Man on the Street

February 16, 2011

I want to tell you what happened to Danny and I the other day.

It was our day off and we were heading to the beach as this is our place that we can relax. Danny had on blue jeans and tennis shoes. I asked him, “why are you wearing that to the beach, it’s a really hot day and you usually wear shorts and flip-flops.” He just said that it was what he felt like wearing. As long as he’s happy, then I'm happy.

We were suppose to leave early, but didn’t end up leaving until after 12:00pm.

Everything was going good, driving the same route we always do. Past tent cities with rundown and sun beaten tents. Kids begging in the streets; hot dry and dusty as we haven’t had any rain. The Buildings still in rubble just as they were a year ago.

We were in a hurry as half the day was already gone. Eventually we were out of the city and on the long road that takes you north. This road goes up and down hills and what seems to be a very long desert. This road is very heavily traveled by every kind of vehicle and very large trucks. There is no speed limit and people pass going around corners and up the hills. This is a road that you do not want to get stuck on.

As we were driving, we saw what appeared to be a man scooting on his bottom using his hands and feet to push him along. Danny and I looked at each other and thought…what is he doing? That pavement must be 200 degrees out in this heat and he is using his bare hands and feet to move; meanwhile the cars and trucks are passing him within near inches of his life.

I started wondering; doesn’t anyone else see this man? Why is everyone just passing by?

As we passed him, we just stared at each other… we turned the car around, not sure of what we were going to do, but knew we had to do something?

As we parked the farthest off the road as we could, we got out of the car and asked him what his name was… he said my name is Robinson…he was sweating profusely, his hands were callused with burn marks and his feet were raw from the hot pavement. I knew we had to help him, but how? I said to God… what do we do? Wishing I had a wheelchair to give him or something to really help him. So we got a bottle of cold water out of the car and gave it to him… he drank it straight down. Then we got 2 more bottles of water and gave them to him and he drank them both in less then a minute… he was so thirsty… I was thinking, lets try and get a phone number from him and we could come back with a wheelchair for him or something to help him scoot on the ground with wheels… we tried everything, but the language barrier stopped us… so I called 2 different Haitian people to try and get his phone number… they couldn’t understand him. What are we going to do? We can’t just leave him here.

I went to the car and brought out some cookies that we had… we gave them to him and he seemed to be starving… my heart was just breaking for him.

I asked God again, how can we help him, we don’t have anything with us. Then I looked at Danny and we both looked down at his tennis shoes… I didn’t say anything; Danny bent down on the pavement, took of his shoes and socks, took the man’s feet and gently put his socks on his burning feet, then gently put his shoes on the man’s feet. As I was watching Danny give away his only pair of shoes without even a thought and watching the man’s face stare at Danny, there were no words to describe what I felt at that moment; tears running down my face, in awe of what God had done.

Only God knew that there was a hurting man needing tennis shoes that day. God knew the exact time we needed to leave in order to pass him on the road.

We prayed that God would protect this sweet man and keep him safe.

As we drove off, I couldn’t hold back my tears… and Danny either…

Sometimes we don’t know why things happen, but you never know when God has a plan for you and you don’t even know it.

Danny said to me, “that was my only pair of shoes” and we just looked at each other and said, “I know, and that’s the best part.”

Please God give me your eyes so I can see.

Please don’t ever let me become so accustomed to the sights around me that my heart becomes callused.

Please don’t ever let me not feel the hurt of someone else’s pain.

Please keep Robinson safe and let him know that he is loved by a very Awesome God and by 2 strangers, which are not strangers anymore. ♥♥

Dan and Sherry Frederick Moesly xxoo

There is nothing impossible for God!