Those who feel called to minister to the homeless will love this story. It is a literal dream come true. The memoir is filled with stories some people may not believe but I do. There is both good and evil in this world. We forget it wasn’t long ago injustice was just the way it was in America.
I was born post civil rights when technology began to change our world. The country was a different place before I was born. Denver was born on a plantation in Louisiana that time forgot.
Near the end of the story, Ron traveled back to that place in Louisiana with Denver and was shocked by what he saw. Denver was older than Ron but their worlds had been vastly different growing up. Ron also grew up picking cotton but he was white and went on to college and career in a land of opportunity.
Denver never attended school or learned to read and write. He ran away from the plantation near the age of thirty and spent ten years at Angola prison for attempting to rob a bus. After prison, he spent many years homeless in Texas but felt that was better that where he had been.
God brought Deborah, Ron and Denver together. It was literally a match made in heaven. It was laid on Deborah’s heart that they should volunteer at their local mission and befriend a specific man. She later died of cancer and the two men continued to bond as friends, draw closer to God and continue working to improve conditions for the homeless the mission served.
After Deborah’s death, enough money was raised to renovate the mission and included a new memorial chapel in her honor by donors. Denver began painting and traveling with Ron to share their story. They eventually got it written down in book form.
In 2017, it was released as a movie. I didn’t get to see it in the theater but as soon as it is released on DVD, I will get it and have my tissue box ready to use. I know I will be bawling the entire time. I love these kind of stories because I’ve had similar experiences. Mine will never become books or movies or have an ending but I understand the hearts behind them. It’s like when you’re reading or watching the story, someone gets you.
That someone is God. He knows all of our stories.