Steven Still
What does a 13-year old boy do when he's homeless and going down the road to alcoholism and feels worthless and that nobody cares about him? Sojourn member Steven Still was that boy, a runaway in Atlanta who found his only hope in a homeless man named "Shadow".
"He showed me how to survive on the street but more importantly he cared enough to help me out," recalled Steven.
The example Shadow set so many years ago of loving your fellow man has guided Steven's life ever since. And even though his struggles with addiction continued for many years Steven has found a life of sobriety and now helps others the way Shadow helped him.
"I knew about Scripture my whole life," commented Steven. "I read the words but for so long I didn't understand they really meant what they said."
It took the actions of people like Shadow and many others like his wife, Barbara who gave him unconditional love, to make him open his eyes to the reality of Scripture. And now he lives out that reality every Friday night as the coordinator of "Nightwatch" for the Salvation Army. Nightwatch ministers to Greensboro's homeless population with food, clothing, prayer and most importantly, a human touch.
"It's funny," laughs Steven, a self-described "serious guy". "When I go out and talk with those folks they test me, they use language only other homeless people really understand. When they realize I've been there and understand their life they'll open up and talk."
And what does he tell them?
"I tell them that God truly does love them. I tell them I'm no better than them and if I could kick addiction and get off the street so can they."
"The toughest thing is leaving them after we start talking," says Steven with a tear in his eye. "I want them to realize somebody really does care about them so it's just hard to leave?.but they know I'm coming back."
And so after so many years of struggling to understand God's message of love and forgiveness, Steven Still has come full circle. Now he's the one spreading the message and living God's word every day.
"Before Saul became Paul God took away his vision for three days," beams Steven. "When they finally opened again he saw the truth of the Lord. I feel like I was blind for so many years, but now I finally see."
Written by Chris Hill