“Would you like a breakfast burrito?” I cheerfully asked as a tall, husky African American man opened the door.
It was Monday morning, and we, along with 60 other Southern students, had just finished scrubbing eleven floors worth of doors at Patten Towers for community service day. Now Taylor Paris and I were passing out the leftover burritos from breakfast. A resident down on ninth floor had told us to come up to this particular room.
He peered out at my friend and I, nonplussed at our sunshiny greeting “What’s in ‘um?” was his gruff reply as he hesitatingly took the two burrito’s I offered him. Taylor and I proceeded to attempt to convince him of the wonders of hash browns, eggs, and gravy all covered by a tortilla.
“Well, maybe I can put some black pepper on it.” He looked at us for a pregnant ten seconds, and then opened the door a bit wider. “Come in” he commanded and then, without waiting, turned around and headed back inside. Taylor and I looked at each other and then back at the door. Shrugging our shoulders, we followed.
Over the next hour, we got acquainted with our new friend. His name was Winford and he rarely left his apartment. “I just don’t do people” he emphatically exclaimed. “I’m perfectly content bein’ by myself, listenin’ to my own music and doin’ my own thing. I don’t need no one else.” He had heard about the Christmas Party and other events that Southern had hosted but he wasn’t about to leave his apartment for any of it.
He proceeded to tell us, between sips of beer, that he doesn’t like visitors and he is glad that he lives in the corner of the building because it is a lot quieter. He won’t even leave the house for food! He depends on a few friends and family to bring him everything.
Just when I was beginning to wonder if he was getting tired of his most recent visitors, he decided to make us some Black Cherry cool-aid. I was shocked! He liked us! He eventually told us that in his fourteen months of living at Patten, we were his favorite visitors. He gave us permission to visit or call him once a month. That doesn’t sound like much but to him it was a major risk.
After praying with Winford and sharing a few Bible texts, we went on our way but I could not stop thinking about how amazing God is! We would have never gone to that room if it had not been for a number of different things. And if we hadn’t, Winford would have never been told about the fathomless love of Christ. We run into people each day here at Southern who need to hear about God’s love just as much as Winford did. Are you letting yourself be used by the Holy Spirit? Are you telling others about Christ?
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