One Story

From the streets to a place of love, safety

Ross prays for you when he goes to sleep at night – in his own bed, under a sturdy roof, in his sister’s apartment 15 miles outside St. Louis. Thanks to hearts beating with the love of Jesus Christ, hearts right here at Christ Fellowship, he’s home with people who love him and had been trying to find him. For years.

Not long ago, Ross’s home was a 6-by-6-foot dome tent in the woods south of Okeechobee Boulevard in downtown West Palm Beach. He shared the tiny space with another homeless guy, but they could only go there after dark, so they wouldn’t get caught by the police. They had to sleep in their clothes, because you never knew when somebody might show up looking for a fight.

During the day, Ross traveled between places where he could get a free shower, coffee, a doughnut – or city parks and the library where he could find shade or air conditioning. Then one afternoon, he came for one of the meals that Christ Fellowship is helping provide to the homeless in partnership with First Presbyterian. He happened to sit down across the table from CityPlace Campus Pastor John Poitevent.

"We started talking about things," Ross says, and soon the subject of family came up. It had been seven or eight years since Ross had talked with his sister Anne. Though he missed her, he had no idea how to find her after so long.

But John did. He copied down all the information Ross had – Anne’s work history, maiden name, married names – and went online. A computer search led him to a nurse’s association in Missouri, and that led him to Anne.

She was thrilled. Anne and another brother had been trying for years to find Ross. "I was just overjoyed to know he was all right," she says.

Conversation, and then an invitation

John arranged for Ross and Anne to talk, and Anne eventually suggested her brother come home to the St. Louis area. That’s when things started to happen. Fast.

Someone from a Christ Fellowship Small Group donated frequent flyer miles to cover his airfare. Someone else provided a duffle bag with toiletries, and others gave money for Ross to get some new clothes. Only a few days after they’d met, Pastor John and a small group of people from the CityPlace Campus put Ross on a 5 p.m. flight to St. Louis.

It was a terrible flight, Ross recalls, made worse by his worries about how he’d be received after so long. As it turned out, "everybody’s been wonderful to me," he says now. "It’s been just like I never left."

At last, a paycheck

And Ross, who hasn’t been able to work for more than a year because of a painful skin condition, now has a job in a warehouse.

"I drew my first paycheck when I was 13 years old," says Ross, now 53. "That year I didn’t work was the first year since then that I didn’t make any money. I was so depressed. Now I’ve opened a bank account, I bought a bicycle, and I have practically everything I need."

"Ross has done really well since he’s gotten home," says Anne. "He’s a hard worker, and he’s getting back on his feet." She really wants the people of Christ Fellowship to hear her when she thanks them for helping her brother. "Ross would still be out there lost," she says. "Now he’s safe at home."

Pastor John puts it this way: "Our investment in his life renewed his hope that God has a plan for his life, which gives him the faith to make the right choices. When you don’t think that God has a purpose and a plan for you, why not sleep in a tent in the woods?"

A gift from God

Ross knows it has all been a gift from God – finding his family, getting a job, having a home. "To make it come together so fast, so complete, it just couldn’t be anything but a miracle," he says. "It has to be His work."

He thinks often of the people at Christ Fellowship. "I go to sleep and I pray for their safety and their well-being," Ross says. "I hope God keeps working through them, because He actually used them to fulfill His wishes for me.

"I have a whole new attitude on life. I love getting up in the morning and going to work. I’m just so thankful to have what I have." Then Ross gets quiet, and a tiny bit of emotion creeps in, thinking how so many people don’t even have the basics – "people I know and love there in West Palm who are still on the streets."

Ross doesn’t have to say it for you to take his meaning: Please don’t forget my friends, who still need homes, and food, and love.

Our CityPlace Campus has expanded its homeless feeding to the first three Mondays of each month, teaming with First Presbyterian Church of West Palm Beach. You can sign up to help at the CityPlace Campus Welcome Center, by e-mailing or by calling 561.799.7636.