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January 15, 2009

I've seen God work in mysterious ways at the Women's Drop-in Centre for the last year and a half, but I truly believe I saw a picture of Jesus this week

Over Christmas, Union Gospel Mission was so blessed with the generosity of its donors and we received hundreds of bags of donations of clothing and shoes, blankets and jackets. We opened the New Year with a clothing giveaway at the Women's Drop-in Centre, with the help of our Men's Outreach team and invited a long line of men and women to come and get some new items and to find a new outfit for themselves.Amongst the 200 or so people that came to the centre last Monday, there was one that stood out. She was not much older than a teenager, but she had aged a lot from the effects of her addiction. This little lady was flailing about and could not sit still. She was obviously coming down from a high, and she could not formulate a sentence except to say that she was "trying to be a good girl."

She sounded like she was 5 years old. Amidst the chaos, clothes flying here and there, excitement about people finding treasures, this young woman sat down and rocked herself back and forth. I was keeping an eye on her, but before I could get to her, one of our Outreach team reached out to her first. Mike Jobin, a faithful man, picked up this woman as she was slinking down to the floor and asked her if he could pray for her.

She started to weep as he started to speak words of God's love into her heart. He started to pray for protection over her as she battled the destructive forces around and inside her. And as I watched her fall to pieces in his loving arms, I pictured Jesus, doing the same with me and you. I watched the rain fall heavily outside the windows, washing away the dirty snow, just as Jesus makes us "white as snow." And I thanked God for his grace and mercy for us all, no matter what we've done, he still receives us into his loving arms and washes us clean.

This woman came back for a cup of tea the next afternoon, shy, but proud. She thanked us for the prayers and said that she was clean today. As for tomorrow, with God's help, one day at a time.