Written by Mike Verkaik 

Have you ever had someone leave your church community that you knew well? Someone you could converse with easily because of the familiarity you had with them? This is the season we find ourselves in at the motel ministry.  We have been rejoicing and celebrating with many of our friends over the past months as they have found new homes in trailer parks and apartments.  This has broadened our community, since many of the former residents desire to continue relationships, and also opened a door to build a new community at the motel.

There has always been a percentage of the residents at the motel that have been more transient and distant to our attempts to come along side of them with love and service. Lately that sect has grown.  This morning God reminded me again of Jesus’ simple outreach through His encounter with Zacchaeus. In the text Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) As I read through the passage again, I was reminded there were two ways Jesus sought a relationship with Zacchaeus through His daily walk of life. Jesus noticed him and then invited him to have a relationship, regardless of how he was perceived by others.

As we continue to build community at the motel our prayers are for the Holy Spirit to give us these divine appointments to see and invite new residents. What a joy it continues to be to walk and dwell with our eyes open to notice the people God puts in our path. It is such a privilege to let them know they are seen by not only us, but their Abba Father, and also invited to have a relationship, friendship with us as we represent Him and live out Jesus’ message we heard from the beginning: We should love one another. (I John 3 : 11 – NIV)

During the past summer months God has once again overwhelmed us with His timely gifts and resources to invite residents into a relationship with us.  Below are a few of those expressions of His goodness and blessings that have allowed us to build community as we continue to make the heart of our Father known. Each event seems so simple, but isn’t that exactly what Jesus demonstrated when he said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19 : 5)

Baseball game with our kids group: The West Michigan Whitecaps are a local minor league team for the Detroit Tigers. Oceans Ministries was blessed with tickets, parking, and voucher cards to spend on food and a small souvenir. This invitation opened the door to conversations and opportunities to listen and learn about the motel children’s lives, and for them to hear and see the love, joy and oneness of the body of Christ in us.

As we walked up to the stadium I made the children aware of how cool it was that our Abba Father gave us a VIP parking spot, so we paused to offer a thanksgiving prayer for the being a God of the details.  As we entered in we learned five of the nine children in attendance had never been to a ball park before.  As we were leaving one child said, “ it was the best day I ever had.” Another child described it as “amazing” and while he had been quiet and reserved up to this point, he talked the whole way home as he began to open up to us. There were also beautiful conversations in the car ride with one child even singing,  “Jesus lift me higher” to the other children in the car.

Girls Group to the zoo and ice cream: Over the years the families staying at the motel seem to usually have a majority of daughters.  This inspired one volunteer to create a time for female mentorship, and now we have a girls group that meets every other Friday.  The volunteer has invited the girls into deep discussions about the Father’s love and the hope Abba has for their response to His love. Invitations to special activities have created a deeper bond and an openness to reach out in difficult times.

This past week the girls were invited out for ice cream and to the zoo.  A few days later the volunteer received a message from a girl’s mom saying, “ I have a big favor, can you keep my mom in your prayers? She has stage four lung cancer.  We need God to guide us in what we should do.  I’m overwhelmed and tired.” As we pray for the troubled mom, we also praise God for the willingness and openness to reach out and seek prayers for her and her mom.

 

  Cookouts and Games: Cookouts are the favorite meal for us to serve and for residents to enjoy.  This summer we have again set up a big tent and brought in some yard games as an invitation to an event bigger than a meal. Each time we set up the tables in the parking lot I am reminded again that there are no tables in any of the rooms at the motel.  This evening meal is the only opportunity residents have to come, sit and dwell as a family or with others.

The other week I was talking with two men in their room.  Construction work has brought them to the motel. Currently, this is their life as they move from city to city, staying in the most affordable place they can. During our conversation they jokingly asked if I was going to give a sermon in the back, which opened the door for a mini-one in their room.  After the meal I came by again and one of them said, “Mike, traveling from place to place is what I do for a living.  I’ve been staying in motels for twenty years and I have never experienced something like this. Thank you for being here.”

So, here is what God has been teaching me through this time of transition. In building community, baseball, ice cream and calling someone down from a tree aren’t that special on their own. But when you use them to reach out to people who feel lost, amazing things can happen. The Holy Spirit can work through you to change someone’s life, heal their hurt, or bring people together. The key? That simple, daily question: “Abba, as I walk my ordinary path today, whose eyes do you need me to meet, whose story do you need me to hear?”

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. (I Peter 2:21)