The girl on the plane, the guy at the airport, the guy at the station, and the guy on the train

Jere and I had an interesting trip as we returned to Lancaster after a week of meetings in Chicago with other mission staff from around the country. The trip seemed most significant by who we encountered rather than the mechanics of the travel itself. Here’s how it went:

First we sat next to a young girl, age 27, who worked as a mechanical engineer in Jersey. She was enthusiastic, newly married, excited about life but hadn’t yet found a significant reason for getting up each morning. While on the plane, I told her of how God miraculously recovered one of my daughters’ lost dolls when we traveled from BWI one year. She was intrigued by that and later reminded us of the story as we waited to see if our luggage was lost in baggage claim. We spoke with her from our heart and life and gave her our cards inviting her to visit the Mission should she travel our way.

Next as we sat waiting for the SEPTA train from the airport a homeless guy came to us asking for a quarter. (We were the only travelers who returned eye contact with him – so we naively - some would say - invited his request!) We sat with him while he ate food from the garbage can. We asked him about his past, his family, his health, and whether he was staying warm or not. We enjoyed bantering with him and gave him the name of a friend who works with the homeless in Philadelphia.

Then while sitting in 30th Street Station a man came up and reminded us that he had met us before. He had been a resident at the Lancaster Mission many years ago and remembered us; he also asked about Chaplain Menno and Chaplain Stan and the rest of the staff here. We told him we would pray for him and encouraged him to keep walking with Jesus in all he does.

And finally, we were able to sit on the Amtrak train to Lancaster with a fellow Christian as he returned from a week away from his family. We spoke at length about his journey from nominal faith to deeper trust. And we were able to encourage him – and he us.

Four encounters, four very different people. Yet Jere and I were happy and wondering whether these encounters reflected God’s real intention for our ‘important’ meeting in Chicago. Could it be, even as we clung to our agenda and calendars, that what we valued as important – like maybe the meeting in Chicago - was not as nearly consuming to our Lord as people?

Imagine going through a day without concern for making dollars, paying bills, or following an agenda but for ministering as others are led to come alongside! Imagine being consumed, not with tasks and priorities and schedules, but people!

- Steve Brubaker, Residential Ministries