A Chicago man who is known by the nickname “J” is bringing hope to strangers on busy city sidewalks by telling them they are loved.
For the last four years, this man who is studying to become a pastor walks up to people in grocery aisles and on the streets to share a simple message. He tells them “If nobody else tells you today I love you. You stay in the fight.” How awesome is that!
He wears a camera in his glasses to record these moments. He purposely hides his face because he prays a specific prayer every day. He asks God “don’t let people see me let them see You that dwells in me don’t let them see me let me decrease.” I find that humility so beautiful. We often walk past broken people but he stops to share God’s love.
His college son helped post the videos online and thousands follow his journey. Most people would think he is doing all this for money. But he’s not. TikTok and Instagram keep asking him to make money off his videos but he refuses. He clicks the exit button every day because he knows that getting paid ruins the point.
In a touching clip, he met a dad buying supplies for a five year old at a Walmart in Decatur. He shared his usual message with the man. But then the man revealed something heartbreaking. He had just been diagnosed with cancer. J stopped recording when the man broke down crying and told him “God got you, God got you, He brought you through it He’ll bring you through it.”
It broke my heart when I learned why he does all this. He moved from Kansas City to Chicago two years ago for his children. He has ten kids but only nine are living because he lost his oldest son in 2016. The mother of his children also passed away. He buried friends and deals with PTSD and anxiety every day. He even spent five days in intensive care with congestive heart failure.
After facing so much grief and mental struggles you would expect him to just give up. Instead his own pain inspired his mission. He started wondering what other people are going through and decided to be the light.
We can learn a profound lesson from this street ministry. We do not need a building or an organization to share Christ’s love. Each one of us can be a ministry when we try to see others around us. Look at this man, he doesn’t preach a sermon and he doesn’t even have a congregation, what he says is simple and directly from his heart. That’s all we need to share God’s love with others. A heart that aches for others and a hunger to serve God. If we take a small step today, the Holy Spirit will guide us and we’ll see God working through us in the lives of the people we interact with.
Please keep this man of God in your prayers.
WATCH: Chicago Man Tells Complete Strangers He Loves Them And Their Reactions Are Priceless
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