Mervyn

So, we did it - about 10 of us were at English Bay at 7:30 this morning to give a hand in picking up garbage. It was a nice morning for it. There were a few other people, including our M.L.A. - Lorne Mayencourt, we lent him some gloves to use.

A homeless First Nations guy named Mervyn came up and asked us if any of us had any smokes. We said no. We offered him a muffin and a coffee. He eagerly accepted the offer, and then said he was going to keep "hunting the butts".

Turns out Mervyn used to work at a Wendys in Winnipeg. But something happened and he has been homeless for over 10 years now. Mervyn would probably classify as someone who is terminally homeless - meaning it would be very difficult to help re-enter "normal" society - getting a job, living on his own, cooking, etc.

Mervyn had a small plastic bag and a blanket - he said that was all he owned - someone had stolen all his stuff last night. Mervyn then wandered away for a bit.

We shared some prayer requests. As we were praying Mervyn wandered up behind me and prayed a really beautiful prayer over us. He prayed that we would realize how awesome we are, and how great it was that God made us.

It was a really amazing moment - I felt like God had sent Mervyn to minister to us, and not the other way around. That's the kind of thing God would do.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great story--God truly ministers in unexpected ways.
Anonymous said…
So was his name not Melvin after all?

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas in Vancouver

City Fix

Exodus