... his name is Cedric.
Before I tell the story, let me back up just a little. I'm attending an annual youth conference hosted by my home church called Summer Of Service, better known as SOS. SOS is a 5-day event where middle school and high school students engage in powerful worship, hear inspirational (and often life-changing) messages, and then take the love of Jesus to the streets, serving the people of Cincinnati Ohio with outreaches like free car washes, bottled water giveaways, and business toilet cleaning to name a few. Two years ago a new form of outreach was introduced. It's called E2. The outreach begins with a few simple exercises that help the participants to listen to the Holy Spirit. Then teams spend some time praying listening. After doing this they share any thoughts, ideas, words, or images they feel the Holy Spirit shared with them. They then go out into the city in search for the things they felt or saw. My team was up for E2 today. At lunch we shared what we thought we all had received from the Holy Spirit. Most of us felt the need to go to a park, and many of us saw an image of an African American man with a mustache sitting on a stone wall. Many of us also saw the color blue. After we shared and filled up on Wendy's we headed out, hoping that we were truly following the Holy Spirit's directions rather than our own random thoughts.
We went to a park and got to talk to some of the people that were there. They were really nice and a lot of fun to talk to. We bought two cases of ice cold bottled water to give out at the park. It was 91 degrees today. I don't think anyone refused the water. I had one more bottle in my hand, so I raised it over my head and asked if anyone wanted it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another hand go up in the air. I turned and looked and saw an African American man. He was sitting on a stone wall, and yes, he had a mustache. I walked over to him and handed him the water, then, without warning, he busted out in tears and sobs. I sat down beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Even before I asked why he was crying he started explaining his situation. Oh, if you haven't caught on already, this is the Cedric I mentioned earlier.
Cedric is married and has two children. A little boy named Isaiah and a newborn. But his family is far away and he does not have enough money to get back to them. He misses them all terribly. It quickly became obvious to me that this was a man who really cared for his family. He's been looking for a job, but because he does not have his birth certificate he is unable to find work. I don't think he has a home. He didn't even have any money to take a bus anywhere, and he was hungry. I found seven dollars in my wallet and gave it to him, then gave him a pack of sandwich crackers I had tucked away in my bag. Cedric then allowed me and my team leader to pray for him. He cried the entire time. After the prayer and a little more conversation we got up to leave, but not before promising to return to the park on Saturday to help him get a new birth certificate made. I bid him goodbye and turned to leave but he called for me and extended his arms for a hug. He was still crying.
On the ride back to the church building I couldn't help but let a few tears fall from my own eyes. My heart felt heavier than it has in a long, long time. It's been nearly 12 hours since our encounter at the park, but Cedric has not been far from my thoughts. If you're reading this PLEASE keep Cedric in your prayers. He is very dear to me, and I know in my heart that the Lord has great plans for him. He just needs the strength to make it through to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel he's in.
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