Meeting people on the way
Brittany Baughman
At Serve Moses Lake, we sometimes are called upon to join with people for a good stretch of their journey. Other times, we are only a small point along the way in someone’s journey. Last month, we met a man stuck in Moses Lake, which he believed to be “the worst place in the USA.”
He came in to the Serve Moses Lake office, wearing a hoodie, carrying a backpack and barely able to keep upright. He shared his story with us:
“My wife called me and said she wanted to try to make our marriage work. We had been separated for some time. I have been living in Ohio, but I came to Moses Lake to give it a second chance. It was a terrible scene. She is on drugs and has several people around her who are also on drugs and are often at her place. When she was gone, those people beat me up — twice. The second time, they took all my money. I picked up most of my clothes and got out of there. I have been living on the street for a week. I met someone who told me about Serve Moses Lake, now here I am.”
He began to get emotional.
“I need to get back home. My brother is there, and I have a place to live.”
After verifying his information, we were able to work with his brother in Ohio to get him home. We gave him a warmer coat and lunches, and we sent him down the street to the Salvation Army who were able to provide him a night off the street. We and other agencies worked with him for several days, helping him find food, a safe place to stay, and contact with his brother. His brother came through with a bus ticket, and we said goodbye to him at the bus stop.
When he came into our office he was convinced that Moses Lake was the worst place in the U.S.A., but by the time he left, he was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God and the community. In his brief encounter with our community, he met people who cared for him when there was nowhere else to go. And, most importantly, he encountered the love of Christ, who promises to remain with us the whole way.
This column was written on behalf of the Moses Lake Christian Ministerial Association.