At Light's Edge - Chapter 40: Twists and Turns

Forty

____________

Twists and Turns

Renwick Stone stood humbly atop two large crates by a large garbage can in Graffiti Alley in the early morning’s faint light. His face, showing the joy he felt inside his heart, shone like a nightlight in the corner of a dark warehouse, the warehouse of life. He enjoyed hosting crusades in alleys found throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. This location was one of his favorite places to be, however. It was not only because his audience proved to be an attentive one, but was due, in part, to his happiness, happiness of seeing Jenny walking in a real personal relationship with God, and in a loving healthy relationship with a wonderful Christian man. He treasured his memories of meeting Jenny way back in the days when he worked on the Y-MAX women’s prison and his first casual encounter with her there.

Jenny whispered to Renaldo, “Let’s keep praying silently for each face we see here in this alley.”

“As always, my dear Jenny, as always,” Renaldo encouraged.

The crowd, though many would not identify this group of eleven or twelve homeless victims of life as a crowd, stared earnestly at the man atop the crates. Some wobbled back and forth, others rocked to and fro, but all did everything in their power to listen to the ‘Alley Preacher’ they had heard during their lives at one time or another.

Renie’s message to the crowd centered on the hope of certainty Christians have regarding their faith in the Creator, factual evidences, and centuries of people’s experiences with a living, personal God. He talked of Christ’s one thousand year reign upon his return to Earth, the binding and release of Satan during that time, and about the new heavens and the new earth, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

One woman yelled out, “Amen, brother!”

Renie quoted from the Bible’s book of Titus, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The same woman shouted again, “Preach it, honey!”

Unfazed, Renie continued, “A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter three:

‘To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.’”

Not a sound could be heard as Renwick continued, “Just as God placed seasons in nature, life has its own seasons also. There's springtime when new things in our life begin and our hearts are filled with excitement and hope as we anticipate what the future may have in store for us; summertime comes, when the heat of the day scorches our life with pain and discouragement; when fall comes we reap the harvest from the seeds we planted earlier in our lives; then winter comes and brings an ending to certain periods of our lives. Winter can bring trouble and hardship, God says, ‘But if a man lives many years and rejoices in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many’. Remember during the winters of your lives to remain filled with hope, because another spring is coming, riding on the shopping cart of life and it is just around the corner.”

Renwick climbed down from the crates and began to walk down the alley as he continued to speak, “Christ once told a Jewish ruler named Nicodemus that a person must be born spiritually, ‘Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Each of you here today must call out to God in sincerity if you wish to know Him.” He slowly made his way to the rear of the alley saying, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life; I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Rennie smiled at the eager faces before him and continued, “Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again alive the third day. These are but a few of the words we have from God to contemplate before we die and leave this world. Remember,” Renwick raised his right hand high, “as many as will receive the Lord Jesus, God gives the power and the right to become his children, and that is for everyone who chooses to believe in him.”

One listener sat down on the edge of a broken step, deep in thoughtful contemplation.

After returning to stand on the top of the crates, Renie continued, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Call out to God today if you will. If you will truly confess with your own mouth that Jesus is your Lord, and believe within your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead... you will be saved. The Bible also states, ‘For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’.”

The trio counseled many of the homeless listeners that day long into the afternoon and then, by surprise, Jenny and Renaldo announced that they planned to marry in one week. They could see the joy on Renie’s face, accented by the look of peace he always bore.

“I just don’t have the words to express my joy,” Renie said. "We have so much to accomplish before the great and terrible day of our Lord arrives!"

The three talked a while about the ministry and some of Jenny’s concerns, including who would care for the elderly woman, Mrs. Tilly, where Jenny currently lived. They would not leave her without knowing her needs were provided for.

“I know God will provide. He always does when it is right, and this is so right,” Renie encouraged. “In Ecclesiastes God says, ‘Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor’. You two will increase in your love, as a married couple, for God, for one another, and for the lost; I know this choice is good. I have such a peace deep in my soul. I just—”

Renie stopped cold in the middle of his sentence as a familiar face rounded the corner of the alley from the main street, “Cornell!”

The recently paroled Cornell Purdue had managed to keep his new found freedom somewhat of a secret, only informing a few relatives. His fellow construction workers chipped in some extra money to send him back to the USA. Cornell had managed to save some of his wages over the years, though he did enjoy supporting the efforts of various mission groups worldwide. He was not one who sowed his monetary gifts sparingly.

“You're free!” Renie's excitement overwhelmed him.

Cornell responded predictably, “I hear ya, man, I hear ya!”

“You remember Jenny, right Cornell?” Renie inquired.

Grabbing the frail woman in his huge arms and hugging her one foot above the ground, he replied, “I could never forget someone I saw sweeping the floors of a cold, empty feeling prison.”

Renie decided to stay with Renaldo until after the wedding. Renaldo asked him to be his Best Man.

Cornell also stayed with Renaldo. After the wedding he moved in with Mrs. Tilly and was of a great help to the elderly woman for the remaining years of her life. Cornell joined Cyrene Ministries as a part-time staff member and remained committed to helping with Back-Alley Ministries, assisting Renaldo and Jenny with anything they needed as often as he could.

The years progressed… Renie, Cornell, Jenny and her husband, all continued to reach out to the socially marginalized lost souls found frequenting the back-alleys throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

 Jennifer eventually returned to continue with college and earned her master's degree in order to effectively help individuals suffering from Major Depressive Disorder, which many of those living a transient existence experience. In the years to come, Jenny was well-known for her counseling endeavors in the realm of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Jenny always balanced, honed and augmented her educational training with the principals found in Scripture; she knew that God's Word always trumped anything the secular world had to offer.

Cornell started a job training program for the homeless, teaching them the skills necessary for basic home repair work along with answering any question presented to him concerning life, death, history, and biblical issues.

Renwick eventually made a trip back to each of the Y-MAX prisons he had worked with construction on over the years, often featured as the special speaker for various Christian outreach groups.

The flames of their spiritual lights never dimmed.

~  ~  ~  The End ~  ~  ~

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? -Luke 15:4

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -Hebrews 4:16

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

At Light's Edge - Chapter 39: Life on the Streets

Thirty-Nine

____________

Life on the Streets

“Hey,” Renaldo Reyes smiled as his fiancé entered his modest little apartment’s kitchen, “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Sticking her finger into the middle of his back, while he dried the last recently washed plate, Jenny replied, “I could have been a dangerous criminal, or worse.”

“Then I would have another opportunity to share the great news of our Savior’s sacrifice again and possibly—”

“Ok, ok,” Jenny laughed. “Where’s your brother?”

“Hernando’s at our mother’s tonight. We are free to minister until daybreak if the Lord grants us the opportunity.”

The apartment that Renaldo lived in was on the second floor of one of four units located on the outskirts of an area simply known as ‘The Projects’. He did not own much, most of the furnishings came from friends’ gifts and local thrift stores. His clothes were second hand and he purchased food in bulk from a local Farmers’ Market as often as possible. The old brown sofa in his living room had a small tear in one of the cushions, but a little duct tape and a flip over hid the eyesore from the view of visitors. But Renaldo Reyes remained happy; he knew he was exactly where God wanted him to be.

Jenny lived a few blocks away in the renovated attic of an elderly woman named Mrs. Tilly.

“Mrs. Tilly is so nice,” Jenny commented, “she always helps me with things like the wash and never will take any money or food for her efforts.”

Placing another plate away in the kitchen cabinet over the sink, Renaldo replied, “Yes, she has said many times that this is her way of serving God.”

The sixty-seven year old saint of a woman was rarely able to leave her home. She suffered from excessive migraine headaches, knee problems, and other assorted physical ailments, but she always had a smile on her face. Mrs. Tilly was always more than willing to help Renaldo and Jenny in any way she could. Jenny helped with cleaning, washing, shopping, and other household tasks in lieu of rent.

“Oh,” Renaldo remembered, “How did that interview with the reporter go? Poppy… something?”

“Poppy Fields. The interview went great! We had a good conversation and covered a lot of topics related to our ministry, how we met, stuff like that. The interview almost ended pretty quickly once the gunfire started up.”

Looking concerned, but not shocked, Renaldo asked, “Anybody hurt… shot?”

“Nobody we saw. Gun shots are sort of routine in that part of the city.”

“Sort of like background music in a shopping center’s elevator.”

The two laughed softly.

Jenny straightened her hair while continuing, “After that excitement, the journalist and I stopped in at a coffee shop to continue our discussion.”

“Good topics?”

“Always.” Jenny smiled, “You know, she’s actually been visiting different churches around the San Francisco Bay Area and is really enjoying that. She may come with us one evening to observe our ministry and maybe even help us.”

Renaldo looked pleased.

Jenny inquired, “Tonight’s horizon of outreach?”

“Graffiti Alley?”

Jenny remembered, “As planned, of course, I think the area is ripe for harvest. How about you?”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

Graffiti Alley, as it was commonly called, was located in the heart of the worst area of the city for drug dealers, transients, prostitutes, and other assorted cultural outcasts of the western world. A dangerous place with a reputation to match, it was the kind of place most people feared to frequent. Most of the graffiti in the area was not artistic in nature. Instead, the markings reflected the emptiness and hatred for life that those who dwelt there all shared. Police patrolled the area infrequently and criminals took advantage of the budgetary tough times law enforcement departments were facing. Crime was on the rise.

“Off to Satan’s turf with an invasion of Light!” shouted Renaldo. “Removing the stench of sin and replacing it with the aroma of God’s sacrificial love.”

Jenny smiled at her fiancé’s enthusiasm and replied, “Light dispels darkness, so let’s get to shinin’!”

Jenny and Renaldo maintained a large map of the areas in the city they planned to evangelize, systematically marking the regions they visited. On occasion the couple returned to the alleys and back-streets where larger groups of homeless, addicts and other people who suffered from the atrocities of their culture’s moral, spiritual, and economic meltdown, frequented. Follow-up was an important factor for their ministry. Whenever possible another team associated with Cyrene Ministries conducted follow-up and food handouts in the areas covered by Jenny and Renaldo.

Before the two left the apartment, Renaldo read to Jenny a portion of a book he was enjoying, “We mature to a level as we grow where we choose moral reason over animal instinct. There comes a time in life where an individual chooses to resist and ignore temptations rather than give into them, whatever they may be. Our modern western social cultures mandate that this choice does not exist—”

“Sounds very philosophical,” Jenny noted.

Renaldo read one line slowly, “The Blood of Christ deals with sin, but the Cross deals with the sinner.”

Jenny scampered out the door quickly once Renaldo finished is brief literary discourse.

“Hey, wait up, Jenny!”

“C’mon, we’ll be late.”

Jenny preferred the practical and applicable side of theology rather than the sociological and culturally significant aspects related to it. She was more of a hands-on, how-to, one-on-one counselor type of person. Renaldo was of a very analytical and philosophical sort. They made the perfect pair in ministry.

Renaldo locked the door upon exiting while shouting, “Late for what?”

“Life on the streets,” the faint sound of Jenny’s growingly distant voice stated, “and I mean real ‘life’.”

Renaldo smiled as he ran to catch up with Jenny, he knew that reaching the lost and bound souls, those they treasured so dearly, was the only real and new life some of those individuals would ever have the opportunity to obtain and live.

During Jenny and Renaldo’s evening of ministry, they ran into a fellow known as T.J. T.J. had spent most of his life on the streets. When he was eight years old his mother dropped him off in the heart of Graffiti Alley and told him she’d be right back, and that was eighteen years prior. T.J. looked twenty years older than his twenty-six years; life on the hard streets had taken its toll, ‘worn the sole away from my shoe of existence’ as he often mumbled to anyone with a listening ear.

“I was just a wonderin’,” T.J. questioned Renaldo, “Just a wonderin’ if you folks will be ‘round when,” T.J. paused for a moment before continuing, “wonderin’ if you’ll be ‘round the day I die?”

Renaldo thought prayerfully before answering, “I’m not going to give you one of those candy-coated answers just to do it, T.J., but I am going to say that God will be with you even if we are not here at the time. You have a great chance though—”

“What?” T.J. interrupted.

“Turn your life over to God by just telling him that is what you want to do. Jesus died and stood up alive from the grave again for you, T.J., and he loves you. God is really the only one who can love you all of the time for all eternity.”

Jenny added, “People can love you while they are alive and while you are alive, but memories can fade away slowly over time once someone is gone. They become shadows of the past that still stir up emotions, but there can be no physical contact or conversation with those who have passed away. The good news is the God is always there, whether you are dead or alive.”

“In the Bible book of Mark, during his earthy life and ministry, Jesus instructed the religious leaders with detail, ‘But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living’”, Renaldo put his hand on T.J.’s shoulder to comfort him, “and Paul instructs us in the book of Romans, ‘For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.' Christ's resurrection guarantees you eternal life if you will just accept it; it is a free gift to you at a great cost to God.”

T.J. scratched his head then ran his fingers through his long, greasy looking hair before he responded, “I remember… I think I remember.”

Jenny asked, “What do you remember, T.J.?”

“That Alley Preacher guy, he preached on that one time, well, sort of. He said that those who believed in the promise of a coming Messiah, back in the days before Jesus was born, were alive because of their faith in God’s promise and in God himself. It gets a little hard for me sometimes to get it all, you know, to understand. I think I do a little better now, do understand better, that is.”

Both Jenny and Renaldo felt a surge of joy swell up inside them. It was that feeling that, just like planting seeds and watering them, something may be sprouting to life in this man’s soul.

“I gotta go now,” T.J. said. “I gotta go and think about all of this, thanks.”

As T.J. scampered away, Jenny commented, “Plant, sow and water,” she grasped Renaldo's hand firmly, “and pray that God's word will fall upon good soil.”

Renaldo contemplatively remarked, “For some of these transient folks out here this type of social outcast prison liberates them from the burdens and responsibilities of real human freedom.” A tear streamed down his cheek, “And Christ offers them freedom far beyond the capabilities human freedom has to offer... eternal freedom and more!”

The alley darkened as the night crept in. Jenny and Renaldo returned to their homes after a few hours, home to pray for those they met that evening.

Next Chapter: Twists and Turns

At Light's Edge - Chapter 38: Eclipsing the Darkness

Thirty-Eight

____________

Eclipsing the Darkness

Hopeless Child

With feet cold and bare,

This poor hopeless child,

Walks dark, wet streets,

Mile after mile.

In bleakness of night,

Sorrow, cold and despair,

This empty heart's offspring,

Will die young I fear.

For that temporal care,

We oftentimes give,

Will not alter the future,

This child must live.

Without love, purpose or dream,

Destiny's heir cannot,

Face the arduous challenge,

This world has brought.

In backstreet alleys,

Huddled in fear,

This hopeless child awaits,

The death ever so near.

And our lives will go on,

Day after day.

Not a tear will be shed,

Not a word will we say.

1 Corinthians 13:3

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the petite investigative journalist sat down on the dirty concrete step in the dark, dingy back-alley, she studied the young woman seated next to her carefully. She could see the creases in the face, etched through time by a former life and her current endeavors in the back-alleys of the inner city. The reporter could envision this woman as a young teen, a teen that had lived and breathed the stench of back-alley life on a daily basis, who now as a grown woman, had returned to this darkened world to bring a breath of fresh air to others imprisoned between these graffiti covered walls. She saw a woman who had sacrificed all for the benefit of others. The pungent aroma of urine, rotting garbage, human and animal feces, and dampness permeated the atmosphere. Journalist Poppy Fields switched on her recorder.

“This must be a tough Christian ministry. You must have experienced the loss of willing workers due to the stark realities faced every day and every night you walk these back streets. What are your feelings about that, Jenny?” the journalist inquired curiously.

“Yes, Miss Fields, that’s true, some individuals have left this ministry over time. I feel that many of them came expecting the arena style glories of an evangelistic crusade, but they soon found that our ministry stands up against the borders of hell. We are reaching out to those on the verge of falling into a fiery pit of hopelessness, despair, and eternal emptiness. Those who have left this ministry to seek after selfish ends soon find that the flames of hell’s reality are not the self-serving glories that they may have expected. No flags waving, streamers, jumpers, dancers, or other assorted jesters of the court can be found here, only those who are willing to climb their personal hill to Golgotha to die to self on their own life’s cross; only those willing to live and die for Christ.” Jenny took a deep breath and looked around the alley before continuing, “Those willing to suffer the scourges, beatings, sleepless nights, and pains of sacrificial service to reach individuals who are fanning the flames of their own life’s hellish existence. When we walk the pathway through the lives of these people trapped in the valley of the shadow of death… we clean and clear the pathway and then rid the valley of its weeds!”

The journalist adjusted herself on the concrete step then inquired, “Do you ever cry? I have found over my years of interviewing that many street people, as they are often called, do not cry. Is, or was, this true of your experience?”

A gentle smile revealed itself upon Jenny’s face as she replied, “I cry for the lost, for specific people most of the time. Someone I have come across out here that for some reason becomes a burden for me deep in my heart. For those people I cry. Before I came to have a real living relationship with God I don’t think I ever cried. I was dead inside; lonely, empty, lost feeling, hurting, but I quenched all of those feeling with coldness, anger and hate. Jesus Christ changed me and gave me the ability to cry, not for myself, but for those who need to be released from the horrors of their lives like I was.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Jenny, what about love?”

“Love?” Jenny thought deeply before replying, “I honestly believe that I hated love, absolutely detested the thought of lovie-dovie couples gazing romantically into each other’s eyes with the look of a sick puppy. I knew that was not real love, I also knew, all too well, that sex was not love. It wasn’t until God’s Holy Spirit rebirthed me and filled me with real love that I began to understand what love really was, God is love.”

Poppy asked, “Can—”

Jenny continued, “When one studies the life of Christ, sees his actions, reads his prayers and hears his words, along with the rest of the Bible’s writings, especially the New Testament,   then it becomes clear what love is and how love responds in every situation imaginable.”

“And what about your fiancé? Love? How did that relationship come into being?”

“Renaldo,” Jenny smiled softly, “I met Renaldo Reyes just as I was contemplating how to go about starting an outreach ministry to reach people who live and frequent the back-alleys and side streets of the inner city.  I was still working at FHG—”

“FHG?”

“Oh, yes,” Jenny apologized for using an acronym, “For His Glory Youth Home, the place I went to upon early release from the Y-MAX youth prison for teen women, anyway—”

“Oh, yes. Continue.”

“I was talking about my goals, dreams, and hopeful plans with one of the counselors and she offered to contact a young man who had just started a street ministry in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was working part-time at a place in North Richmond at the time.”

“Just a moment,” Poppy interjected, “The place didn’t happen to be one of Cyrene Ministry’s homes, did it?”

A look of amazement filled Jenny’s face like a flashlight in a dark tunnel, “Yes, it was, in fact.”

Poppy excitedly replied, “I met two young men up at a super Y-MAX international youth prison way up at an ice-cold place called Svalbard.”

“You know Renie, Renwick Stone?”

“And Cornell Purdue. I spent over a week with them covering a criminal deterrent program—”

“Final Hope!”

“What a small world,” Poppy commented. “Please, go on.”

“Just a side note, Miss Fields,” Jenny leaned back against the block wall, “Cornell Purdue went to work on the Australian Y-MAX prison and stayed there when it was completed. He heads up a prison ministry that involves only inmates. He’s been doing well. He knows he may never get out of prison, but he is known for saying neither did the Apostle Paul.”

“Amazing.”

“And Renie, well, we keep in contact. In fact, he will be coming here soon to conduct a back-alley evangelistic crusade. It’s more of a stack-up-boxes-and-preach type of thing, but it is very effective.”

Feeling the time fleeting away, Poppy said, “Well, let’s get back to your fiancé and those details, if that’s ok with you.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Jenny replied, “Once I was placed in touch with Renaldo, we just sort of hit it off. We both remained very cautious, skeptical is a better word for it I think, setting our feelings aside to take the time to get to know each other’s hearts. We both secretly wanted to know how the other felt, thought, believed, and how we reacted to life’s ever-changing situations… both good and bad.”

“That is so great, Jenny, I admire you both for that.”

“After we decided to start this ministry, about a year later or so, we both knew that our commitment ability matched up pretty well, so—”

“Romance!” Poppy shouted.

“Sort of, in a way. We decided to pursue a more committed relationship with each other, a pure one, one not based on selfish ideals, sex, or what others thought about us. Just us two. We got engaged the following year at the Cyrene Youth Ministry place in North Richmond. And here we are.”

Poppy continued her inquiry, “I understand that your fiancé was involved in the drug trade at one time.”

“Renaldo… El Rey, as his friends called him, he was a drug smuggler, a very good one, at least until he got caught.”

The two women laughed.

“And his brother is involved in this outreach effort also, I hear.”

“Hernando, yes, he is. He began helping us to hand out food to the homeless. He’s such a goodhearted young man!” Jenny exclaimed.

“And—”

Five shots echoed from around the corner of the alley interrupting the interview abruptly.

“We better run now, Miss Fields,” Jenny commanded, “literally!”

The two stood and sprinted for the opposite end of the alley. Poppy lost an earring in the process somehow, but did not seem to care in the least.

Next Chapter: Life on the Streets