Brokenness to Beauty

      Well, here we are. We're over the half way point and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with all I have seen and heard here at Sidewalks. God has pushed down walls that I thought would never fall from around me. I've prayed with people in the streets, eaten dinner with the poor and homeless, and even taken a liking to the city (quite a stretch for this farm girl). In the city, I've seen so much ruin and pain, but I've also been able to see more than ever how God is able to transform brokenness to beauty.

I've spent many of my days here in Lancaster at Water Street Health Services. This free health clinic has been a daily example of God's grace overtaking devastation. The clinic serves individuals who have no insurance and fall within 200% of the poverty level (that's about $44,700 for a family of 4). Many of these people are unemployed, with no money for any needed medical care. They have diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, poor eye sight, arthritis, broken bones...the list goes on. Medications cost far too much for someone who has trouble even buying food or paying rent. Sickness itself is brokenness, but sickness without hope of relief is even worse.

I see brokenness walk into the clinic every day. Like the man who wears the same thin, dirty button-down shirt every day, carrying his medicine in a little plastic bag. Or the man who comes in with black-and-blue eyes and a limp because of domestic abuse. Or the person who is living in her car and has nothing, not a dollar in her pocket. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The stories of these people rip into my heart every day, but God's love brings these broken pieces together.

The clinic bases it's care on the love of Christ. The volunteer nurses and doctors begin each day with prayer, handing the care of the incoming patients over to Him. There is no rushing from patient to patient or ignorance of the patient's need to simply talk to someone. The clinic is able to fill prescriptions of medications that could cost hundreds of dollars, but are free to the patient. All of the medications and supplies are a result of donations and grants, from glucometers to Tylenol to knee braces.

Jesus is at the heart of this clinic and all those who volunteer their time to serve the poor. The brokenness in each individual is overcome little by little as the clinic serves them. I see it in the recovering addict who hasn't had cocaine in over a year. I see it in the dirty, bruised man who gets the eye glasses he needs to read. I see it in the Type 1 Diabetic who receives all the supplies she needs to manage her disease. God is working. He is healing. And often we need to see the brokenness to recognize His beauty.