Good Morning,
As some of you know I use to send out a Kickstart Devotional on Monday mornings and try to “kick-start” your week off with a prayer, a thought, or a scripture that would have a positive impact on your walk with the Lord.
Hopefully we can get back on track to sending those out soon. If any of you would ever like to share a short devotion, testimonial, or a story for Kickstart just email it to me Randy@fullthrottlebikerchurch.com. This morning I’d like to share with you all something that happened at Myrtle Beach last week that is still blessing me today.
As you all probably know, the hurricane pretty much busted the Fall Rally up with heavy rain projected thru the busiest days of Bike Week, Thursday thru Saturday. However, I had scheduled a Bike Blessing tent for Monday thru Friday and decided to go down for a few days while the weather was good and see if we could make any new contacts for church planting around Myrtle Beach.
As suspected it was pretty slow on Monday. About lunch time, I noticed a man pull up in a little car and park on the other side of the lot. After sitting in his car for about 10 minutes I noticed him walk into Jammin’ Leather. He returned to his car with some papers and sat there for about another 20 minutes. I looked over and saw his head down and started wondering at this point if he was crying, or praying, or maybe even resting. Wasn’t my business….or so I thought. Then, I heard that quiet, still, voice say, “go speak to him”.
I don’t want you to judge me because here is where I’m going to be real with y’all. I sat there. And I continued to sit there. And I kept thinking, “He don’t really want me to approach this guy”. “He’s probably just looking for a job and don’t need me interfering”. You know…the excuses we give ourselves. After about 15 minutes I then started worrying that he was going to leave before I could get over there because some folks had stopped by the tent. But as soon as they left I made my way over. I immediately saw that he had been crying. He told me that he had left Columbia, SC where his girlfriend of 7 years broke up with him for another guy, and he left with only the belongings in his car. And, that’s where he had been sleeping. It was very obvious he was broken and lonely. I asked him if there was anything I could do to help him and he said “I don’t do well asking people for help”. Obviously I can’t put all the details in here. But Samson was obviously a man that had nothing left to hold on to, except his faith. And that sounded questionable.
WE were able to find him a room. And check this out. When I called the hotel (that Samson had already checked out for cleanliness) the lady changed the rate from $45 a night to $25 a night, after she heard that this was helping him to get out of his car. WE were able to secure him a room for 2 weeks. WE also gave him a Food Lion gift card to get food, and WE filled up his car with gas, so he could continue job hunting.
You might ask, “who is WE?”.
Samson told me that he had never had anyone do anything for him like that. His mother was deceased, and his dad doesn’t have anything to do with him. I asked him why his dad won’t talk to him and he said his dad was a great Christian man and he didn’t like his hair, his tattoos, or the kind of work he does. You see, the only work he has known over the last 10 years was workin in gentleman clubs, bars, and private gigs as security. At one point he told me, “I really don’t consider myself very smart and don’t have a lot of skills to offer”. This broke my heart! Because I saw right thru this man and saw someone that satan had convinced they didn’t have much to offer. Honestly, I could relate a whole lot to him early on in my life.
Under his eye, he had a tattoo of a teardrop. Most of us know that typically this is a prison mark that says you have killed someone. He got the tattoo 20 years earlier when he lost his only son at birth. Not knowing that it had that meaning he has regretted it ever since. I went inside and made a quick phone call. When I came back out I told him he has an appointment next Tuesday at 9am to get the tattoo removed and WE are going to cover it. The price was like $145. He began weeping again because this little tattoo has lost him more work opportunities and caused more judging from others than anything else in his life. He now has hope of moving forward without this mark costing him money and relationships.
WE are the church! And everything that was done for Samson didn’t com from me. It came from us! When I told him about our church and that people tithe and give so that we can help other people, all he could say was “God really heard me when I was praying”. What I didn’t know was that when he was sitting in his car at Jammin Leather, feeling defeated, he was praying that God help him somehow or some way. When I told him that I was there to make contacts to plant a future church he was very happy to help spread the word and do anything he could to help get the church started. And he was very happy when I gave him a FTBC tee shirt and told him he has a whole new family up in central NC.
Here is what I’d love to see; for everyone that reads this go on to Facebook and look up Samson Manoa. Friend request him and drop him a hello or an encouraging word. I promise you, it will mean more than you know.
This is the kind of work I love! Samson rededicated his life to the Lord there in the Jammin Leather parking lot. An old buddy, Mike Harlow and his wife Tonya pulled up shortly thereafter and gave him a Bible. Mike and Tonya were with us early on at Bonnie Kay’s and helped us launch as a church, and now ride with Bikers for Christ. Their timing was right on! I ask that you please lift up our brother Samson. I have this feeling you all will get to meet him soon. Pray that God will give him direction, that he can find a good church home, find a good job, and that he will be a warrior for Christ!
I am so thankful for you all! For your heart and love for our church, and for those that give faithfully to keep it going. This is only one story out of the hundreds where your support comes to life. May God richly bless each and every one of you!
In His Grip,
Preacherman