OK I wrote a few days ago that I had posted my last one before Christmas. That truly was my intention, until our day yesterday. In the morning I had replied to a few comments and had been very struck by the different worlds that we inhabit as people. The world of those who have everything and want more; the world of those fleeing war and having a hard job being welcomed to a new land… and everything in between. We had just come through a storm on the east coast, the day before the street was running with rain water and then yesterday afternoon it was soaked with sea water as the waves were pounding the front – only one other time in 30 years a resident told us he had seen it like that. During the storm other than rain coming in through one window we were pretty dry and warm, and in the midst of this Gayle prayed for anyone caught in the storm nearby who had no home… So the scene is set.
The weather yesterday turned and having been house-bound for a few days we went running. Along a route we have never run, in the light of the storm on a path as close to the water as we could run. About a mile we see someone sitting on a bench with two plastic bags. We stop, ask him if he needs anything. He looks blank then after three questions he replies with,
‘Do you speak English?’
‘What do you need?’
‘Food and to get to Barcelona.’
So we spend the rest of the day with Momodou. As I walk him back to our apartment I ask him,
‘Do you have faith?’
‘Without faith I would not survive’, he replies.
Born in the Gambia to a Muslim family he went to a Catholic school, knows the Scriptures, reads them and knows Jesus. Highly intelligent, well travelled (he has been to 38 of the US states, Canada, many places in Europe, lived in London and before coming to Spain in Ireland). He is one of those people who had fallen down the cracks through circumstances. Coming to Spain, he explained, was a major mistake. Without the language he had few opportunities for work, then he either lost or had stolen his British passport. Never did he think he would sink this low. So with some food inside him, a few fresh clothes (he did not want many as he had many miles ahead of him to walk), he left a message on facebook for his brother, we prayed with him.
We were overwhelmed with meeting Momodou. We will probably never see him again. A different world to the one we inhabit. A man of faith saying he trusts God to get him back to the UK, and that his part was to come up with a plan… to walk. We got him on the bus in Oliva with a ticket to Valencia, some money for the next ticket to Barcelona. If all went well he would have arrived there last night. From Barcelona he said the next part – walking to France – would be a ‘piece of cake’. There he planned to get work (he has a good command of French) and wanted then to get back to the UK with money so that he could get back to renting property and find work.
Once he was safely on the bus and we were back at home. We sat, having lived through a deeply spiritual encounter. An encounter where in the midst of it we had met Jesus. He was for real, he was not an angel. For him maybe we seemed like angels, but we were for real. In the meeting of the two worlds we all met Jesus.
It was as holy a day as we have experienced. Hugely humbling.
Somehow the small help we were able to provide is vital to our journey. We are trying to learn what it means to do our part. This year we sensed that God is not looking for the new big but for the multiplicity of small things. We cannot change the world. What is God looking for? To make the small acts. We were privileged to being part of Momodou’s journey yesterday. He had worked out that he was 40-50 days walk away from Barcelona. Last night, having verbalised he needed to get to Barcelona, he should have arrived there. He has a long way to travel yet. He needs other small acts of grace along the way.
For the past years we have been engaged with the understanding that God wants to give us leverage points, where we touch not the big reality, but the microcosm of the big (a sign) that points to the bigger reality. We are convinced that all we do is what we can do. Together we do the small… that is the leverage point for the big changes. It is in this way that no cup of cold water can ever be nullified by the raging fire of consumerism.