I came upon a man about to collapse crossing the street in Mesa, so I stopped my car and asked if he needed help.

I know that most people don’t understand why I feel the need to stop and help people that I see on the streets, but I don’t understand why they don’t feel the need to help.  If I ignore the human lives that are suffering and feel alone and unloved, how will they ever know that they are loved, and that God is able to heal and rescue them from their despair?

The man today looked like he was going to die if he didn’t get help, and I finally insisted that he get in my car before he passed out in the street.  He was barely able to speak, his body was twisted and in constant motion.  I assumed that he was a drug addict or just really sick, but either way, I knew that he needed help.  I have some knowledge on what addictions do to the body and mind, but I have no experience with helping someone that is addicted to heroin, and this guy was in terrible shape, and I figured that it was either up to me to lead him to God, or he would die.

I prayed over him many times, and I asked him to surrender his life to Jesus, so he could heal him, because nothing that I was speaking was going to be enough. I fed him lunch, and asked God to bless his food to help his body receive the nutrients it needed to be restored enough to at least function long enough to speak a full sentence, but that wasn’t happening in the 3-4 hours that I spent driving around with him in my car.  I finally decided to just play some music that I thought might help to ease his mind from the severe wd symptoms that he seemed to be suffering from at that time.  I guess that the demonic spirits that had his life and body bound didn’t like that much, because he started displaying worse signs of wanting to come right out of his skin. The faces and strange sounds that came from him were not normal human speech or expressions.  He was going in and out of what appeared to be demonic possession as the spirits were fighting to remain with him, so I just started singing loudly and would ask him to repeat the words with me that proclaimed deliverance and being well with the soul.

I told him that I wasn’t going to leave him until he was free from what had a hold on him, and I meant it, because I knew that God would never lead me to this guy if he didn’t want me to help him escape the bondage.  I was thinking that perhaps I should have been better prepared, but I have no idea how to prepare for something like that, so I just gave it all to God to handle when I saw no signs of improvement.  After awhile he sort of came out of some of the suffering and what appeared to be a torturous hell from my view, but he still wasn’t able to sit still in his seat or talk clearly.

I drove him to where he said he lived, and  I thought that he might be okay if I left him there and just continued to pray for him, but then the drug dealers rolled up, and I could tell that part of him wanted to go join them, but he said that he didn’t want to stay there, because he knew that if he did, he would end up at their apartment doing drugs.  I didn’t want that either, but I also didn’t want to force someone to change because I thought that they should, so I told him that it was his decision to make, and I knew that God wanted to help him through the battle that he was in, but I wasn’t sure what that really would entail.

I found a nearby detox center and drove him there, but I had no idea if they would take him or if they would require insurance or even a full name, and I had none of that info to give them, and he wasn’t in any condition to fill out paperwork. At that point, I stopped in the parking lot, and began to tell him that this suffering now was actually part of his healing that would later help him to lead many others out of the same bondage.

He said he was molested by a man when I asked him to tell me his story, but he didn’t say anything else, and he really didn’t need to, because I already knew why God put him with me at that moment.  I told him how I first came to know God was real and that He was able to do big and awesome miracles, and it was when I cried out to God to help the children that were being sexually abused and no one else would listen or help these hurting lives.  I told him how God listened and rescued 168 kids that very night that I prayed for his help.  I told him that God didn’t want him to carry that shame or guilt anymore, and that it was not going to continue to keep him locked in addiction to escape the pain of the past, because God can remove all of that pain and heal him completely.

We talked about his dreams as a child and how it was not too late for his life to be transformed into what it was meant to be before evil tried to destroy it.  The guy was only 24 years old, but I truly couldn’t tell if he was 20 or 40, because the drugs had messed him up so badly.

When I finally left him, he was almost speaking full sentences, and he no longer had that fear and pain clinging onto him.  I can’t tell you what happened after that, but as I drove away, I started sobbing.  The pain was so heavy on my heart knowing that his struggle was nowhere near over, and that no one cared enough to help him.  I couldn’t find any place to take him that I knew would give him the care and support he needed.

I just cried out to God and told Him that it wasn’t fair that he had to suffer like that because of what happened to him as a child. He would have died if I didn’t pick him up today, and part of me wanted to die knowing that he was just one life that was out there among thousands just like him that no one would see or help.

I asked God to please make sure that his life was surrounded with protection and that he would never be alone again.  I knew that I couldn’t do anything, but I also knew that God could do everything he needed and more, so I gave him to God and told God that I knew that He was the only One that could save that kid, and I knew that He would do just that.

I told two people about my day, and both of them acted upset and concerned more about my safety than that poor guy that was barely an adult, and a very broken one at that.  I told the people that if I was worried or in fear, that would mean that I didn’t trust God, and I knew that God sent me to find that guy before he died on the street.

I just want to say that if anyone ever sees a person in need, and they don’t stop to help them out of fear for their own life, than they need to truly examine their relationship with  God and know that perfect love casts out fear.  God is perfect love, so if you truly trust and believe in God, than please let go of the fear ,and see and hear the people that are suffering all around you everyday.  We are the light that shines out the darkness if we are in Christ and doing the works that He did.

The church isn’t a building, it is the people that make up the Body of Christ, and if the people in the churches don’t start getting outside the walls, the Body of Christ will never rise up!

The people inside the church buildings are saved, so let’s stop focusing on how we can entertain them and get into the streets and find the lives that are dying  without Jesus!