*Did you see the story in the Baptist Message about the two seminary students in New Orleans, who stopped at a local grocery store? It happened years ago, and one of the students was Don Wilton.
*In the store they noticed a scruffy looking couple with a baby dressed only in a diaper. God’s Spirit moved the students in a special way, and they decided to open their wallets and give the family all the money they had.
*Don rolled up more than $200 in bills, then he sneaked up behind the barefoot man, stuck the roll in the man’s back and told him not to turn around.
*With a gentle voice, Don spoke to the frightened man and said, “My friend, you don’t know who I am. But I want you to know that there is another man and I here tonight who love the Lord Jesus Christ. He has done something for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Because of Him, we just want to give to you something from the two of us.”
*The man tearfully received the money and Wilton thought he would never see him again. But years later, Dr. Wilton was teaching at the seminary. One of the new students recognized his distinctive South African voice. It was the man from the store. He told Dr. Wilton that they were desperate that night -- So desperate that they had driven from their home in Alabama to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge in New Orleans.
*They planned to take their baby with them, but they decided to feed her first, so she at least would die with a full stomach. That’s why they stopped at the store. But they were so encouraged by the kind words of the man who would not let them see his face, they changed their minds. That act of kindness had set the man on a path to salvation and call to ministry.
(Baptist Message - June 27, 2002