Thoughts From Steve Campbell

Dear Friends,

Today’s “thought” is the true story of a young girl and the unexpected encounter she had with a Christian man who wanted something for her, and not from her. The man is Steve Campbell, who started a ministry to homeless people in 1986 with his wife Wanda in one of the roughest sections of Columbus, Ohio.

This is just one of many unexpected ministry opportunities he had over a 30-year ministry. It was a seed-planting opportunity. “I sowed the seed,” said the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 3:6-7, “and Apollos watered the seed, but God made it grow.” That’s our calling – to plant seeds. And in this particular case, God alone knows if the seeds Steve planted grew to bear fruit. It is found in his book, “He Went a Little Further.” Enjoy.

The Girl at the Dumpster
It was early Christmas morning, 2:30 a.m. to be exact. I awakened and slipped out of our home – unnoticed. At last, I was alone. Christmas is supposed to be a time of great joy and celebration, but for me, it was a season of turmoil. The nature of our work had brought us a series of threats against my life and acts of vandalism against our property. There had been bomb threats, fires set, windows broken, and pit bulls turned loose in our Children's Ministry area. There was at least one contract out on my life. The police cautioned me that I should not go anywhere alone. But after weeks of feeling restricted, as though I couldn't even cross the street without supervision, I was fed up. I didn't care about the Christmas spirit; I just wanted to be out somewhere on my own.

The bed of my truck was filled with trash and junk I wanted to throw away. With little regard for the risk I was taking by going out alone into an area of the city where there were people who wanted to kill me, I headed toward our ministry center in what was then the notorious Short North District of Columbus. There, behind our storefront, located in a dark and seemingly empty alley known as Wall Street, sat our dumpster.

The dumpster was located in a small alcove. There was enough space behind the dumpster for homeless people to shelter themselves, and many did. I once identified the body of a murder victim found there by the police; a partially clothed homeless man with evident head wounds. It was a dangerous place. Being there alone at night had cost more than one person his life.

As I got out of the truck and started to unload the junk into that dumpster, the scene bore no resemblance to the poem “The Night Before Christmas” – until, “When what to my wondering eyes should appear?” was not “A miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,” but a girl walking out from behind the dumpster.

No older than 16, she was not one of Santa's elves. Her clothing told the story. Even in the early morning darkness I could tell this girl was exceptionally pretty. Yet, the bruises on her face, her discolored lip, and a black eye, told a Christmas story that did not come from the pages of the Bible, or the writer of the famous Christmas poem.

The police have told me that when a child or teenager lands on the streets of Columbus, Ohio, he or she will be recruited by sex traffickers within 4 hours. This child was some trafficker’s slave. Her wounds were the tale of an abusive handler, or a trick gone bad. Attempting to appear as sophisticated and sexy as one can appear while crawling out from behind a dumpster, she inquired, “Mister, would you like me to show you a really good time?” Stunned, I thought, “Oh God, this is somebody's daughter! A child who should be home with loving parents, “all snuggled in her bed,” dreaming of Christmas morning and waiting to get up and open presents! Instead, she’s down here behind a dumpster. She is sleeping in a place where homeless men go to relieve themselves. She's at risk of freezing while waiting for someone, anyone, who will pay her a few dollars for a really good time.

Trying to grasp how far this was from “The night before Christmas,” or “Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright,” I attempted to gather my composure. “Sweetheart,” I said, “sit down on the tailgate of my truck and let's visit for just a minute." I grabbed my emergency blanket that I kept in my truck with which she could warm herself. Eyeing me, the truck bed, and the blanket, she sensed an all-too-familiar danger. Looking at me with fear and mistrust she asked, “What do you want me to do Mister?” What did I want her to do? My mind ran to, “If a police car comes down the alley right now, it won't matter what either one of us is doing. I'm going to jail, and the headlines won't be pretty!” I was also keenly aware of the possibility that a pimp could be lurking in the shadows, waiting to mug me.

This girl had not been on the streets very long. While she bore some of the marks of the life she was leading, the streets had not yet made her hard or calloused. Tears welled in the eyes of both of us as we talked. Her pain went far beyond deep. As one who many years before had spent a Christmas locked away in a drug rehab center, I shared with her from the innermost depths of my heart: “Regardless of where you are at the moment, it's okay. The reason it's okay is because God is waiting to accept you and help you right where you are. Living in the penthouse or the tent house, it doesn't matter. Tucked in a nice warm bed at home or sleeping behind a dumpster in one of the most dangerous alleys in town, either way, God wants to wrap his loving arms around you – and you don't have to do anything except allow him to do that.”

The other great truth I shared with the teenage girl is as important as the first: “God loves you far too much to leave you where you are. If you allow God to lead, he will take you places where you could never go on your own. God has a plan for your life. In his own words, he said it is, “a plan for your good, to give you peace and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

The teenage girl and I talked for 15 minutes. One quarter of one hour on an early Christmas morning. She walked out from behind the dumpster planning to have sex with a stranger and get paid a few dollars. That's not a very good plan for life's journey. Yet, instead of cheap sex with someone she didn't know, she encountered God's love and a chance to set her life on an entirely different path.

That is a serious decision point. Decision points can come from experiences as dramatic as “911” or as simple as a chat with grandpa. Decision points come when we’re moving toward something - a career, a goal, or a significant relationship. The result of decision points can be our walking away from something, perhaps an addiction, a relationship, or even a personal failure. As life-altering and important as decision points can be, they often come when we are least expecting them, and in the most unlikely places. They can even occur at a garbage dumpster located in an inner-city alley at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning.

She allowed me to pray for her. Then, without voicing any decision, she walked off into the wintry night. I never saw her again. The girl at the dumpster was very real. Throughout the years, I have thought of her many times. Even today she haunts my memory. Did she decide to allow God to enter her life, or did she put it off? What became of her? Did she wind up leading a wholesome, happy, fulfilling life? Or did she become just another kid found dead in a back street alley? That's the thing about decision points. No matter what we decide, we have to live with the outcome."

Scripture tells us “Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you, and do this with gentleness and respect.” Would you be prepared? Even if it were at 3:00 in the morning, on Christmas Day? Would you take the time and care enough to share? Just a seed. Just a prayer. Just a word about Jesus who cares. It's an act of love that just might alter the direction of a person’s life.

Living in His All-sufficient Grace, Pastor Jeff