Dear Friends,
At a recent pastors and wives retreat I met a somewhat gruff looking elderly gentleman named Steve Campbell. He and his wife Wanda had started a ministry called “The Better Way” in one of the worst neighborhoods (the crime-ridden Short North District) in Columbus, Ohio, in 1986. They ministered there for 32 years, reaching out to the homeless, working poor, runaway teens, prostitutes, gang members, drug addicts, pimps, and anyone in the neighborhood who would listen, or come in for a meal or help.
They handed the ministry over to others in 2018, and last year Steve wrote a book entitled, “He went a Little Bit Farther.” (I highly recommend reading it!) The title is based on Matthew 26:39, where Jesus told his disciples to wait and pray while he went on ahead, “a little bit farther.” It’s one of Steve and Wanda’s life-verses, which he uses to encourage others to go out of their way, or ‘go the extra mile,’ in serving others in Jesus’s name, just as Jesus went as far 'above and beyond' as one possibly could in saving us.
As a couple who exudes humility and grace, I offer below one of the 12 true stories (miraculous life encounters) he and his wife experienced on the streets of Columbus between 1986 and 2018. Though up there in age, Steve is still doing ministry -- visiting all the 26 prisons in Ohio, telling his stories, sharing the Gospel, and seeing much fruit. Enjoy.
A Hooker for Christmas
A phone call at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve is never a good thing. It is usually a sign that someone needs help. “Steve, this is Lisa. I'm in trouble! You gotta come get me!” My first thought was, “Come on Lisa! It's 11:30 on Christmas Eve! The ministry is closed for Christmas. I'm finally home enjoying my family. Why should your bad planning be my emergency?”
The thought of Lisa being in trouble did not come as a surprise. Lisa was pretty in a streetwise sort of way. She was a friend of former gang leaders we had led to Christ. Their encouragement had led the 16-year-old prostitute to our High Street storefront. She came to us directly from jail. Still a teenager, she already had a long string of run-ins with the law, and she was no stranger to the court system. Masked behind her impish smile was a back-alley tough addict and a street-smart hooker.
Lisa was suspicious of everyone and everything. She didn't give her trust to anyone, and she would do anything for a price. Our first attempts to befriend Lisa were met with cautious resistance. The notion that we cared about her, let alone that God cared about her, was beyond her comprehension. She needed help, but she didn't want to let anyone get close enough to hurt her. Like any victim of childhood sexual abuse, she had already experienced enough hurt to last a lifetime.
In time, my wife Wanda and the other ladies who worked with us managed to gently break through the wall Lisa had built around her life. One night, she prayed, asking Jesus to forgive her wrongdoings and to help her straighten out the mess that was her life. As Lisa left that night, Wanda encouraged her. “Lisa, anytime you are in trouble, call on the name of Jesus and he will help you.”
Neither had any idea how important that advice would prove to be. Unknown to us, Lisa had stiffed a drug dealer for $2,000 worth of cocaine. Not exactly a great career move for anyone! On Christmas Eve, the irate dealer caught up with Lisa on the streets of the Short North District. He abducted her at gunpoint, forced her into his car, and headed down the interstate to a place where he planned to shoot her and dump her body.
With the car racing down the highway, Lisa suddenly remembered Wanda's counsel: “Lisa, anytime you are in trouble, call on the name of Jesus and he will help you.” Without a second thought she screamed,” Jesus! Help me!,” forced the door open, and jumped out of the speeding car. She landed on the berm, tumbled head over heels, and rolled to the bottom of the embankment. Her clothing was torn, but Lisa suffered only a few bumps and bruises that would serve as a reminder not to do that again.
Sticking to back streets and alleyways, she managed to work her way back to a crack house on Buttles Avenue, from which she called me on Christmas Eve and said, “Steve, this is Lisa. I'm in trouble! You gotta come get me!” It was not long before my friend Jeff and I were picking up Lisa at the Buttles Avenue crack house. Minutes after we sped away with her, the enraged drug dealer showed up on Buttles and shot someone he mistook for Lisa.
Not having a game plan for this type of situation, I took Lisa to my house. We didn't have a spare bedroom, so Lisa slept on the floor of our living room. The scene was a little comical when our teenage son woke up Christmas morning only to discover a blonde, teenage hooker asleep under the Christmas tree. For a minute, I was almost, “Dad of the Year.”
The sobering reality was that there was a killer who wanted this girl, and he knew I had her. We were not quite certain how much danger we faced. We called on some trusted friends who were willing to “go on a little farther,” giving up part of their Christmas Day in order to help us. Moving Lisa from family to family and home to home for several days, we managed to keep her safe from harm.
With some work, we found a long-term home for Lisa — a place where she could move forward in the new life that was God's Christmas gift to her. The last time she called me, that new Lisa was on the other end, and this time the conversation began, “Steve, this is Lisa. I’m not in trouble. Thank you." That phone call at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve turned out not to be such a bad inconvenience after all.
Yes, the phone call from Lisa was an inconvenience. God's plan usually calls for a change in our plans: a dinner date broken, a trip to some place we would rather not go, a reallocation of money we wanted to use for something fun. He doesn't seem to mind inconveniencing us. Following Jesus often calls us to ‘go a little farther…”
No need to add anything to that!
In His Grace, Pastor Jeff
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