08/25/2022
To those who came yesterday and found we were closed. I apologize. After arriving to work, I discovered a homeless man sleeping at our back door. After offering him some food and a long conversation, I found out he was stranded in Somerset, he knew no one in town and was walking aimlessly with nowhere to go. I determined the best thing I could do for him was to give a ride back to the homeless shelter he had come from in Crossville Tennessee 2 1/2 hrs away. It was the right thing to do so, I closed the doors to the Market and we set off. He and I had a long conversation about God, life, and other things, it was a fascinating conversation and I believe a very fruitful one! Upon almost reaching our destination I decided to feed him one more time before separating ways. I wanted to leave him in a better situation than I found him in. So, we stopped at a new restaurant I had never heard of for some burgers. After walking in, I noticed they were conducting job interviews on the spot. I inquired about jobs and they immediately sat with my new friend for an interview and told him that if he came back tomorrow, they would hire him. He was filled with excitement but, he was still worried that the shelter wouldn’t let him back in or how he would commute to this new job. So, we continued to the facility 2.5 miles away. There, we were made to wait for a man named Frank who would have to authorize his re admittance. While waiting for Frank, a public transport dropped a woman off at the facility. I inquired about the route and found it travels directly get past the shelter and restaurant every hour. It was $1 per day. So, I gave him the $3 I had in my pocket and told him it was at least enough to get there for his second interview and first two days of work. His eyes filled with tears, as he was so grateful. Frank arrived some 30 minutes later and was very happy to see this young man had made it back and welcomed him in. With that, we exchanged #’s, I told him he has a real friend in this world, and we parted ways. I would like to praise God for putting this man in my life and me in his! Please pray for my new friend Martino, that his life will be back on track, and that knowing with God in his life, anything is possible!
Oh, and as long as God doesn’t throw us any curve balls today, we will be open 11-6.
Thank you all!