God Don’t Make No Junk

The Recycled Can

Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

One day, as I finished my drink and crushed the empty can, I found a recycling bin to throw it in. My indirect thought of the can was, “This is trash. Recycling is just a fancy way of throwing something away.” Then, sitting at my computer, I over heard a television commercial stating that an entire stadium was built out of recycled cans. “Wow! What I thought was trash, what I indirectly threw away, in the hands of the recycler, it can become something great. It can become something to marvel. It can be erected into a strong tower and a stadium of praise and victory.”

I would like to introduce to you the can that was drank dry, crushed and recycled. Meet Anuj (pictured far left). He is an Indian-American that found himself on the downside of life. Seemingly, he  had a promising future. He was a product of private high school and was accepted to Louisiana State University. However, he had some hidden struggles brewing inside of him. According to Anuj, he had a supportive mother but a very abusive father.

Growing up with the abuse, he internalized and hid his struggles. While attending Louisiana State University, the struggles were too strong to keep in. He snapped and began to live out the hurt. After a landslide of bad decisions, he was kicked out of college and found himself homeless on the streets of New Orleans.

With life quickly heading nowhere, Anuj heard about Church Without Walls, New Orleans. He began to attend the services and counsel with the CWOW staff. The love and counsel he received led him to seek a change. He checked into a local faith-based rehab. Learning pragmatic Biblical skills on how to handle his struggles, Anuj excelled and graduated from the program one year later.

While in the program, he landed a job and saved a significant amount of money. He counseled with Pastor Troy about his next move in life. Anuj decided to enroll at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to seek a degree in counseling to help others with similar struggles. He is able to pay for school, room, and board with the money he saved. Yes indeed! The can has been recycled and built into a stadium of praise and victory. He went from my homeless friend to my redeemed school mate.

There are over 6700 homeless patrons on the streets of New Orleans but Anuj is no longer one of them.

There are so many people just like Anuj on the streets. We, at CWOW, New Orleans, are committed to doing the work we do with diligence and passion. It takes resources to invest in the lives of others. If you would like to donate to the services of CWOW New Orleans, you can mail a tax deductible gift to 3939 Gentilly Blvd. Box 173 New Orleans, La. 70126 or visit www.cwownola,org and click donate.