I met this gentleman in 2011 when I spoke to a group of homeless people at a church in downtown Jackson, Mississippi during the Mississippi River ride.
This picture was taken a year later. We were invited back to speak to some members of the congregation and this fellow walked up and told me a pretty remarkable story.
He said he was in that a audience earlier, and when he heard my story, my line about “if an old bald crippled guy can handcycle 1500 miles, what can you do?” he went that same day to a rehab center. And he’d been drug free ever since.
The church hired him as a custodian, and he worked his way up to being facilities manager of this large historic church.
While all that was happening, I had no idea. And if I hadn’t gone back to that church, I would never have known.
This picture reminds me I have no idea about the impact of my actions. You and I can plan and scheme, but all the while Jesus is using our efforts, often in ways we never intended and might never see.
So we follow. We heed Isaiah’s ancient call: Learn to do right, seek justice. Defend the oppressed.
We do what we can, where we are, with what we have… and trust Jesus for the outcome.