Cleaning a Toilet

They didn’t know what to do. The Graffiti outreach team was in a new neighborhood and wanted to reach their neighbors. Many were from different countries, and many were going through serious financial challenges.

A few team members asked their mission trip leader what they could do for the day. He took them to a local drug store where they bought cleaning supplies. They then trundled into a small grocery store across the street. The area was filled with local stores run by neighbors from far away countries. This owner was from the Middle East.

The group and their leader asked if they could clean the owner’s restroom for free. The owner waved them to the back of the store. Later he came to see what was going on. He thought the group had just asked to use the restroom. He couldn’t believe they were on their knees scrubbing the floor.

There were language barriers in talking to him, but with a little help from an Arabic translation app, the team was able to communicate they were followers of Jesus and simply wanted to bless the man and his business.

At first, the store owner looked angry. He did not understand. But then, a tear slid down his cheek. He suddenly embraced the mission leader and spoke in broken English, “We are brothers.” He led the group to the front of the store where they had a deep conversation about who Christ is and the differences in what they believed.

The store owner did not accept the Lord that day, but the team felt they had made more progress than if they had simply given the man a tract condemning his religion.

Now in that neighborhood, a new Graffiti church meets with new believers. In one of their outreach programs, they have 40 people on the waiting list—most from countries with few Christian witness.

God has so many ways to reach people, but one of the ways we use most in New York City is to meet the need first. The Bible says many things about God but summarizes it all in 1 John by saying God is love. And what is love? The Bible says love is patient and kind.

There are so many conflicting cultures and values in our present world. Isn’t it amazing how kindness seems to cross every culture? Sharing Christ doesn’t necessarily require a complicated evangelical strategy. It may start with a willingness to clean a neighbor’s toilet.

The Not So Good Samaritan

Several years ago while on a bike-trip across Idaho, I encountered a man on an overpass above an interstate. He looked worn as he stood next to a rickety, old grocery cart.

I had my destination in mind. There were many miles to go and a lot of hills in between.

I asked, “How are you?”

He shrugged his shoulders, turned his hands, and without a word indicated, “Not so good.”

I kept pedaling thinking, There’s nothing I can do for him, plus I had someplace to reach before the sun set.

It wasn’t only my feet that were pedaling as I cycled away. My heart and mind raced as well. God’s Spirit convicted me, reminding me of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The priest probably wondered, “What can I do?” The Levite probably had someplace to be as well.

Then I remembered Matthew 25:

“For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’ “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’” (Matthew 25:42-43, 45 HCSB)

I knew in that moment, the man with the rusty grocery cart was Jesus, and I pedaled on by.

I prayed, “Lord, teach me and help me to never pass someone by again.“

I traveled three hundred miles across barren desert, dotted with small-town stops on that seven-day trip. I began the trip thinking, I love time alone. However, once I got it, I desperately wanted to connect with somebody. Anybody! The highlight of my day was finding someone who would talk to me.

I ended the trip earlier than expected and went back to Boise. One hot, 100 degree day I walked to the grocery store. Outside the store a man covered in tattoos with a hiking pack on his back dug through the dumpster.

I walked by.

The automatic doors of the store pulled open. A wall of cool air and a thought hit me simultaneously.

That was Jesus. You know what it’s like to feel alone. There’s something you can do.

I turned around and saw the man sitting on a bench, arranging his pack.

I approached and asked, “How are you?”

He replied, “Ok. Do you have any spare change?”

“No,” I answered, “but can I get you something in the store?”

He asked for water, so I obliged.

About ten minutes later, I returned with the water bottle and handed it to the man.

I thought, Andrew, there’s more you can do.

I sat down. I didn’t rush away. We started talking. His name was Bryce. He told me he had followed “Mr. Brown” (heroine) from Chicago, to Portland and now to Boise. He was currently clean, trying to get his daughter back who lived with her grandmother in town. We talked for about 20 minutes. I asked Bryce if I could pray for him.

He said, “Yes, please.”

With my hand on his shoulder, we bowed our heads together as I prayed.

I met Jesus that day. I didn’t pass him by. He didn’t need anything from me. He just wanted to talk.

Talk is Cheap

We all heard the phrase as a kid, “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you!” Equally as prevalent, spoken to console the not-so-rubbery child, is the phrase, “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you.”

Let’s be honest. This talk is pretty cheap. These clichés are about the same as putting a bandaid on a stab wound. Words hurt, sometimes surprisingly so.

The Bible tells us this in the book of Proverbs. It says, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21).

Words can tear down, but they can also build up.

In the 80s, two research psychologists documented the power of words in a child’s life. Betty Hart and Todd Risley were inquisitive about the achievement gap between low-income children and children of more advantageous backgrounds. To investigate, they studied 42 families divided into three groups—professionals, working class, and low-income. Their data showed, on average, by age four, children in professional families heard 30 million more words than children in low-income families.

Beyond the quantity of words, their data showed a striking difference in the quality of words. Whereas children in professional families heard 500,000 encouragements compared to 80,000 discouragements, children in low-income families heard 80,000 encouragements compared to 200,000 discouragements.

The results of their study were published in the book Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Their findings, which have been dubbed the “30 Million Word Gap,” clearly show the power of words.

Children need words—some of them need 30 million more words than what they’ve heard!

Of course, kids hear plenty of words on phones, tablets, and television. However, the same study showed that those words don’t have the same impact as a living, breathing, person.

Children need “the word to be flesh, and dwell among them!” They need someone to read with them, someone to ask questions of them, someone to lift them up rather than tear them down, someone to remind them they are beautiful.

When serving children in challenging communities, programs always need more . . .more money, more volunteers, more space, more help. One thing though there is no short supply of is words. A careful steward of his or her words may not change the whole world, but he or she can change a child’s world, one word at a time.

Perhaps talk isn’t that cheap after all.