Echoing Jesus’ call
“Have you friends?”
“No, no friends in England.”
It’s Sunday morning, a new visitor has arrived at the drop-in (we call it the Bridge because we want it to be a bridge from loneliness to friendship, hopelessness to hope, faith and a future). The visitor pulls his phone from his pocket and shows me some grainy, grey footage he has taken of himself, lying uncomfortably in the darkness in the back of a lorry, in transit from the Middle East.
He looks around at the rough faces of many of our Bridge visitors: hard times, hard lives, sometimes years of alcohol abuse, are etched on the contours of their worn faces. Others are just passing through, seeking work and finding the UK is not the land of opportunity they had hoped for or perhaps have failed asylum claims. In broken English my friend explains, “My country ... nothing like this ... it's go, go, go.”
Language is limited. Our shared words are few. I attempt to explain: “With Jesus it’s ‘come, come, come'. That’s what makes the difference.”
I think he understood.
My friendless friend may well get moved on to another city. “Find the Christians,” I said! “Find a church where they say, ‘come, come, come!’”
Saying ‘come, come, come’ is echoing the Master, after all: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We know, too, Jesus has many friends. My friendless friend, we can be yours too!
