Email Us @ thorncamp@aol.com 

Carol Ah Chong, Samoa : cathorn@samoa.ws.

                      
FAITH TO MOVE MOUNTAINS

    Under the Bridge, along side the river in downtown Tampa, the sun was beginning to set. Just beneath the business district stood about 200 homeless and hurting souls. Many come each week looking forward to a dinner fit for the Lord himself. Often we see terrible sorrow, loneliness and despair in the eyes of those we serve. This is why we come week after week and month after month to feed them.         

    Often we ask ourselves if we are truly 'feeding' them and wonder if this effort matters to anyone. During times like this the Lord always seems to bless and reassure us we are doing His will.

    This particular evening we had been told we were not permitted to stop and feed at our last stop. This disheartening news bruised our spirits somewhat. To add to the angst, we notice two men fighting. One man fell and hit his head on the bricks and lay limp and lifeless.  He was bleeding profusely from a four inch gash in the back of his head.

    Nick, one of our laity... took off his shirt, which has the image of the crucified Christ on the front, and placed it against the wound. A few of us gathered around him and began to pray. Joley, known as Kicker... prayed that the Lord would heal the wound, leaving not a trace of blood. Others stood by and prayed in the Spirit, while I knelt beside him and talked to him. Blood was coming through his teeth, ears and nose by the time the ambulance arrived. 

    Suddenly, the man smiled and a peaceful look replaced the anger we had seen moments before. Once the ambulance arrived we all stood up and backed away. Just then the paramedic lifted the man to his feet. As he stood we noticed that his head was completely healed. Not a trace of blood was in his hair. A pool of blood still lay beneath him. Nick opened his shirt to find that all the blood has absorbed onto the face of Christ and none seeped into the cloth. 

    The policeman looked to me and said as he pointed to Jesus’ face on my shirt, " I know who healed him... Jesus." 

    We all stood there in a daze... amazed and humbled that God would allow us to see a miracle in our midst. More over the fact that the wound had been completely healed was that this man, drunken and dirty~ could have cared less he was healed. But the Lord chose to heal him anyway. We ask ourselves... "for what?"

     
    Later that night I was profoundly moved by the knowledge that the Lord loves us exactly as we are and chose to bless us with this miracle to show us that we are serving HIM... not the man. It taught me never to seek appreciation for what we do, just the inner knowledge that we are following the teachings of Christ. Although we cannot see the Lord beneath the covering of sin, He still waits for us to come and visit him.

  M Y NAME IS KENNY 

(this article has recently been edited and published in Word Among Us Magazine May 2002)

The second story... happened a few weeks ago on our way to the first stop. 

    I noticed as we approached the first stop I noticed a man staggering behind the building across the street. Suddenly, he fell to the ground and was having difficulty getting back up on his feet. I asked David to stop the car so I could go over to him. When I approached him I noticed a large gash across his cheekbone and a slice to the palm of his hand. He was filthy dirty and was obviously completely drunk.

     
     In one hand he held a bottle of Vodka and in the other a bottle of orange juice. He looked to be 60-70 years old. When I called out to him he began to swear at me, warning me not to bother him. He cried out he didn’t want anyone else to come near him. I asked him if I could help him get to the grass so he could lie down and he refused. 

    He turned about in circles for a few minutes as if to see if anyone was going to hit him from behind. I asked him if he was hungry and if he wanted to eat. He said no.

      I introduced myself and told him I had to go and feed the other men but I would bring a plate to him when I was done. I watched as he slowly staggered off into the distance and noticed he fell amongst some bushes by an old Medical Building. A few of the Lay members, Tammy~ a nurse, and Ian~ a first timer who is a young college student, carried the food and first aide boxes over with me. Tammy and I spoke to him to see if he’d allow us to clean his wounds. He cried out that he was dying of AIDS and that we would die if we touched him. 

    He repeatedly wondered who was with us. After a few moments we realized that this man was not only homeless, beaten, battered, bruised, bleeding, dying of AIDS and drunk.... but he was in fact blind . I knelt in front of him and we continued to work our way into his confidence so we could treat his bleeding cheek. 

    He warmed up to us after a few moments and did allow Tammy to clean his wound. He then called out to me and said,
" I really love company you know. I never have company ." 
He took another drink and then said, " You seem like nice people. I can’t see you, but I know you must be nice people to sit and talk to me ." With a smile he lifted his bottle and offered us a drink. When we declined he offered to buy us a coke from McDonald’s. 

    Tammy and Ian stood to the side as I sat beside him and talked for awhile. We talked about living and dying. He said people think he doesn’t care about things, when in fact he does.... With that he picked up hands and pointed ahead of him as if holding a rifle and said, " I held an AK 47.. .."... during this flashback his head and hands dropped and he yelled out, " I am going to hell! " I touched his hand and he pulled away. As he did I said to him that dying isn’t anything to fear and that his current life is already Hell. I mentioned that with Jesus dying is beautiful thing. Heaven would be an eternity free from pain, sorrow and all the things that caused him to be so beaten down. I said to him, ‘ We all have a terminal illness, It is called LIFE. " 
He laughed, and said, " I never thought of it that way. " A smile was a nice thing to see if only for a moment.
    Next to him, like an angel on assignment, was a stray collie. She hovered over his every move. She had the most gentle, loving eyes of any dog I had ever seen. No matter how loud, obnoxious, angry or drunk he became she would stay within five feet of him at all times. I asked him where he found the angel beside him and he said, " I’m blind, she found me! " I thanked God for that dog... She was the one good thing he did have. 

    He acted as if he didn’t care about her but you could see a genuine love was there. I worked up the courage to ask him his name. " Kenny ," he said. Then he said to me, " Where am I? I can’t remember where I am, so I don’t know which way to walk to get back home. " Home? Where was home ? 

    Home evidently was a bush behind the building a few hundred feet further down the road. I asked him about family and he related he had a sister. I asked for her number and dialed it on my cell. As I listened to the answering machine message I knew no matter if I left a message to send help~ that my message would be ignored. I was right!

    "Kenny, sing me song!" I said. He smiled and belted out an old railroad tune. When he finished I said, "It’s my turn. How do you like Amazing Grace? " He said that if I would sing for him, he would play guitar for me. I agreed. As I began to sing... Kenny picked up an imaginary guitar and began playing it from his heart. He continued to play as tears filled his eyes. 

    I found it incredibly difficult to sing because I wanted to just burst into tears. When I was done I said, " Kenny, may I hug you goodbye? " He smiled and said, "I would love that. " As we embraced I felt a hug from Heaven. I knew that no matter what this tired, old man had done to end up in this pit, that he still was worth loving. He is a temple of the Lord, thou tarnished a bit. I was blessed that I did not know the circumstances that lead him here. If I did I might not be as willing to love him.
    

    A great lesson from this was that the Lord approaches all of us with that same love. As though blinded to the sins we have covering us, He looks to the soul crying out for love. His love is always ready to embrace us... 

    J ust as I was willing to embrace Kenny, not knowing if he were a murderer, rapist, thief, child molester or just an old, lonely soul~ Jesus’ love knows no prejudice and harbors no resentment. 

    Housed deep with Kenny was the Lord Jesus. I believed if I looked long and hard enough beneath the layers of sin and despair, that deep within his heart their was that candle just waiting to be lit. 

    Tammy, Ian and I may never see Kenny again in this life. As we left him sitting in the bushes with the dog, the bottle of Vodka and the plate of food~ it looked as though we hadn’t done a thing. We may never know if our stopping that day really made a difference in his life. These things are not up to us to know. Jesus simply asked us to love one another... as He loves us. I felt a glimpse of that in Kenny’s embrace.

    Like the man under the bridge who was miraculously healed, he didn’t deserve our love or our kindness. He was neither grateful or moved. The people we meet every day who suffer from depression, greed, anger, materialism, hate, drug or alcohol addictions... all have one thing in common... They need love. 

    Love is the key to curing the blind man and opening the ears of the deaf and the hands of the greedy. Love allows God’s blessings to fall like a rain in the desert. This rain may appear to go unnoticed because the need is so great the waters cannot quench the dry earth. However, this rain can cleanse a soul of a great deal of pain, making room for love to enter. 

    Once love is there and the seed has been planted, God will do the rest. 

    Kenny may wander from now till he dies never receiving redemption for his sins or overcoming the addictions that lead him down this road to destruction, but he will know that one day... someone cared enough to bring him a plate of food, wash his wounds and embrace his broken heart.
Isn’t that was the Lord does for us? 

How precious did.... that grace.... appear...... the hour.... I first believed!

I hope this means something to you... 

                                                     Love  Kristin

Updated stories will appear each month

Homeless update 

Those of us who have been involved in this from the beginning can look back now and see how the Lord has blessed us.

I stood in awe as 50 people arrived with food in hand to serve this past weekend. Some, from as far as four hours away. Lloyd  hugged me Sunday and said... "Look at what you started..."  At times I can  hardly believe my eyes.  I think back to the days when I wondered how I would afford to buy the plates and the food for the week.  Now, they are all donated by friend of Jesus.

It is so awesome to see the friendships that have formed between the homeless and those who work in the ministry and the friendships that have developed between those who serve.

Youth groups, religious and laity of all ages are showing up week to week. Each week varies, thus keeping it so new and always a riot.  We have added a stop... PUBLICS... where we all spend a few minutes taking a break and snacking.  This is junk food break for those of us trying 'not' to eat those big, juicy homemade meatballs that Helen brought and a pit stop for those with weak bladders... not to mention any names.. haha.  

I sat with a young man at the last stop and he was a very clean cut nice fellow.  He kept questioning me as to why I would ever want to do this for them every Sunday.  I shared how I would give my right arm for a place like the Good Samaritan House so that we could really organize efforts and make a true dent in the homeless problem in Tampa. But for now we go out into the streets as God has intended... and pray for His will to be done.  He looked at me and asked, "I hear you have a lot of children too and also travel overseas.  You must have a huge heart for people?"   

I never have looked at it that way... Seriously speaking, I have always felt that reaching out to those in need was to be the responsibility of all those who profess to be Christians. Am I wrong?  Yes, my heart has been graced with a love for the needy...  I know that grace is given to those who show mercy and love to others.  The readings Sunday spoke of the Master who forgave his servants debt... only to find that servant refused mercy on his own debtor.  The Master grew angry and punished him. I do not want to be that servant.

I wish to show everyone I meet mercy and grace so that when I am in need of forgiveness and mercy, the Lord will be kind and merciful to me. I believe what we do to others we will see returned to us.

I can recall a time when my mother used to say, " May you have children just like you... then you will know what I went through ."  I must have been a great kid!  My children, though strong wild and moody at times~ have grown to be such beautiful people.  I know this is because we have raised them to know Jesus, and we have taught them how to be Christ like, hard working, responsible and caring souls.  Away from home... I see those seeds have taken root. Of course at home, you wonder where you went wrong as a parent. I feel I am more of a referee than a Mom~ breaking up yet another tug-o-war over the shirt or pants and having to jump in the middle of a battle of wills.  All for thee sweet Jesus.  12 KIDS!!!!  Was I slain in the Spirit???  hahah... Sometimes I wonder.  

It is most difficult to shower mercy and love on those who aggravate you the most, your family!  I suppose by the time I am 80 I may have mastered that one. Until then, I look to the homeless, the poor and broken to teach me how to love and how to give... wanting nothing in return, but grace. I pray I may learn to love unconditionally... The most difficult task of all.     

Sept 19, 1999

This has been a very difficult week for me.  Early Sunday morning my younger sister Jill passed away from a long time heart disease that has plagued her life since early childhood.  

Dave, the kids and I were camping midst a Florida monsoon.  We were laughing the night away as a river of water flowed through or pitiful excuse for a tent. We were enjoying the challenge of toughing it out through the storm.  Funny thing was... we had a VCR, dehumidifier, electric flood lights and all the comforts of home to help us out. None, I might add... helped one bit. 

Once the tent was so soaked that we were literally lying in a puddle, we relented and headed for shelter in Joley's (Kicker's) motor home. Suddenly, in the middle of the night we received a haunting phone call at 3am. The kind that makes your heart skip a beat.  I knew immediately the news would be about my sister Jill.  Sure enough, I was told to call the hospital in Indiana immediately.

I had a hard time dialing the phone... I knew in my heart it was going to be bad news and that I would hear that once again I had lost another sister.  As the phone rang I tried to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy but went totally blank and couldn't even remember the first line. The nurse who answered was very kind and told me that Jill had a rough few hours and that the doctors were working on her.  I worked in this very unit in 1979-82 and could visualize everything she was saying.  Her husband Don came to the phone and informed me that he had been told she would not last but a few more hours.

I began to think how happy my parents would be to meet her at the gates of Heaven... along with my other sister Kieran and many friends I have lost along the way. At the very same time I was thinking about little Megan, who loves her mother dearly. How would she cope?  That sadness was overwhelming.

After the news, we headed out into the rain and began tearing down our campsite.  I told the Lord... our soggy blankets were anything but funny.  Joley and Bob, like angels from Heaven, were there to comfort us and to help us gather up the soggy remains of our weekend. Camping with 12 children does pack quite a mess.

Once I was home, my sister Patti called and shared the sweetest story. I knew that Jill had given her entire body to science and her organs for donation.  I believed in my heart that as sad as we were ... there were families somewhere out there that were equally as happy to receive the gift of  life from our loss.  Patti went on to tell me that Jill had been preparing Megan for this moment and told her if they did not accept her entire body that her remains be cremated. She wanted Megan to sprinkle her ashes in the garden, so that in spring when the daisies were in bloom, she would see her face in the daisies. She kidded that her  husband couldn't get rid of her that easily.

I thought that was a precious visual image...with the daisies.  I will never look at another daisy without looking for her face and hearing those words.

Later that day... it was time to feed the homeless.  I knew that I needed to go although I felt very weak and almost too sad to smile. I do know that serving God is always the cure-all for any sadness in my heart, so I chose to go.

At each stop I had homeless men and women coming up to comfort me. One told me to lean on him... like he has been leaning on me all these months. With all sincerity they came and shared my sorrow. I will never forget it.  

Some people would think I was callous and or crazy for spending the day of my sisters' death milling about the streets of  Tampa feeding homeless people, but you know... crazy or not... they brought healing and comfort to a very weary soul.  Almost half of my family has died... and I have yet to reach 40.  I thank God I now have one of the largest families in the world... with 12 children, one grandbaby... 500 homeless and an entire country of people who see me as part of their family. I believe Heaven will be like this, minus the sorrow.

One last thing....  the morning before the phone call... I walked down to the river holding little Pudgey. He and I looked down at the water flowing by and noticed the suns' reflection was perfectly glistening under the water.  Surrounding the image was a beautiful rainbow.  I stood there with tears in my eyes knowing how present the Lord is with me. I am so humbled to feel this love and to have so many loving friends to carry me through times when I wonder if my heart can take another heartbreak.  

I truly know my heart lies within the Sacred Heart of  My Lord. As I grieve, He grieves. As I love... He loves and I thanked God for the gift of 'sight' (vision).... even through the tears.  A dear new friend said to me sweetly.... She's only a veil away.