He lives in some woods about a mile from Compass Point and every night he sleeps in a tent. His “camp” has a fire ring, an old lawn chair, a large blue PVC pipe marking his territory and a nylon clothesline stung up between two trees. He uses old newspapers and the Starbucks cups he gets at church to start his fire. Someone just gave him a cheap mp3 player…though he doesn’t have electricity to charge it or a computer to load music into it…it is his most prized possession. He’s known around our church as Homeless Jason.
Every Sunday morning Homeless Jason waits by the bus stop for someone from Compass Point to pick him up. He grabs a cup of coffee, says “hello” to everyone and then goes to take a shower. He likes to use the handicap showers at the YMCA…because they are private. He takes really long showers…but that’s because hot water is a luxury. This past Sunday he wore a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. I told him he looked like the Unabomber…which made him crack up. He loves our band and rocks out to the praise music. While I was preaching Sunday I looked back to find him making shadow puppets on the wall with the reflection of the colored stage lighting.
Homeless Jason never misses a Sunday. He’s become a fixture at Compass Point…a member of the congregation…part of our personality. This past Sunday as I was talking to him he said, “I love this church…they don’t treat me different…they treat me like family…I’ve never been a part of a family before”. I love Compass Point also…because they love people like Homeless Jason.
CHRIS ELROD 