January 15thMeeting Jesus Under the Bridge
“They were selling drugs while we were eating dinner with them!” says Lyne Renaud, pastor at Hochma in Quebec. “As we were eating, customers would come into the apartment and do business! I looked at my husband Michel and said, “Wow! Where are we??!””
Lyne and Michel’s son, Zachary, noticed one of the men who was homeless from their neighbourhood. Learning that his name was Sye, Zachary invited him to come to Hochma’s weekly community breakfast. Sye accepted and showed up. He was stoned and smelled like solvants, but he showed up. Breathing solvent vapours – that was his drug of choice. “It’s legal,” he would say. “I can buy it at Canadian Tire!”
“I considered Sye like anyone else,” says Lyne. “We welcomed him and tried to love him just as he was.”
As Lyne, Michel and Zachary began to know Sye, Sye shared that he loved to bake and to make great meals. Lyne gave him a gift card for groceries and Sye invited Lyne and Michel for dinner. When Lyne and Michel arrived, they quickly saw that Sye and his roommates were stoned. The apartment was a very busy place – their meal continually interrupted by people showing up at the door with business!
One day Sye stopped coming to the church. After months of being faithful to his new friends, he was missing. Lyne and Michel were worried. They asked other friends if anyone had seen him. No one had. “We know that stability and homelessness don’t often work together. So we were praying for him and hoping that nothing had happened to him,” says Lyne.
Three months passed and Sye arrived at a Sunday service. Michel and Lyne were surprised and quickly ran to see him. “How are you Sye?” Michel asked. “Where have you been?” Sye looked at him and simply said, “Sye is dead.”
Michel was shocked and did not know how to respond. “What has happened?” he quickly asked.
Sye’s response was, “I have killed him.” This confused Michel. “What?” he cried. “What do you mean? How did you do this?”
Sye looked into Michel’s eyes and Michel was surprised to see that Sye’s eyes were clear, bright and shining. Sye said, “I have met Jesus and I gave my life to him. I decided to get sober so I went up under the bridge and stayed there to get clean of drugs. After three months, I am sober and I want to get my life aligned with Jesus.” Michel also noticed that he did not smell solvents. Sye continued, “Sye is dead. My name is Sylvian now.”
Michel’s heart skipped a beat as emotion rose within him. “This is so cool,” he said excitedly. “I am so happy to see you and so happy to hear that!”
Sylvian’s life has changed. He is now the director of Care Montreal, a warm and safe place for people who are homeless from Hochma’s neighbourhood. They offer a mattress, food and coffee to people during the winter months. Lyne explains, “It was ridiculous to see people sleep on the streets during the winter season while our building was not being used six days of the week,” says Lyne. Together they formed Care Montreal.
Sylvian and his roommate, Regean, who has also experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, have supervised Care Montreal for the last two years. “There is no one better than Sylvian and Regean to take care of the Centre. They know all of the people and the people know them,” says Lyne. “People have noticed the change in Sylvian and Regean’s life and are talking about it on the street.”
Michel and Lyne welcomed Sylvian and Regean into their home and feel that God has called them to help the two men as they move to their next step in life.
“We are making disciples, not saving souls. Saving souls is the job of God,” says Lyne. “My job is to love people, accept them as they are and create a safe place where they are welcome.”