In November of 2014, one of the early church members of Wayside Christian Fellowship came to me and reported that she had happened upon a homeless couple in the city park. “What do we do?” was her question to me. We were NOT ready to open yet. We were trying to get the plumbing installed to have two updated bathrooms. One needed a shower/tub unit installed. The other needed everything–water lines, drain lines, a toilet and a sink. A group of plumbers from a local contractor was working hard. They were even helping lay plywood and flooring to get things rolling. On November 24, we took in one man who had absolutely nowhere else to go. We weren’t ready, but we weren’t sure we would every truly be ready. We just had to make a start. By the end of 2014, we gave shelter to 25 people! We had a “Caretaker,” a man who stayed overnight in the shelter in exchange for free room and board. He held this spot for 8 months–until the load of the work required that he get some rest. Jo then stepped in to cover the shelter–sometimes day and night for days on end. Colleen realized that she would need to give more time and attention to the work of the shelter, and cut back to part-time work to try to devote more time. Eventually even that part-time “paying” job had to be abandoned. It was time to be “all in.”

The Shelter

A few months ago, Colleen and I were approached by a wonderful lady who was representing Scipio United Methodist Church and a new ministry she was involved in beginning. We talked for a couple hours and even after she left, both of us were still basking in the wonders of her faith, her energy and her optimism.
Last evening, Colleen was invited to speak at “The Shelter”. We met the Pastor and his wife, ate a great meal, listened to a wonderful band, and then it was time for Colleen to talk. She started out reading the Scripture from Matthew 25: 31-46.
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man[a] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations[b] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[d] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
This Scripture relates directly to the opening of Wayside Christian Fellowship and Wayside Inn. We had talked a lot about opening a church in North Vernon, Indiana…. but that is all we did. The winter of 2013 was absolutely brutal here. We talked about where are people staying to get out of the freezing weather? Where are they getting food to eat? What about the children??? They are the innocent victims!
Knowing what happened to the last homeless shelter, (they closed several years ago) and thinking that would create an uphill battle for us opening another one, even though we knew deep in our hearts that is exactly what God was calling us to do. We did a lot of talking, a lot of soul searching, a lot of talking with others who were interested in the community, but still we hesitated, until we no longer could.
We came into some unexpected funds. It was mid March of 2014 when this happened. I remember looking at Colleen and saying “It’s now or never”. If we are going to do this, let’s do it!
We cruised around downtown to see what was available to rent. There were several places. I wrote down the addresses and phone numbers and started making calls the next day. We looked at several, some of which we didn’t know were available. Not one of them fit the vision we had.
Finally, there was only one building left. I had peaked through the window and thought to myself “what a dump”. It was next to a railroad track and looking through the window, there was this hideous red carpet throughout the only room we could see into. I finally broke down and scheduled a walk through. As we stood just inside the doors, it was even worse than I expected. I was really trying to keep an open mind.
Then we started walking towards the back of the building. We saw 2 bathrooms, one had plumbing for where a toilet and a sink would go; the other had a toilet and a shower “installed” through the wall into the ‘kitchen’. No hot water at all! Then we saw a couple of smaller rooms and we could envision a laundry area and a caretaker’s room. Then we walked up 5 stairs and the owner opened the door and here was another huge room. The room was filled with all kinds of trash, it stunk and the roof was providing a constant drip from the ceiling. The owner started talking about the repairs he would do on the roof. Colleen and I looked at each other and we knew… THIS WAS IT!!!! I told the owner I’d write him a check right then. He laughed and said he could have a lease available the next day. So, we met him the next evening, gave him a check and we got the keys.
And the adventure begins!
We’ve come a long way since that chilly day in March. We spent the next few weeks doing what we could to make the building habitable. We concentrated on the big front room. Painted the paneling, bought some pews that one of the churches had put away, did what we could with the bathroom. We held our first service on April 20, 2014, Easter Sunday.
That’s enough reminiscing. Back to The Shelter…
Colleen talked a little about how the shelter got started, the challenges and the highlights. She talked about how many people have stayed with us and how many nights of stay, how many food boxes we’ve distributed and how many people were helped by FLASH.
Her talk was well received by the audience. She closed with a heartfelt prayer and the guys started playing again. Several people came up to talk with us about Wayside Inn and then we had a wonderful conversation with the Pastor.