When I approached Chris, I was very uncertain. Uncertain if he’d be willing to talk to me. Uncertain of my ability to carry on a conversation with him. Uncertain of the conversation we were about to have. This was the first time I had ever done something like this, so needless to say, I was way beyond my comfort zone.
“May I sit here?” I asked Chris, pointing to the vacant chair across from him. At first, it seemed like he wasn’t too enthusiastic to talk with me, and it really discouraged me. But after a few minutes, I could feel him opening up. Pretty soon, he was telling me his entire life story, beginning to end. He spoke with such passion and vigor that I felt I was re-living it with him right there in that small café.
What struck me the most about Chris was his generosity. He had come from such a broken background, was literally living in a tent and still going through numerous struggles, and yet, he still had the ability to talk about giving to others. That really made me evaluate my own life. Here I was, sitting in front of a man who had so little when I had been blessed with so much, but he gave of himself so much more than I ever had. He desired to give back to a world that, it seems, had given him nothing. He had every right to be angry and hate the world, but he didn’t. In my eyes, he is a true embodiment of Christ’s sacrificial love.
Speaking with Chris transformed my perception of not only the homeless, but also of love. As a Christian, I know I am called to love the world, and nowhere is that demonstrated more clearly than in Chris’ actions. I keep Chris in my daily prayers and I ask that if you, the reader, feel compelled to do so, please keep my friend Chris in your prayers.
-Jolene Chao, 10/23/17
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