It began with a woman named Sarah who walked past a place she walked past all the time. For some reason though, this time she noticed something different, something she hadn’t noticed before, but something that had been there every time she walked by. Sarah noticed kids. Not just kids. Sarah noticed street kids. In their tattered jeans, baggy sweat shirts, worn out hack y sacks, and dirty back packs. She saw them sitting around on park benches. Saw them talking and jamming. Saw them playing hack y-sack. But Sarah saw more than that.
She saw their need.
There was a problem though. Sarah wasn’t rich. She didn’t have a lot of money. She wasn’t gifted or talented. She didn’t have much to give. She didn’t have anything to identify with them.
But she did have Jesus.
After that day, after walking by that same square, Sarah decided to do something about their need. So she did.
She baked chocolate chip cookies.
No one says no to chocolate chip cookies, she thought. So she baked chocolate chip cookies, packed them in zip lock baggies, and piled them in a box.
When Sarah returned to the square, she didn’t walk past anymore. Instead, she handed out her chocolate chip cookies. What she had thought was true. The kids didn’t say no. They eyed her. They gave her looks. They even asked who she thought she was showing up there. Sarah wasn’t afraid. She just told them, “I’m here to give you cookies.”
Every week Sarah would take several days to give homemade chocolate chip cookies to the street kids. Every week for almost two years. At first, no one wanted to pay any attention to her. They took the cookies and went on their way. But after some time, the street kids started paying attention. They started asking her questions, and she started answering them. Soon, the street kids and Sarah would have conversations. Soon, the street kids asked Sarah why she did what she did. And Sarah explained. “Jesus wants to be here. So He sent me.”
(Sarah is a private citizen Revolutionary Media hopes to profile in their upcoming documentary series, Burnside Underground, addressing the stories of street kids and ways ordinary people can reach out to them. Part II and III of this story coming soon.)
Written by Christina N Dickson
Director of Revolutionary Media