Unexpected Encounters

Here is a story a student wrote this past week:

One night while we were all at the Pink House, I felt like going on a walk. I decided to bring my Bible and journal, even though I had no intention of writing or reading. I ended up roaming around the deserted Fulton Mall and that is where I met Larry. Larry is a middle aged Latino man who was scavenging the floors of the mall in search of change to buy a 99 cent burrito. He has an ear problem so I felt like I was yelling at him while we exchanged a few words and stories. I offer to buy Larry that 99 cent burrito and he gladly accepts. We go on a half-mile walk to what seemed like the other side of the city, and arrive at a gas station. I buy him two 99 cent burritos as promised, and he was definitely happy about it!
We stood outside the gas station as he munched on his burrito and he started telling me about an accident he was in a few years ago. A car hit him and snapped his legs, popped his back, and sent his head slamming into the hood of the car. Suddenly, we were interrupted by a homeless man standing a few feet away from us. He said, "Excuse me. Is that a Bible? Do you think I could read it for a second?" We found out his name was Dale, and I said "Sure!" and I handed him my Bible. I focused my attention back on Larry and felt the urgency to pray for physical healing in his leg and back. He agreed and we sat on a little patch of grass. As I'm asking Larry where the pain was and getting ready to pray, Dale runs over and asks if he could join us. I of course said yes, and the three of us sat on the grass together, holding hands as we prayed for physical healing. I'm not sure if Larry got healed completely or not, but he said that it wasn't hurting after we prayed! But after the prayer, Daled started preaching and sharing the Gospel with Larry. The man just kept going and going and going as he preached, quoted Scripture, and affirmed Larry. The whole time I just sat back thinking, "Whoa! This guy is LEGIT!" It was crazy and encouraging to see a homeless man with almost nothing so filled with the Holy Spirit and knowledge of the Bible.
As I was getting ready to say my goodbyes, I remembered Dale asking me if he could read my Bible. That implied that he didn't have one. And then it clicked in my head. "No God! Please don't make me give up my Bible to this man!" This was my first Bible given to me by the person who first shared the Gospel with me, so there is a lot of emotional attachment. It has come with me on my entire journey from learning about Christianity, to the point when I gave my life to Jesus this past year, to this very day in Fresno. But finally, I manned up and told Dale that God wanted me to give him my Bible. He stared at me for a few seconds with an expression of disbelief or even confusion on his face, and then he completely broke down into tears of what I assumed was joy. Almost instantly I felt no regret for giving my Bible to Dale and knew that it has rightfully found its new owner. When my friend had first given that Bible to me, she wrote on the first page, "From: Tracy   To: Colby". Before I left that night, I wrote for the last time in that Bible, "From: Colby    To: Dale  7/17/11".