Tonight’s post is dedicated to Mary Woods.
It was a bright and wily day in Detroit. The sky was blue, and the adventures ensued. As soon as we got to the church, we got into an unpleasant situation with a homeless man who was trying to get inside the church by any means necessary. All we had to do was shut the large, heavy door that automatically locks behind us. Then I called 911. The janitors on duty cleared up the situation for us. All was well, but it definitely got our adrenaline pumping.
Pork and beans was tonight’s main course. Homemade cookies for dessert. A friend came by and threw in some sandwiches and fruit cups, and suddenly, viola! A full meal is served.
The people we met tonight couldn’t have more desperate for it. We saw a married couple who we had met before. The rest of the night was all new faces who had never seen anything like the Magdalene’s Mission van before.
Our second stop just about cleaned everything out of the van. We waited with the other teams outside a dilapidated derelict house for about 10 or 15 minutes. I fed a couple of stray black cats while we passed the time. Eventually, people came to us from every direction. We saw a least 25 men and about 5 or 6 women. The people we helped were impressed by how nice the clothes were. Every single woman was exhilarated to finally have pepper spray. There were some truly rough-looking individuals. I’m grateful to you, and to God for allowing me to go there.
Then we sat in a park for about half an hour while the other volunteers found no one.
The final stop was another new one. They were older individuals, and they were frantic about food. The last lady we saw came up just as we passed out our last meal. We had already handed out all 40. One of the other teams had food for her though.
She was going through warm clothes in the back of the van. I could hear Traci and her talking. The old woman told Traci that she was scared. Traci turned around and began looking through the clothes again. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She replied.
Then she said, “Would you like me to pray with you?”
And she did. Right there beneath the streetlights and the van door.
Then she told Traci she wanted to pray for us. She thanked God for our generosity. And our bravery. And our empathy and compassion. Then she prayed for God to protect us because we did His holy work.
Then we all said “Amen.”
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
