A Journey of Hope on a Rescue Mission

By Br. Anthony Kote-Witah, OFM Cap.

Rescue missions started from Moses and on to us today. God mandated Moses to recue the Israelites from the slavery of Pharaoh. God also commission His Son Jesus to rescue and redeem humanity. So the journey of hope on a rescue mission continues to stay on. A man drove into the Capuchin Soup Kitchen (CSK) parking lot and asked his girlfriend to unload all her luggage and pushed her out of his vehicle. Two Soup Kitchen security guards quickly showed up on the scene while they were both yelling at each other. It was discovered that the guy was originally from Detroit but he relocated to Texas where he found his girlfriend. Staying together here in Detroit was hard because of the abuse, almost the point of death, given to the lady. He ended up dropping her at the CSK and left her stranded because she didn’t know anybody here in Detroit. The security guards bought the poor woman into the Soup Kitchen. She was in bad shape, and the CSK staff provided her with a shower, change of clothes and gave her food to eat.

This is really a concern for rescue because this woman was quite vulnerable under the circumstances, she drew the attention and concern of the staff. This challenging circumstance creates a dilemma. The staff immediately summoned an emergency staff meeting in which I was also invited to share my thoughts. The female staff informed us that the lady in question is new to the city but because they both recently moved from Texas, she would love to return back to Texas. Then we came up with two possible plans to get this woman back to Texas. Plan A was to put her in a shelter and let the whole situation settle down somewhat. But based on our brief encounter with the man, we decided on plan B:  that is to get her a Greyhound bus ticket to Texas. We all felt that this man was a scam artist, so getting her the bus ticket seemed the best option. So the staff and I drove her to the Greyhound bus station, bought the ticket, held onto the receipt and we accompanied her to the bus and gave her some cash for snacks before we left her. 

Interestingly, before she boarded the bus she asked for prayers; we prayed with her for safe journey and for God’s mercy. On our return to CSK, the staff and I thanked God for the surprise. And so we should always be ready and available for God’s “surprise missions!” We were all overjoyed as we acclaimed: our first missionary journey is accomplished! This was an emotional experience and yet we stepped into this woman’s shoes. This shocking incident was a profound experiential encounter that I have now stored in my pastoral “tool box.” We see similar situations like this lady around us daily. Then what?  As Christ’s rescue mission team, we are invited to be always ready to help those in danger with a merciful compassionate loving kindness as we engage in unforeseen circumstances. I deeply appreciate all the staff for the opportunity to be God’s rescue instrument of hope. 

Peace and good,

Br. Anthony