Let me introduce you to Larry, his real name. I met Larry just last night, 5 p.m.when the church received a phone call from the customer service counter at Wal-Mart. The person working the counter attends FMC. She had a man there whose motor home had broken down in Wal-Mart’s parking lot and he wanted to talk to a pastor. I went to Wal-Mart to see Larry.
You might say that Larry is homeless but he has lived for the last ten years in a 1983 motor home that he has driven in 44 of the lower 48 states. All his worldly wealth is in the motor home and in the truck he tows behind it. The truck has not run in two years. It needs a new battery. The last two nights, Tuesdayand Wednesday, Larry has been in his unheated motor home, sleeping in a 20 below zero, army surplus sleeping bag. He could have gone to the homeless shelter but he did not want to be separated from his cat. So Larry and his cat slept together in the sleeping bag.
Larry gets money from his debit card and Social Security. When his motor home breaks down he has an attorney that handles his trust fund to pay for this type of stuff. The address on his driver’s license is an office suite number in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which I suppose is his attorney’s office. Larry used to work as a landscaper at the University of Michigan. He proudly says he helped lay the sod around the U of M hospital. His daughter and granddaughter were both killed by a drunk driver in 1989. His parents both passed away in 2004 and I imagine that is when he started to travel. He heats water for coffee with candles in his motor home, and has one pan to heat sausage when his hot plate works.
This morning Mark, our maintenance man, and I went to check on Larry. He is doing ok but the bottled water he bought had completely frozen. He used to attend the Nazarene Church in Chelsea, Michigan. I asked him if he knew Christ as his personal savior and he said yes. Every time a person like Larry comes across my path I am reminded of a line in the bookThe Hole in Our Gospel, “today you may meet Jesus in his most unusual disguise.”
The good guys at Lonsbury Garage will work on Larry’s motor home on Monday. The church is putting up Larry at University Inn for a week for around $200. He can have his cat there with him.
Have you met a Larry lately?

Bethlehem Marketplace sign up is in full swing. There are still about 17 spots available. Email Cindy for more information.

Click here for a video of last Sunday’s special music by the Wilson Family and their exchange student from France.