Hernato works hard in his dad’s seafood business in Natal, Brazil. He knows the city well, but Christmas night Hernato was focusing on a part of the streets he confessed he always ignored – the homeless. A group of thirty or so Brazilians and sixteen Americans sang songs, shared food and clothes, and befriended a group of men and women (and one baby) who, for one reason or another, found their home on the streets.
Hernato and another young man, Michael, came up to me and said, “Come with us! We want to find the friend you met last year.” All the homeless in that location knew Perecles. They said he slept a few streets over. They said he was probably ‘high’ from sniffing glue. Perecles taught the Americans about generosity last year, giving back a pair of shoes someone had given him. I shared the story with the group that gathered. “He still has no shoes!” someone laughed. An American had brought a pair of shoes especially for him, but Perecles was not there.
So a little after midnight, I found myself in the car with two young men driving up and down dark streets in a rough part of town. The searchers were not just going through the motions. They drove everywhere. They called strangers to the car window to ask questions. They shouted into the alleys. They got out of the car to search. I thought of Jesus’ parable of the shepherd looking for his lost sheep. Michael is a pastor’s son and such adventures are not uncommon for him. But this was new for Hernato and he seemed crushed that we could not find Perecles.
Hernato saw us off at the airport when we flew home the next week. “I’m going to keep looking for Perecles,” he told me. I’ll bet he finds him. This New Year I want to search for the lost with this passion I witnessed in Natal. It is not just a homeless drug addict with no shoes we’re looking for – we’re searching for a soul, a man with a name, created in the image of God. It is not just a teenager from an affluent family I am instructing – I am teaching a soul, a kid with a name, created in the image of God. It is not just a child I’m taking on a summer field trip – I am caring for a soul, a six-year-old with a name, created in the image of God.
“Remind me every breath I take, Lord, of your love for people. Fill me with that same love and bring the lost into your fold. Amen.”
“‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I have invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Matthew 22:8-10