An Entry to a More Meaningful Life

Note: This is a guest post by Chad Miller. 

It all started as my wife Suzanne and I began to think about what it meant to live a more “missional” or Christ-like life. We saw the shortcomings of our lives when it came to reaching out to those needing some sort of financial need. Sure, we realize there are all types of poverty, but as we came from the middle class, we were drawn to working with the financially poor.

We decided to begin helping our local church feed the homeless one Saturday a month. We struggled with standing behind the table and not entering the world beyond the feeding line. Quickly we began going out and talking to the people who gathered to eat the food. We had no idea what to say. Honestly, I was scared as hell, so I found a couple of people I thought would be able to teach me about how to talk to these people.

I met Wilbur, who had previously homeless for 7 years. He is a great Christian, who has now found a residence locally. He told me about a lot of the people having a disability, addictions, and in need of a Savior. Wilbur used to sit down in Moore Square every day, and hope to get to speak to someone about Christ. Wilbur now speaks for churches about the issue of being homeless in Raleigh area churches. He understands addictions and feels the pain of abusing his family. He taught me a lot over the next 6-7 months. He is a friend and someone I count on for help understanding the needs of the homeless or poor.

After we visited for about 6 months with our church, we decided to begin attending weekly with another local ministry that fed every Sunday at noon. This was a different group of volunteers, some who have served 14 years for almost every week. It was a different approach. As we entered, we realized how much people in our downtown just wanted to be listened to and be treated as a human being.

As Suzanne and I progressed through the week by week we realized that their needs were often much larger than what we could provide for on Sunday. We were really glad to see Hugh come along as more of an everyday contact person for these people.

Whenever I leave on a given Sunday, I feel a little more connected to the Jesus I sat in Sunday school and listened to. Every Sunday I hear their stories of pain, happiness, and I journey with them. We provide tangible items as well, but I think the most important thing to them is that we are their friends and we listen. Regardless of our income or housing status, we all long to have true friends.

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Chad lives in Apex, NC with his incredible wife, Suzanne. Chad and Suzanne have been involved with the homeless of Raleigh since January of 2007. They currently are working as schoolteachers in the community, trying to bring awareness of people less fortunate to other people. Suzanne is also an aspiring writer. Chad is on staff at Connections Church in Raleigh, NC as a Children’s Pastor. They both work in unison to bring dignity and grace to all types of people they meet with.

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