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Philadelphia
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News from the Philadelphia City Director
When I checked my voice mail on my work phone I expected to hear the usual: messages from incoming group leaders, ministry sites, and co-workers. I was right! Well…sort of. A leader who had just served a week ago left a voice mail sharing about a lost sweatshirt. To be honest I was not looking forward to tackling a lost article of clothing. I felt like I had more important things to do.
After taking care of some of the day’s to do’s I returned the leader’s voice mail. He gave me the description of the sweatshirt, black with white stripes with a basketball logo on the back. I called the Sunday Breakfast Mission (a regular service site for the homeless) to see if it was left there. Bingo! After the first call it was found there and just needed to be picked up.
I gave the group leader a call to share the good news. When I told him he not only thanked me for finding the sweatshirt but also for the service week. Apparently, a lot of the students’ hearts were touched from their experiences in Philly, especially when they regularly met up with children at an afternoon site called Traveler’s Aid.
Traveler’s Aid provides much needed services for homeless families, including housing, case managers, as well as after-school and summer programs. Since they only lived about 45 minutes away the group leader shared how the students expressed a sincere interest in coming back later in this summer to serve the same children again. He even asked for the contact information of the Program Director of Traveler’s Aid to see how he could best help later on in the summer!
Who knew returning a seemingly trivial call about a sweater could turn into a promising relationship between a church youth group and a homeless shelter. To hear this story made me think about how God is working in hearts. Sometimes I get to hear about it and sometimes I don’t. I just have to trust that He’s always working on people (and celebrate when I hear about it and celebrate when I don’t). After all, our God does not sleep.
- Tim Peterson, CSM Philadelphia City Director
Local Resources
Local News Links
- Creative Steps rejects offer to return July 14, 2009
- Bon Jovi lends star power to Phila. homeless housing plan July 8, 2009
- A call to redeem troubled lives June 26, 2009
- Layoff sets off a search for shelter June 14, 2009
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