Bruce Morgan understands hardship. For over 10 years, he has been living and surviving on the streets of Little Rock. Since he started attending Mosaic, Bruce has given us perspective on trusting God to meet his daily needs.
“Though I am homeless, I know that I will always find another meal or a place to sleep at night. But what I find at Mosaic that is so difficult to find anywhere else, is a warm smile and friendly handshake,” Bruce says.
Not without tragedy, Bruce has suffered much loss, including his wife and his four year old son to a tragic car wreck in 1993, and a year later his 13 year old daughter to a rare blood disease. In 1996, Bruce was robbed, brutally beaten and left for dead. His cracked skull required 140 stitches and delicate brain surgery. The lingering effects from that attack still plague him today.
In spite of his physical needs, Bruce continues to challenge us all with his simple faith. One Sunday morning, after Mark DeYmaz challenged the men and women of Mosaic to live by faith in the midst of the economic turmoil, Bruce came forward and handed him $1.72, all the money he possessed. We were astounded as we witnessed an inspirational, modern day example of the story of the Widow’s mite found in the Gospels. A mite was the smallest coin back in the time of Jesus and represented all the widow possessed.
Scott Davis, a long time Mosaic, has helped Bruce seek medical treatment for a recent bout with pneumonia and an impending double hernia operation that will take place any day now. “I found out that Bruce is a Veteran. He served two tours in Vietnam,” says Scott. “We’re trying to determine if he has some VA benefits that he is not taking advantage of, but there’s a lot of paperwork that has to be tracked down.”
Bill Smith, Mosaic's Pastor of Counseling, relates a story in which Bruce excitedly approached him because he had found three cents in the parking lot. Bruce explained to Bill, “Did you know that you can get breakfast at McDonalds for 64 cents? When I woke up this morning, I had 61 cents, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just start walking to McDonalds and see what God does.’ And Jesus, Jesus, Jesus right there on the parking lot was three pennies. Just think of it—three cents, just what I needed—right there. Then when I got to McDonalds I met a guy I knew from Vietnam. He is going to pick me up and take me to Denny’s tomorrow for a Grand Slam breakfast. Isn’t God good, Bill, isn’t God good?”
Pray for Bruce as he undergoes his surgery and pray that the paperwork for his VA benefits would be completed and accepted.
1 comment:
May the Lord soften our hearts and open the way for a more compassionate body, and let it begin with me....
Isn't Evangelicalism funny? It's no wonder the world makes fun of us!
Just think of how often we pull up to our marbel-faced church buildings in our leased SUVs to sit in our thousand-dollar pews, singing million-dollar songs about a man who had no place to lay His head. Indeed, we worship Jesus-- the ultimate God&Man who was... homeless.
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