A Plate Of Spaghetti

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of being invited to play in the Teen Challenge golf tournament with three other friends from Venture Church. I was excited for several reasons. These guys are simply fun to be around, the golf course is one of my favorites in San Diego, and I have always deeply respected the ministry and work of Teen Challenge.

One of the local directors said something that has stayed with me.

“Teen Challenge isn’t a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. It’s the restoration of lives.”

I love that because it captures the heart of the Gospel.

The lasting answer for addiction, brokenness, shame, or any of the struggles we face is not simply changing our behavior. It is meeting Jesus. It is discovering that in Him there is forgiveness, freedom, and new life.

The day itself was beautiful, but what impacted me most had nothing to do with golf.

At several of the tee boxes, there were volunteers handing out water and soft drinks. Each man wore a green Teen Challenge shirt, and each one had a story.

As I walked up to them, I introduced myself, shook their hands, listened to a small part of their journeys, and asked if I could pray for them.

With my hand on each man’s shoulder, I praised God for His redeeming and restorative grace. These were not men defined by their past anymore. They were living testimonies of God’s faithfulness. Their stories, once marked by addiction and hopelessness, were now becoming a gift of hope to others.

As I made my way around the course, I could not stop thinking about my friend, Josh Hammes.

Years ago, Josh and his wife, Jenny, began joining us on our monthly mission trips to Mexico. Jenny’s mom had faithfully served on those trips for years, and along the way, Josh and Jenny began coming with us as well.

If you met Josh today, you would simply see a humble man who loves Jesus and faithfully serves others.

But that was not always his story.

Josh would be the first to tell you that his choices led him to rock bottom. Standing before a judge, he expected to spend many years in prison.

Instead, by God’s grace, he was given the opportunity to enter Teen Challenge.

He did not enter the program because he wanted to.

He entered because he had run out of options.

But somewhere along the journey, everything changed.

God met him there.

Teen Challenge was not simply changing Josh’s habits. Jesus was changing his heart.

Josh did not find religion.

He found a relationship with Jesus Christ.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Galatians 2:20

That verse became more than words on a page. It became the story of Josh’s life.

One of the beautiful parts of Teen Challenge is that after completing the program, men and women can choose to stay and serve others who are beginning the same journey they once walked.

For Josh, that eventually meant serving on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

Their team would set up a tent, prepare spaghetti dinners, and invite anyone who was hungry to come inside. The food met a physical need, but their greatest desire was to share the love and hope of Jesus.

One evening, Josh noticed a woman outside the tent.

Instead of waiting for her to come in, he carried a plate of spaghetti out to her.

He sat with her.

He listened to her.

He shared the Gospel.

He prayed with her.

Before leaving, he handed her a card and invited her to come back the following week.

She never did.

Week after week, Josh looked for her, but she was gone.

He assumed she had been arrested or that perhaps something even worse had happened.

Years later, during a Teen Challenge worship celebration filled with men and women whose lives had been transformed by Christ, someone tapped Josh on the shoulder.

He turned around.

At first, he did not recognize her.

Then she smiled.

“You probably don’t remember me,” she said, “but years ago, you brought me a plate of spaghetti on the streets of Los Angeles.”

She went on to tell him the rest of the story.

She had surrendered her life to Jesus.

She had entered Teen Challenge.

God had restored her life.

And now she was serving in leadership with Teen Challenge, helping other men and women discover the same hope she had found.

Only God can write stories like that.

As I drove home from the golf tournament, I realized I had not simply spent a day playing golf.

I had spent the day surrounded by miracles.

Every green shirt represented someone whose life had once been broken but had now been restored by Jesus Christ.

It made me ask myself a simple question.

Who has God placed in front of me today?

Who needs someone to notice them?

Who needs a handshake?

Who needs a prayer?

Who needs someone willing to stop long enough to remind them that they are loved by God?

The truth is, we rarely know what God is doing in someone else’s life.

Josh certainly did not know that carrying one plate of spaghetti to a woman sitting alone on a sidewalk would become part of her redemption story.

He simply loved the person God placed in front of him.

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus has done for us?

He came to us when we could not come to Him.

He loved us before we ever loved Him.

He rescued us, restored us, and now invites us to become part of someone else’s story.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17

Maybe today it will not be a plate of spaghetti.

Maybe it will be a cup of coffee.

A conversation.

A prayer.

A kind word.

Or simply taking the time to truly see someone.

Whatever it is, do not miss the opportunity.

God may be writing a story that neither of you will fully understand until much later.

And it may all begin with something as simple as a plate of spaghetti