Heather’s Flute
June 2011
Dear Friends,
In my eleven years at Christ’s Body I’ve been asked for many things but this was a first. We had just met and Heather was immediately pleading with me to buy her a flute. With desperate earnestness she said, “I really need a flute. When I had my flute I could make money playing on the Mall. I could play my flute when I was alone and feel peace. I really need a flute, I’d do any work you needed to get a flute.” I laughed and said “Heather, I get that you really want a flute, but I think you need Jesus more than you need a flute. I have never even considered buying someone a flute and I can’t see doing it now. I’ll pray about it and you come back and see me tomorrow and we’ll talk some more.” I hoped that would be the end of this, but as soon as we opened the next day there was Heather waiting for me. Breathlessly she said, “Pastor John, Wedgles Pawn Shop has the perfect flute for me and it’s only $80.” Much to my surprise I took $80 of God’s money and Heather and I went to Wedgles to get her flute. She bounced out of Wedgles and as soon as we got in the car, she put it together and started playing it. She continued in the day room at Christ’s Body until one of our guys asked me, “Please Pastor John can you ask her to play outside. She’s driving us crazy with that flute.”
This was over a year ago and many weeks would pass by with no sign of Heather and then suddenly without warning Heather would drop in. She was always a small, intense young black-haired bundle of energy. In bits and pieces we came to know a little more about Heather. She trusted no one, struggled with both mental illness and addiction to heroin. Occasionally she was with a young man but never for long. Sarah, Deb and myself all tried to break thru the walls and connect with her to try and get her help. We heard that she had a daughter somewhere in Oregon. Whatever family she once had she had lost all contact with.
Six months ago she showed up with a black eye and a broken nose. We did everything we could to try to get her into the emergency room. But she was too suspicious to go. We called the hospital and found out that if her nose wasn’t set within 10 days it could not be fixed without an operation. So from then on Heather’s nose had a permanent bend to it. We were worried about her safety before and after this happened every time we saw her we tried to convince Heather to let us help her.
A few weeks ago the Denver Coroner’s office called Sarah Newell because they found her card on Heather’s body. She had been dead 1-2 weeks when a passer by happened to spot her remains by the Platte River. We never did hear what the cause of death was or whether they were ever able to locate or notify any next of kin.
There was no way Heather would ever let her picture be taken. The only thing we have left is her flute, which I look at every day and pray for all the Heathers out there alone and scared. Heather you drove us crazy, but we loved you and know God loves you even more. I’m sorry we weren’t able to do more for you Heather. This newsletter is our memorial to you.
This was and remains our prayer for Heather. Psalm 34:18:
“ The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Larry Chapter 2
May 2011
Dear Friends,
Last month I shared about one of our respite patients, Larry. He has battled many things in his life including an alcoholic abusive father. Praise God Larry is moving out of the darkness and into the light of God’s mercy and love. In response to that newsletter a dear sister in Christ wrote this letter to Larry and agreed to share it with all of you.
Dear Larry,
I don’t know you and you don’t know me. The only thing I know about you is that you are my brother in Christ and I felt compelled to write to you. The other connection we have in common is Christ’s Body.
I used to volunteer there and make lunch every other week. Because of my husband’s alcoholism, he lost his job and the family income. I was faced with the obligation to find a job to provide for my family which led to a full time job and not being able to volunteer anymore.
Like you I heard the abuse from my husband when he was drinking. The only difference was that I believed in a good God who loved me, so I refused to believe the lies my husband would spit out when he was drunk. I knew that all this was orchestrated by Satan, and refused to hear that I was useless and worthless.
Through the grace of God, my husband is free of the disease. He has been sober for a year and a half. He knows that he will never be able to drink again and I pray to God that He gives him freedom from it. I have forgiven him and every time I feel the anger rise up as I think of the situation he put us through (things are still hard financially) I run to God and ask Him to change the anger to compassion. It works. Our relationship is stronger and more real than before. We still have a long way to go, but I see how God has tended my husband’s soul as well as mine.
Pray for your father (if he is still alive). Forgive him, and know that he was angry at himself, but you were an easy target. Those closest to the alcoholic always are. Refuse to believe the lies that Satan used your father to tell you. You are worth it, and you can accomplish anything with God, because everything is possible with Jesus.
I pray for you and your father. May His grace and mercy indwell in you always. Your sister in Christ.
Thank you for sharing this. As we tell our stories of both pain and divine healing we encourage and help each other on our journey through this fallen world. May our merciful Lord continue healing each of us because we all need it.
Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ.”
Who Am I and Who Is God?
April 2011
Dear Friends,
If we don’t have accurate answers to these two questions our journey through this life is inevitably confused and difficult. There are various reasons why many of our friends at Christ’s Body have wrong answers to these questions. Some of the sources are absent/abusive parents, the lies of the enemy or their own struggles with sin.
Larry is just one example of someone who carried the burdens of wrong answers. When he first came to our respite care two years ago his answer to the first question was “I was born in sin and because of my continued sin I am worthless.” His answer to the second question was “God scared the Hell out of me, so I ran away from Him.” With Larry these wrong answers started with an alcoholic father who told him he was worthless and would never amount to anything. This was reinforced by time in a church that preached only about God’s judgment and anger.
Because of these false beliefs Larry’s life was full of fear, pain and shame. It was so bad that he would walk and stay in alleys just to avoid people seeing him. Because of his past mistakes he felt that all he deserved was death. “I used to look at the trees in City Park to decide which one I would look good hanging from.”
Over the past two years Larry has been in and out of our respite care as he has been treated for various medical issues. In the process, Deb Butte our respite care counselor, has spent much time with Larry. Larry for the first time has felt cared for and appreciated by all of us here at Christ’s Body. There is nothing more healing than personally experiencing God’s tender mercies. With Deb’s help and counsel Larry has been able to get Social Security Disability and with that move into his own apartment.
Larry definitely has received physical blessings from God but the spiritual blessings are even greater. Larry has a huge smile as he tells me “I now know God is loving and nurturing. Now I have a loving relationship with Him both ways, meaning I love Him and He loves me despite my sins. I think maybe He even loves me more because He knows I need more nurturing. I now know Jesus died on the cross for my sins, before I thought that was just B.S. My whole life has changed. I no longer have to walk down alleys to hide from people. I know God is a real good God and I can run to Him instead of away from Him. He is even a good God to people who don’t believe in Him, they just don’t understand because they haven’t connected the dots. I smile now and feel like I deserve life when before I deserved death. I am so grateful to Deb and this place for showing me how much God loves me.”
We are in turn grateful to each of you who make it possible with your support for us to know and love friends like Larry.
Isaiah 46:4 God says “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Jesus Is Still Healing
March 2011
Dear Friends,
I continue to be amazed by the many different people with incredible stories who come to Christ’s Body. Some of them I’ve seen for many years but if they don’t cause trouble or ask to speak with me I often don’t know anything about them. Sam was just such a person. He would come in occasionally for a meal. He was always sober with a big friendly smile but I knew nothing about him until the day he sat in on my Bible study.
We were looking at John 5 where Jesus healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Before ending as always I invited anyone to share whatever thoughts or comments they had on that day’s story. Sam raised his hand and began to speak. “When I was four years old in Egypt I had an open hole in my cheek that would not heal. I spent one week in the hospital but the doctors couldn’t make me better. My Grandmother heard of a Christian man in the mountains who could heal people. We borrowed a car and it was a long drive to this little village. My mom and Grandmother brought me to this old man sitting in front of his house. He prayed for Jesus Christ to heal me. He then carved and made a wooden cross out of green wood and put it around my neck. My mom was told to keep the cross around my neck and as the wood dried out the wound would close up. We spent the night there, drove back and in 3 days as the wood dried the wound healed. Our neighbors said it’s from Allah and my mom said no, it’s Jesus. My father was away working and he came back after I had the cross for 2 months. He doesn’t believe in God so he took the cross off and threw it away. By then the hole had closed completely but I still have one dark scar where it was”, then Sam points to his left cheek. There was dead silence in the room when Sam finished talking until Curt said, “Wow!!” then I told Sam that now I understood why he was always happy. Sam replied, “I know Jesus is my Savior. Ever since then my mom and I believed in Him. Muslims say he is just a good man, but I know only God could do what he did for me.”
I am so grateful that I am able to meet and get to know our Savior through friends like Sam. Thank you and may we all, in some way, experience the healing of Jesus.
Luke 6:19 “The people all tried to touch Jesus because power was coming from Him and healing them all.”
My Jewish Friend
February 2011
Dear Friends,
Christ’s Body has many helpers and supporters who help us care for our hurting friends. They each bring their own unique gifts and desires to serve others. One of these helpers is my dentist, Dr. Neil Dobro of First Avenue Dental. Neil has been my dentist for over 25 years. A combination of not caring for my teeth and what Neil calls the world’s worst case of Bruxism (teeth grinding) created a dental disaster in my mouth. Neil has over the years rebuilt my mouth with implants and crowns, in the process we have gotten to know and respect each other. I am an Evangelical follower of Jesus and Neil is a practicing Orthodox Jew. I have been an honored guest at his synagogue and he has honored me by coming to hear me preach the gospel at Christ’s Body. When I have questions about the meaning of old testament passages, Neil’s knowledge of Hebrew is very helpful. He has donated his time to serve our Christ’s Body Christmas dinner. He has also given us countless toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The toothbrushes and toothpaste help but most of our clients need real time help from a real dentist. Neil recognized this and generously offered to start seeing those in greatest need several years ago. Since then he has freely given hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in free dental care. Without Neil’s attention my friends would have just had to continue living with infected painful teeth. There are some dental clinics in Denver but they are difficult to get into and have long waiting lists.
I am very grateful to Neil for giving his time. Our hurting friends are also grateful but what they most appreciate is the care and respect they receive from everyone at First Avenue Dental. First of all they walk into a very nice Cherry Creek dental office where, no matter how they look they are greeted with a smile and offered tea, coffee or juice. The entire staff listens to and cares for them in a way that values and honors them.
I know our God is pleased when the poor and hurting are cared for. Thank you Neil and all your staff and may God continue to bless you!
Deuteronomy 15:10 “Give generously to the poor and do so without a grudging heart,
then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in every thing you put your hand to.”
