said to me “God loves you! God is going to bless you!” I remembered seeing her when Joe and I were in Starbucks. Apparently she was touched by how nice I had been to Joe. I told her “God loves you, too.” She responded, “I think God loves me…no, I know God loves me.” We talked some more, but I can’t remember exactly what we talked about. Her boyfriend had to go somewhere else, so they hugged goodbye, and then the girl continued in my direction. She said she lived close to Schnucks, which is about a mile from where I live.

She really wanted to talk with me. At several points I had to turn onto another street, and I figured she would continue on. I would say, “I have to go this way,” and she would say, “Oh, I will come with you.” She told me that one time she gave a person “in distress” her last dollar, and then she saw the person take out a big wad of money. She also told me her name was Brittney. When I turned onto my street she said, “Oh I am sorry, I hope you don’t mind me walking with you. I am not stalking you or anything. I just want to talk,” or something like that. I was actually not afraid at all. She seemed young and innocent enough. I was quite amused, and was wondering what God was doing.

When I got to my apartment building I hugged her goodbye, and she left. I returned to my apartment with joy and thanksgiving. I thanked God for giving me this opportunity to be blessing to Joe, and to whoever was watching. I also thanked God for Joe, because his prayer for me was a blessing to me, too. My soul felt refreshed and more alive than it had been recently.