Mike, Road Dog, and one crazy adventure!

Our project leader (Paul), explained an activity to our group called a Random Act of Kindness. He asked us to quiet our minds, bodies and spirits for five minutes as we listened to God. After the five minutes we wrote down whatever popped in our heads. He encouraged us to write down everything, no matter how crazy the image or words might be.
 

Bob thought of hospital. Andrew thought of leaves.  Jess thought of paradise, freedom, and broccoli. Elena said kitties. Christina thought of pencil, knife, vitamin C, white out, the phrases "just wait" or "please wait", spider, and butterfly. Paul thought of vision and green for our group.
 

After we collected everyone's information we began our adventure. We started to drive down the road and saw a sign pointing left for the hospital. However, we were in the right turn lane so Bob had to turn around in a parking lot. As he turned around we saw a sign for a blind pedestrian crossing (vision), so we knew we were headed back in the right direction. As we drove by the hospital none of us felt compelled to get out, so we kept on going. The van needed gas so we stopped at a gas station. Jess talked to the attendant and asked if there was an office supply store around because pencil and white out were on our list. It just so happened that there was one a mile down the street. Once again we believed we were on the right track. After driving down the road, we saw a Life Way Christian Book store in the plaza. So we decided to go inside because we didn’t know what else to do. Christina was looking at all the books and found a book she really wanted to buy, but put it back for some reason. Jess got a book for Eli, and the pages kept opening up to “be nice anyway, and never give up” with a picture of a kid raking leaves. So while Jess was buying her book, Christina went back to find her book and later purchased it. So now we had two books and still no idea what we were supposed to be doing. The ranch didn’t have a good cheese knife and since knife was on our list we decided to go to Wal-Mart to get one for the kitchen. On our way there, we saw some construction workers and thought we should get some water and snacks for them because it was 90 degrees outside. As we said that a butterfly flew right over our car. So we all yelled this is what we are supposed to do. We went in Wal-Mart by the gardening section because it was very green and full of leaves. We found a cooler and a cheese slicer for the ranch. On our way to get some Powerade we ran into three people from our team. We chatted for a minute and asked them what they were doing. They told us about a "Random Act of Kindness" they were doing. We picked up ice and donuts at the checkout by the Vision Center in the Wal-Mart. Andrew and Jess headed to the car with the stuff and Bob, Elena, and Christina went to get some cups since the drinks were still warm.

When we all got into car we headed in the direction of the construction workers, but right in front of us was a man sitting under a tree with a sign that said, ”Help” and “Gas.” In his arms was a kitty. Jess said let’s give him a Powerade. So we drove past him and turned around. Jess gave him the Powerade and Bob said he would fill up his gas can. As we tried to figure out how to get to the gas station, Christina asked if she could run back to the Wal-Mart to get some food for the kitty. We dropped off Christina and Elena by the Wal-Mart entrance and continued to the gas station.

When we returned, Andrew gave the man the gas can and began to ask him questions. The man’s name was Mike and his kitty's name was "Road Dog." We found out Mike has been on the road living in his car for sixteen years. He took better care of his kitty than himself. Jess told him about "Daily Bread," which is a place where the homeless can get lunch and dinner. She also told him about "Oasis," which is a free coffee shop for the homeless.

When Christian and Elena came back, they had a bag of food, kitty litter, a litter pan, and a scooper. We handed these things to Mike and all he could say was “Oh wow! Thank you!” 

As Bob considered how the group was going to talk to Mike about God, Andrew spoke up and said, “Can I ask you a question, sir? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?”

He said no and said he didn’t know the right prayer or even what to say to God. Bob explained it’s not what you say, but that you are talking to God. We asked if he wanted to pray the salvation prayer and if we could pray for him afterwards. He said yes. We don’t know if he if he accepted Jesus, but at the very least we planted a seed. Christina gave him the book she got at the Christian book store, and Jess gave him her personal Bible. We knew he liked to read because the entire dashboard of his car was covered with books. We prayed over Mike and his kitty one more time before we said our goodbyes.

When we were all in our car we realized God was saying, “just wait.” On our way home we went by the construction workers to see if they were still working, but they were gone. We realized that when we finally gave up, God took over. In our weakness, He is made strong. When we stopped leaning on our own strength we allowed God enough room to show up. We thought we knew who we were going to bless, but all along God knew who we were supposed to bless that day. Please pray for Mike and Road Dog. Please pray they will be safe and grow in God’s love as they travel around the country.