As I put down, Under the Overpass, I couldn’t help to imagine a similar adventure in my life. For those of you who have never read this book, I highly recommend that you do. It followed the travels of two college guys who decided to set out on a six-month journey across the United States. They lived as homeless people in each of the big cities and experienced life as the lowest of the low. It took them to the mean streets of D.C., through the blistering heat of Phoenix, under the rainy overpasses of Portland, in the middle of gang infested San Francisco outskirts. The most amazing thing to realize is not only are these stories are true, they’re told by people just like us. The point is, with God, all things are possible. We can be one of those stories, one of the inspirations, as long as we set out with the purpose of finding God in all of it. When we desire to seek God, He doesn’t hold back from taking you in an adventure.
One of the most amazing things I’ve experienced in my walk with the Lord is finding other believers who share the same dreams and goals as I do. I don’t believe this was some amazing accident that Andi Shaw and I both have a heart for the homeless. However, for those of you who do hold that belief, I’d like to share an amusing quote, “Miracles don’t happen by some coincidence or chance. Instead, a coincidence happens by a creator who decides to remain anonymous.” God had put a desire in both of us to travel across the country and extend a hand of love to the homeless and other individuals that crossed our path. As you have probably read in Andi's blog, we had some amazing experiences in Phoenix, Austin, as well as in Tennessee. For the sake of time, I won’t retell the experiences that Andi has already written about; instead, I’d share with you some of my experiences in Nashville, TN.
“Hmm, I have no idea where I’m going to stay.”
These thoughts continued to run through my mind as we were driving from Texas to Tennessee. We already had an amazing time in Austin connecting with the local college ministries and spending time with some homeless people. Even in Phoenix, God allowed us to partner with the Dream Center and give some of our donations to their ministry. In each city we went, God provided a place for us to stay. In Phoenix, one of my friends from college offered his girlfriend’s house to stay for a couple of days, with her permission of course. In Austin, we stayed at a ministry leader’s (from AU) house, which opened many doors of potential ministry for us. The funny thing is, in each place we lodged, we were able to choose the place a day or two in advance – talk about last minute planning! However, we were not an inconvenience to anyone who helped us, and God literally provided shelter in the blink of an eye.
Tennessee, on the other hand, was a different story. This point of the trip came the end of Andi and I doing ministry together. From the beginning, we decided that she would stay with friends in east Tennessee, and as for myself, I don’t believe we ever made an exact decision on what I would do. Thinking back now, I don’t know why I left that up in the air. I guess I figured that God would reveal his plan at that point and the dots would magically connect. However, I soon realized that I knew NO ONE in the region much less the Nashville area where I was to spend the rest of the trip. To make matters worse, I possessed no form of credit or debit card but only cash that I had saved the previous months. That ruled out the possibility of me staying at a motel or any other places that required something other than cash. You may think I was stupid for doing this yet I did have a reason, whether or not it sounded legitimate, that’s up to the reader. On the outset of this trip I knew I was not going on some kind of vacation. When I think of vacation I imagine taking some of your comforts to a place of comfort to have a comfortable time doing virtually nothing uncomfortable. This can include such things as lots of money, plus more for emergencies, a full bag of luggage that won’t run out, a plan that consisted of nice places to stay and security in each of those spots, plus a purpose of getting away from the worries and troubles of this world.
No! We were doing the exact opposite. Not only were we setting out without a clear plan, we brought little for ourselves with the purpose of encountering other people’s problems and pain. We wanted to meet that head on and fully rely on God to provide and protect us…that’s why I didn’t bring a credit card. Mom and Dad wouldn’t be able to wire me any money in case I got into trouble. No, I tried my hardest to follow the example of the Seventy Jesus sent out who were not to ”carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals,” but were to rely on the good graces of other people for provision. Of course we had a car to store stuff, lots of extra Trail Mix, cash, and not mention we both wore shoes on the trip (if you don’t know Andi Shaw, it was a shift from the norm for her). But we both knew that it was God’s will for her to wear shoes this summer so she couldn’t argue with that. All in all, we failed to model those brave men of the New Testament…good thing that wasn’t the point.
Back to the million dollar question, where on earth was I to stay?
“Hey, that motel kinda looks like one of those places where prostitutes go. Good thing it’s not” I remarked with cluelessness.“No, that is one of those places! Viktor, there’s no way I’m leaving you in a place like this.” As we were making our way around the city, we realized that even if I were to stay in a motel/hotel, the Country Music Awards were going on so every place was completely booked for the next few days. The only places open for business were the memorable places that Andi refused to drop me off at. Oh brother!...
As I remembered some of the stories from Under the Overpass, I recalled an experience in Colorado where one of the guys stayed at the Denver Rescue Mission for a month and became part of their drug rehabilitation program.
“Take me to the mission!” I exclaimed as the light bulb finally turned on in my head thanks to God pushing the switch.
As divine occurrence would have it, the Nashville Rescue Mission would be my home for the next few weeks.
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