I SPENT THIS LAST THANKSGIVING WEEK

in Savannah, Georgia, awakening each morning to the sounds of train whistles in the distance, then dressing and heading out at six-thirty to be a father watching his son at work. A rare privilege for dads. At least for this one.

 

STEPHEN AND HIS FRIEND, MIKE

are two who understand the need to restart one’s life and the power there is in God’s redeeming grace. Mike is a contractor and Steve a craftsman builder. They have fought with, cried over, prayed about and struggled to build a business together that provides their clients with excellent outcomes in remodeled or new home construction. So what is different about their business?

 

THE WORKERS

forming the construction teams all are first-timers or have limited building experience, each one a professional apprentice. African Americans, Puerto Rican and Whites, working together, joking, hugging, laughing, and helping one another grow in the trade. A Marine biologist, two former FedEx drivers, and two others in management training. And there are more. Steve is a master craftsman, teaching the trades to guys who know more about surviving on city streets than studying on college campuses, more about failure than about success.

 

One is a college graduate, but most are fortunate to have made it through high school. All are interested in working with their hands as well as their heads. Some must first learn how to learn; everyone must grasp on-the-job basics, then see where their individual skills and talents lie, and expand on that.

 

“It’s like being in the Army,” says Steve, “where you’re driven to do the impossible in an unrealistic amount of time and never accomplish it, but everyday you get farther than the day before. We throw the guys into the deep end of the ‘building trades’ pool, and when they pop up, we teach them how to swim.”

 

The nonnegotiable criteria for being hired is a willingness to work hard and to learn. The company goal for clients is to serve them with excellence in product and performance. For team members, it’s to listen well, teach and learn with humility, work creatively, and help one another make a better life. Each worker is an individual contractor, classified as a professional apprentice.

 

MIKE AND STEVE

view this business as a divine calling. They are both committed followers of Jesus. They understand persons coming out of a ‘rough patch,’ because they’ve been there themselves. One day, Steve asked the crew how many attended church. One hand went up. Personal and business skills are part of the learning culture. But here, life skills and character development are important, too. Everyone has a story. It’s like church everywhere ought to be, listening well as people who were lost tell where they’ve been, where they are today, and where they hope to be tomorrow.

 

There is a lot of pain here, but also the light of hope. As is true of every church on Sundays, so also here everyday. Just two kinds of people, those who have been broken and those who are broken still. The Good News exampled and spoken here takes many shapes and forms. The difference is what happens when those who have been broken bring the transforming hope and practical love of Jesus to those who are broken still, both clients and workers.

 

In spite of such an excellent project, Mike and Steve continue to struggle everyday. Financially it’s always a challenge. They made two requests for government PPP Loans during the covid pandemic, each time to be turned away with, “no more money available.” So they continue investing profits and personal resources into the project.

 

I STOOD BY 

stood by as my son consulted with clients, their eyes bright with the hopes and dreams of their soon-to-be completed homes. At lunch time, I listened as a team member confessed his story of personal pain and loss. I watched at the end of the day as the man they call, “Mister Steve,” poured over myriad details of a day’s work done and a tomorrow still ahead.

 

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”[1]

 

This is happening in Savannah, Georgia, this week. And so I watched and nodded and smiled. The proud father. And I am confident another “Father” has also been watching, with a Father’s smile of approval—it’s the one we all hope for at the end of every day. As God said to Jacob, may it be to you also, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go … I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”[2]

 

May Jesus keep us close.

 

 

 

 

[1] 1 Peter 5:2,3

[2] Genesis 28:15