Nov. 28: A Feast for Hillbilly and Friends

Ron Petros asked his wife, Carol, “Why don’t we invite some of the guys here for Thanksgiving?”  The “guys” to whom he referred were homeless men nicknamed Jimbo, Hillbilly, Irish, Capone, and Rocky.  Petros had become acquainted with them when living on the streets himself in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“With long, intensive help from counselors and friends at the New Hope Center Street ministry, [Ron had] given up alcohol and got a job, and he and I had married,” Carol wrote in Guideposts magazine. “But his heart cried out for those still left.”

The Petroses couldn’t afford a large meal so it seemed providential when a friend from church called, offering extra bags of Thanksgiving food to donate to Ron and his wife.

The homeless men were so grateful to Ron and Carol for the Thanksgiving feast that they even insisted on cleaning up afterwards. Regarding the celebration, Carol concluded, “If any seeds of hope had been planted in the mind of any one of them…then our dinner would truly be cause for thanksgiving.”

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor…And you will be blessed.  (Luke 14:13,14)

Help us to protect and provide for the impoverished, Lord.