If you’ve been to a convention before, you may feel like you know what to expect. There’s the big city life, tons of Mennonites, so many familiar faces and those faces you see on the street. There’s always amazing speakers, great friends, crazy sponsors and lots of encounters. So many things you know to expect and so many experiences to come. But there’s also the unexpected in every situation, God’s way of keeping us on our toes. I recently had an unexpected encounter of my own that I would like to share.

Robert Alison lives under the bridge by the Red Roof Inn. I don’t know his age and I don’t know his life story, but I do know he said he was in prison for 13 years and just got out a week ago. He is an ordained minister and I believea great speaker and follower of Christ. You may wonder how I know these things about a homeless man that sleeps near my hotel. Well, I got to know Robert all because Matt Lehman and I simply said, “Hi.”

Booths at the exhibit hall had just closed around 11 on Wednesday night, and Matt and I were walking back to our hotel from the convention center. We decided to cross the street before the bridge, without really thinking much about it. Our decision ran us under the bridge and took us past a homeless man with flowers (Robert).

We had been talking but looked up and simply smiled and said “Hi” to a skinny, scruffy-bearded, flower-bearing man in a coat. He turned and said, “You know, you are the first ones to say hi to me.” At this point we turned and stood there as he closed the gap between us. He held out his hand and told us his name was Robert Alison.

“I just see the fire of God in you,” he said. “You just glow. Your smiles just glow.”

We stood there in awe for the next 15 minutes as Robert shared God with us. He shared what the prophets had told him and how he wants to get back into speaking and preaching.

“When you got Jesus in the front and God in the back and a legion of angels surrounding you, nothing can touch you,” he said.

As he went on about the greatness of God, Matt and I stood there, listening intently, and smiling and laughing along.

“Every night, when you go to sleep, God puts fire in you,” he said. “Every morning when you wake up, God puts fire in you!”

By this point Robert could not keep still; he was just too excited about God and the work He was doing.

When I told my good friend, Kate Mast, about my encounter, she said, “And we always think we need to preach to the homeless. We always think about us giving to the poor but never expect that they can give us a blessing.”

Robert was a blessing. The actions of Christians everywhere speak so loud. Let the fire relight and burn bright.