Simple Ministry

by Caleb Anderson, Outreach Coordinator

Is there a story that encapsulates my six years at Emmaus?

Adam’s story comes to mind. Emmaus had known Adam for years on outreach, since well before I started showing up out there. He had developed some pretty cool relationships with various Emmaus staff and volunteers, even referring to the legendary Chuck and Linda as his mom and dad. But in all that time, he had never come to the Ministry Center.

The newer staff and I began forming our own relationships with Adam over a year or so, learning about all of his favorite sports teams he never lost an opportunity to praise or to lament. When Katie Iversen joined our staff, she immediately connected with Adam over their mutual love for the Chicago Bulls. And after a few months, he came to the Ministry Center for the first time.

What was the final catalyst that had eluded us for so long? He wanted to play checkers with Katie. Or rather, he wanted to beat Katie at checkers.

To me this encapsulates a lot of what Emmaus is. We, and other organizations, often spend time trying to develop programs and rehabilitating our space in order to entice clients to come. Yet after years of many conversations and relationships with Adam, he still had not come to us. But rather than some fancy program or material thing Adam wanted from us, God used something much simpler than anything we could dream up: a game of checkers.

This story always reminded me that Emmaus is there to walk alongside the men we encounter. And no matter how long or slow the process seems, we as a community try to move towards Christ every day, and believe that God will take care of the rest.