Many of us drive I-26 through Johnson City on a daily basis to shop, to work, to play. As we pass by the old downtown section, the skyline of Johnson City is in plain view. Perhaps the most distinguishable building in that part of town is unique because of its height and art-deco trim along the roof. The building, the John Sevier Center, is distinguished to over 100 residents of Johnson City for another reason--it is the place they call ‘home.’ These residents would not be considered ‘desirable’ to many in Johnson City. All of them live below the poverty line. Many carry resumes that include broken families, chemical dependency, developmental ‘disorders’ and nerves still shot from a distant war in southeast Asia. If you never venture into the building, you may never meet these residents. Many live in their small rooms and seldom venture out. Many residents of the John Sevier Center pray daily for God to help them, to alleviate their loneliness and isolation.
God has allowed us to get involved in this vital work. Over the past few months, several in the Hopwood and Milligan community have been developing relationships with many of these residents, learning their stories, listening to their hurts, joys and desires and serving them as they bless us with their presence. In the process we have discovered that these new friends are simply people whom God loves. They have ups and joys, joys and sorrows. They laugh, they joke, they tell their stories.
There are many great ways for you to get involved. Whether it be on shopping trips, picnics, movie nights or getting paired up with a resident you can get to know, learn from and serve alongside. Mother Teresa once said that “the greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved and uncared for.
