Bed # 9

Connor supplied the mattress, I got the linen, and a small group of us hit the road to get Vanessa off the floor for now.

She and her 15 year old son Mark fled Brooklyn, NY several weeks ago. Mark was a good kid on the basketball team. The gangs wanted him to join them. He refused. After getting beat up several times, he was finally taken by the gang, who put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. Traumatized, Mark and his mother took the advice of the DA in NY and fled the state. They were living in poverty in NY. Now they are living in poverty in AR. She stayed in an emergency shelter before an agency helped her get an apartment. The DA moved several boxes of their stuff for them, but no furniture. Vanessa picked up some from a local garage sale. She found Mark a bed, but she was sleeping on a mat on the floor.

She heard about a group of youth who build beds for people like her. She called several times, but the group was in transition and could not be as responsive as they usually were. But goodness prevailed. A coalition of the willing provided her with a mattress and linen and promised to finish a bed for her in the next couple of weeks.

The group also got to see the trauma in her face, watch her tears fall, hear her appreciation, and pray with her.

Good thing God does not get bored with showing mercy and compassion to the needy. Help us not to, Lord.