The story of how God sent us our
first leader in our Hillcrest Outreach is an amazing one. I met Chad , one day
at the front of the auditorium in the school that our (Esther and I) Church
meets at. He came up for prayer and I (Patrick) was able to pray for him. At
one point, in the midst of our conversation I shared my story and he said that
he understood much of what I shared (my normal broken sexuality and identity
journey that I share often). Besides my own sharing, he was able to share a bit
of his.
I found out that he was out
visiting from Michigan trying to figure out
why God seemingly was telling him to move to California . He had sort of come out looking
for work to start the process of moving out here-even brought a bunch of
resumes and references to give to prospective employers. At the end of our
prayer time, I was intrigued and knew pretty much right away that God was doing
something. We decided to meet for coffee.
It was the morning where our first
convert in Hillcrest became a believer that I met up with Chad . I was
full of joy and thanksgiving for what God had just done in bringing David into
the Kingdom when Chad
and I met up. As I shared the news during our time, Chad started to weep and was moved
by what God had done in David’s life just that morning. It became apparent as I
learned that Chad
knew what it was like to be “in the lifestyle” (engaged in homosexuality), for
he had been in it for 10 years, but now gave his life to Jesus and proclaimed
that this wasn’t his label anymore.
Over the course of our meet up, it
became apparent to me that I was in a sense interviewing Chad . It seemed
that this guy was a great candidate to intern with us (I didn’t even really
know all that this meant at the time) and so I proposed to him that maybe God
had brought him out to do ministry in the gay community of Hillcrest. He seemed
to be enthusiastic about the idea and it seemed it was then that he made the
decision, he would indeed move to San
Diego to follow God into a new chapter of his life.
This new chapter is a bit
mysterious for both he and I, but the clear sacrifice of Chad ’s decision
to follow is evident. Several days after “the interview”, Chad left back to Michigan to start the process of transition.
To my amazement, he sold or gave away almost all he owned. The furniture, the
electronics, the kitchen stuff, and so much more would go, whatever wouldn’t
fit in his Ford Escape. He quit a Certified Nursing Job he had been doing. He
addressed the issue with family and Church family who were probably baffled by
his decision. He left material, bewildered family members, comfort, and so much
more because he felt God’s call was clear.
