This is NightShift

I was leaving the office one afternoon last week, a bit later than anticipated, but full of a sense of God’s pleasure at some of the conversations and encounters I had enjoyed earlier in the day. Arms full of file folders, I headed to the parking lot where I was greeted by a surprised voice that boomed my name out loud. Walking towards me was a NightShift volunteer, who was busy setting up tables for the evening meal with our street friends. This was a man from my past, whom I fondly remember as a highly educated intellect, someone who loved to engage in lively conversations about life, faith, the state of the world… We had attended one another’s weddings, I had taught his children in Sunday School, his sister-in-law is one of my besties, and I knew he and his wife were getting a divorce. With reluctance, yet a sense of relief, he started to fill me in with some of the heavy details of his life these past years. In the midst of our conversation, with truth-filled eyes, he said, “I am mess, I have no idea what I am doing or where I am heading, these were not my plans.” Even as he was speaking these words, I kept thinking, “But I, too, am a mess – half the time I have no idea what I am doing and I feel that if people really saw inside my heart, they would see what a sinful, wretched woman I truly am.” And here we were, in our various states of brokenness, surrounded by men and women of the street who were lining up that evening in their own brokenness. We are no different from our homeless friends. This man was serving and loving others, being brutally honest about where he is now, and gloriously hopeful that God has entered into his pain and is walking with him each step of the way. This is NightShift. The way we reach out to each other, to fellow volunteers, to friends we encounter on the streets, is all part of the NightShift bond. We all need each other and that’s why we are here. Thank you to everyone who has served with NightShift, in the past and right now. For those who have been with the ministry from the beginning and those who have graced us with their presence for but a short time. This month we especially remember Charis – “Grace” – who impacted our combined family so dearly that we remember her anniversary of joining her loving Saviour, Jesus, one year later. We form bonds of friendship as we share and remember with our street friends and fellow volunteers. It is indeed a special family to which we belong. Brenda