Tales of Hong Kong | Conversations with a homeless man

It was a perfect storm of good timing, serendipitous geography, and God’s plan. My friend and I were walking home when we met him, Ah Wah. He was down on his knees in the middle of a walkway, head bowed down, hands clutching a tall bottle of alcohol. He looked sad, distraught. I dropped a ten dollar bill in his bowl and started to moved on. My friend however, stopped me in my tracks. ‘Let’s pray for him,’ she said. I was hesitant at first, to say the least — he didn’t look like he wanted to talk — but went ahead anyways.

‘Hello, is it okay if my friend here prays for you?’ I ask. But what was meant to be a quick prayer turned into a full blown conversation. Sitting on the concrete floor, we swapped stories of our background and past jobs. I learned his name, that he used to work as a waiter, bartender — whatever job he could get his hands on. I learnt that his family turned his back on him because of a youth dotted with prison stays and falling victim to the allure of drugs one too many times. We asked him if he knows he’s loved by God, and he told us he found God in church in 1993

‘I know I am a son of God,’ Ah Wah says, ‘but I’m also a sinner. I’m not worthy of church.’

Hearing that broke my heart. Churches should be a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. We’re doing something wrong if the broken and needy don’t feel welcome inside our doors.

Ah Wah spared us the details but something happened in his church that left him reeling with hurt even now, over twenty years later. All I could understand through his incoherent speech is that it had something to do with drugs, police were involved and the pastors left town shortly after. He hasn’t been back to church since. ‘I’ve done many bad things in my past but you know, when I’m sad, I always go to a corner and pray to God.’

‘You know, I believe in 緣分 (fate),’ he continues. ‘Fate lead us to this moment of meeting. Most people just walk on by, trying to avoid as much contact with me as possible.’

Thinking back on my initial hesitation to approach him, guilt nudged at me. But still, I smiled at him. ‘Well, now that we know each other’s name and stories, I believe we’re now officially friends, Ah Wah. And as your friend, I would like to officially invite you to my church this Sunday. God loves you so much that he orchestrated our meeting to tell you that He cares about you. You matter to Him.’ My friend prayed for him as I googled searched the Chinese name and address of our church to write down for him on a piece of paper. The Holy Spirit moved and broke language barriers, he started sobbing as she prayed words of affirmation over him. We left him promising that we’ll see each other again, after all, we’re fated to each other now. It’s God’s plan.