Gibson & Katrina

Gibson lost a lot of hope over the past few years. An older gentleman, he lost his job and almost lost his house. He had been fixing up his house himself whenever he could. He may have been feeling a little invisible, left out, or maybe even bitter when a large crew showed up next door to work on a Habitat for Humanity project.

As he sat alone in his yard, Gibson watched the workers sawing, hammering, mixing cement- he probably felt insignificant. There were so many of them working like a well oiled machine. They seemed to be having fun. But he noticed that when they stopped for lunch, they had no shade- no relief from the blaring sun. And there wasn’t enough room for the large group to spread out. Some of them even ate their lunch sitting right next to the port-o-potty.

Gibson’s yard had some shade trees and plenty of room. Somehow he gathered the courage to invite these many strangers to eat their lunch on his lawn. Grateful for a better place to rest, the group started asking Gibson about his life, hopes, and needs. They learned how he had struggled and how he had been trying to make it on his own- repairing his own house however he could. They learned how to love Gibson.

One woman bought a card to express her love for Gibson. And she wanted to share more than just her love, so she passed the card around to the whole team. One by one, without any need for coaxing, they filled the card with tangible love for their new friend.

Gibson had bills he didn’t know how he could pay. He felt ashamed and depressed about his uncertain future. The Habitat helpers looked for Gibson their last day on that job site. But he wouldn’t come out of his house. He was already down and didn’t want to face saying good-bye. But that woman who bought the card… she couldn’t leave and return home, several states away, without giving Gibson that envelope full of love.

That woman, transformed by love deeper than her fears, knocked on Gibson’s door and lured him out of his darkness. The people waiting for him outside in the bright day knew how Katrina had broken his spirit. That is why they were there. They had left the comfort of their own homes, hundreds of miles away, with the purpose to rebuild what had been wrecked by Hurricane Katrina. The woman, who seemed most affected by the bond with Gibson, joined this service trip thinking she could help rebuild a house. As she handed the envelope to Gibson, she realized she had helped build hope and love, too. When Gibson opened the card, he found over $600 – enough to pay those bills. In that moment, hope filled Gibson to the full and a wave of love washed over every witness.

This story is dedicated to the 300+ people who travelled to New Orleans in July with a team from my church community. It’s inspired by Gibson’s story- shared by my friend, Tania, over dinner recently. It is also inspired by my friend, Chelle- she courageously invited her friend, who has doubted God’s truth & grace, to experience God’s transformational love with her, first hand on this service trip to NOLA.