Salvation – Part Two

Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. – Ephesians 2:9

It’s often the little things that make all the difference.

The Gateway outreach team first met ‘Frank’ while he was living in the Don Valley. At that point in time, Frank refused to stay in a shelter. The guys on the team kept checking in on him every few days, showing that he mattered to them and continued to invite him to come inside.

One day they asked him just to come to the drop-in for lunch, it was burrito day after all. That was the invitation that was impossible for Frank to resist; he gave in and came for lunch.

Frank realized that Gateway was a safe place with staff that cared, good food and a clean bed to sleep in. He booked a bed and came in off the street.

A few months later, after Frank had dealt with some of his ongoing issues and was finally ready to move from Gateway into his new apartment, he had this very profound thing to say;

“It was the burrito that got me!”

Frank’s ‘Salvation’, his freedom, his liberation, his redemption all started with a simple gesture. He encountered people who ‘shared the love of Jesus Christ’ with him by offering him a non-judgmental smile and a giant, well-stuffed, tasty burrito.

This work is not rocket science. All it takes is to treat people with the dignity and respect we all deserve and to have faith that, with God’s help, the rest will take care of itself. The result: we all get to experience what it means to ‘get saved’.

Let’s keep on being ‘The Hand of God in the Heart of the City”

Peace,

Dion Oxford, Director of Mission Integration