What You See Is Not. What You Discover...Is.

While I was living in Vancouver in the Summer of 2010, I stayed with an incredible family. The Dad, Haupi, was a pastor, and I had worked with him my very first summer. He impacted me greatly that first year and even more so this last trip. In the morning, he would sometimes have a cup of coffee waiting for me when I came up from the basement and we would sit and talk. There are two things that will always stand out in my mind that he taught me. "Trust, but Verify" and "What You See Is Not, What You Discover Is."

Today I want to talk about the second. "What you see is not. What you discover is." It kind of goes along with the old phrase, "You can't judge a book by it's cover."

When I was walking the streets of inner city Vancouver at night, handing out snacks and drinks, I automatically looked for the people who LOOKED like they needed it the most. There was one night i particular that I will never forget and forever changed how I look at people.

One night, my team mate Katie and I were walking in the Oppenheimer Park Area of Downtown East Vancouver.  It had been a great night of meeting people and serving those we came into contact with.  We only had a few minutes before we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the team to head home.  We had 1 donut and 1 cup of juice left and we were "Looking" to give away our last serving.  It was dark and really not a great time for 2 young females to be out alone so we stayed near the park where there was lighting.  As we approached a man on a park bench, I squinted to see if he "looked" like he was in need. The elderly man was dressed in pretty nice clothes, and honestly looked kind of out of place to be quite honest.  If I were to try to find a picture to go with it the following is the best way to explain it.

We were looking for someone like this:

And the man we actually saw sitting on the park bench looked more like this (his back was actually to us):

I literally thought, "Oh there is someone who needs it more than that man. He looks like he could go buy it himself."  So we proceeded to walk past the man.  That's when I "felt" the presence of the Lord and "heard" his voice more clearly than I ever have in my life.  Just as I had walked by, I was stopped dead in my tracks and God said to me, "Morgan, turn around right now and offer that to the man on the bench."

I didn't really understand why, but Katie and I turned around and went over to the man who we later learned was Joe.

Me: "Hi, my name is Morgan, this is Katie, and we just wanted to know if you'd like to have a snack?"
Joe: "Yes, thank you." (we sat down on the bench next to him)
Me:  "How are you doing tonight?"
Joe: "Well, not too good actually. I was actually on my way back to my apartment (he pointed to a nearby building), to kill myself, and someone I know saw me and told to sit on this park bench for 5 minutes and they would be right back."

I could not believe what I was hearing and felt totally unprepared for how the conversation would go. I remember turning to Katie and saying, "Pray, just pray."

As we talked to Joe, we found out that he used to be a preacher.  He had made some really poor choices at a point in his life and the consequences of them were that his family left him. He had a wife and kids and was a pastor to a church body. I never found out exactly what he did, but it was the start of a downward spiral. He lived in a tiny one room efficiency apartment and apparently had been involved in some bad situations. Pimps were using his room to pimp out women as well as do drug deals. This man was kind as could be. Very much a grandfather type. Feeling as though no one loved him and thinking he had nothing to live for, he had hung a rope in his room that night and was going to end his life. It was in those 5 minutes of him waiting for a friend, that God crossed our paths. Two young college girls from the Southeast and a man who seemingly looked put together on the outside, but completely broken on the inside.

To be honest with you, I have no idea what I said that night, because it was not my words. I was simply a vessel that God spoke through to Joe. I know I spoke hope to him. Reminded him of the Love of a Father that he knew deep inside but was so ashamed that he had hidden from Him.  I pleaded with Joe to not do anything that night. We prayed with him and gave him the phone number of the church we were serving with, got his information and told him we would check up on him in the coming days.

The next day when we got to the church there was a message on the answering machine...it was Joe. He had called immediately following our visit together and said the following: "Hi, this is Joe, I just wanted to let the pastor know that God sent 2 guardian angels from your church last night to save my life."

Joe was alive and he had made contact. In the following weeks, we visited Joe a few more times and before I left Canada, Haupi went with me to visit him in his apartment. We stocked his kitchen with food staples to get him by for awhile.  Joe actually went to church a few times after I left. I had given him our home phone number in Savannah so he could let me know how he was doing. He called several times in the following months.  One night, when I was not home to chat, he ended up talking to my mom for hours. He shared with her some amazing ideas he had over the years. My mom said he was an absolutely brilliant man.


We eventually lost contact. His phone was cut of and the next time I was there, he was no longer in the apartment. I had peace though, that God had intervened in his life in a way that Joe would hopefully never forget.  And I will never ever ever ever forget that night and what God taught me through it.

Sometimes the most put together person on the outside is the most broken on the inside.
Sometimes the person who looks the poorest on the outside is the richest person in Joy and Spirit.

And most importantly, "What you see is not. What you discover...IS."

Who are you walking past today because of presumptions?
I challenge everyone to take the time to discover what is beneath the exterior.
You might be VERY surprised at what you find.
It may be an opportunity to help someone RE-discover themselves.

There are "Joe's" in all of our lives and maybe we just need to say, "How are you doing today?"

Thank You Haupi, for instilling this truth in me.

For His Renown,
Morgan