By Jeannette Brownson –

Antonio and his son, Marvin, lived in our neighborhood, renting an upstairs apartment on Washington Boulevard for several years.  Then the  home was foreclosed and the landlord evicted him.

About the same time, my husband and I purchased a home on Washington.  Many neighbors helped us ready the house, including Antonio, who helped us paint after he got home from work each day.

Antonio asked me whether I could help him find a place to live.  Since I am not fluent in Spanish, I did not understand his difficulty .

As we were trying to communicate, our Spanish-speaking pastor came by.  He understood Antonio to say that the landlord was giving potential landlords a negative report about him so he was unable to find a place to rent.  I called one landlady who clarified Antonio’s situation.

Injustice had been done to Antonio, but God was intervening.   There was money available for Antonio to clean the foreclosed house.  Some wonderful neighbors helped him and then he donated 3/4 of the money he received to the Nuestra Casa Community Center, which is now ready to serve our Westcore Neighbors.

Antonio said when he put his son Marvin to bed during that time, Marvin was afraid of what might happen to them.  His father told him that God would be faithful and take care of them. When these events unfolded, Antonio says it was a powerful example of God’s provision.  They are now purchasing their home, are worship leaders in church and Antonio will soon be married.

Each person in this story was following in Jesus’ footsteps, arriving just at each point of need.

Christ encouraged a father and son in their faith and then helped them share their blessings with the whole neighborhood.