"Friends, here is why I do what I do."
The testimony of "Breakfast Bob" Johnson
It started in Hawaii almost 25 yrs ago while on vacation in Honolulu. At this point in life, I was a Christian in name only and even that was a stretch. I guess you could have called me hedonism’s poster child. Late one night I found myself in a particularly "seedy" part of Honolulu and I was walking down an alleyway and I passed a trash dumpster and heard a noise. There was an old homeless man in terrible shape and he looked up at me and said, “my son can you spare some change?” I looked at him with the utmost disgust and hatred in my heart and thought, “get a job you worthless piece of trash”, and I denied him. He wasn't angry but he looked at me with the most piercing blue eyes I have ever seen. It was as if he was looking into my soul and could see nothing good. He closed his eyes, tilted his head up to heaven as if praying and I began laughing, Yea, pray all you want old man because you're not getting a dime out of me, I thought. He then again looked at me but he did so in the way you would look at someone who you felt really sorry for. I saw the tears streaming down his face and then he just looked at me. Not angry, just the opposite in fact, because I felt his love for me. He looked into my soul and saw NOTHING GOOD. I walked backwards away from him not taking my eyes off him until I got to the end of the alley. Then I walked away and I never saw him again. I didn't give a damn though. Why should I care? Wasn't me out there.
Life returned to normal and I got back home never thinking of him again. Until one day I was home in bed when there was a commotion outside the hallway of our apt complex. FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! was the yell and smoke begin coming through our door. Standing in the parking lot, reality finally hit and with tears in my eyes I realized I was now homeless! I had lost everything. I immediate thought of that old man in the alley. Was this how he felt? The anger, the pain, the distress, the uncertainty and the question of what are we going to do? Over the next couple weeks while my apt was being renovated I thought of him often. Yet once back in my apt, I quickly forgot him and resumed my life.
One of my favorite passions at the time was jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. So one Saturday afternoon I embarked on what was to be an afternoon of skydiving fun. Only this afternoon was different as it resulted in a near fatal skydiving mishap that nearly cost me my life, resulting in a near death experience for me. Without going into details, I had a problem and needed to pull my reserve parachute and when I did it didn't come out. About what happened I can only say that they do not make adjectives in the English language that are descriptive enough to describe my experience. If there is anything I want you to know it’s the fact that there is NOTHING in this world more TERRIFYING, MORE HORRIFYING, MORE BONE CHILLING TO THE CORE than knowing you are going to die and YOU ARE NOT READY TO MEET YOUR MAKER!! During this experience, I understood who I had denied in the alleyway of Honolulu that night! When he had his eyes closed and looked upwards toward heaven he was praying. The fact he was praying had not affected me, it was what he was praying because he was saying, “Father forgive him for he doesn’t know what he's doing.” Anyway after doing everything I could to get my reserve parachute out it failed, so I was resigned to the fact that I was going to die. I was burning through the sky at 120 mph falling 200 feet a second. I closed my eyes and thought this is going to hurt. When all of a sudden at about 200 feet above the ground my reserve parachute miraculously popped out without me doing anything - One split second before impact.
The tears were streaming down my face and I looked up to heaven and said Lord, I am ready to listen, please show me the way!! I drove home with a mission. I had to find and read my Bible. I began to randomly read and the verse that hit me was Matt 25:40, Whatsoever you do to the least of these my brethren you do to Me! I had my answer and knew what I was supposed to do yet I didn’t know how.
One of my favorite passions at the time was jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. So one Saturday afternoon I embarked on what was to be an afternoon of skydiving fun. Only this afternoon was different as it resulted in a near fatal skydiving mishap that nearly cost me my life, resulting in a near death experience for me. Without going into details, I had a problem and needed to pull my reserve parachute and when I did it didn't come out. About what happened I can only say that they do not make adjectives in the English language that are descriptive enough to describe my experience. If there is anything I want you to know it’s the fact that there is NOTHING in this world more TERRIFYING, MORE HORRIFYING, MORE BONE CHILLING TO THE CORE than knowing you are going to die and YOU ARE NOT READY TO MEET YOUR MAKER!! During this experience, I understood who I had denied in the alleyway of Honolulu that night! When he had his eyes closed and looked upwards toward heaven he was praying. The fact he was praying had not affected me, it was what he was praying because he was saying, “Father forgive him for he doesn’t know what he's doing.” Anyway after doing everything I could to get my reserve parachute out it failed, so I was resigned to the fact that I was going to die. I was burning through the sky at 120 mph falling 200 feet a second. I closed my eyes and thought this is going to hurt. When all of a sudden at about 200 feet above the ground my reserve parachute miraculously popped out without me doing anything - One split second before impact.
The tears were streaming down my face and I looked up to heaven and said Lord, I am ready to listen, please show me the way!! I drove home with a mission. I had to find and read my Bible. I began to randomly read and the verse that hit me was Matt 25:40, Whatsoever you do to the least of these my brethren you do to Me! I had my answer and knew what I was supposed to do yet I didn’t know how.
That answer came that winter. I was at work reading a newspaper article about the homeless. There were 5 men sleeping outside the Wichita public library - no blankets, no shelter, nothing but the clothes on their backs. Not that unusual until you take into account that temperatures that night were predicted to dip to nearly 10 below zero with the wind chill factor. I think the only thing that kept them from freezing to death was the fact that they slept on metal grates above plumbing fixtures that kicked up heat. Anyway, this picture was on the front page of the paper underneath an article telling us to bring our animals inside, out pets. Our cats and dogs because they would freeze to death in these kind of temps. I couldn't believe it. I was ashamed to say I lived in Wichita KS on that day. The next morning was bitterly cold and on my way home from work I decided to drive by the library. There I saw 4 men outside huddled together wrapped in soiled, tattered and torn blankets trying to stay warm.
So I asked myself, what if that was me? I went to McDonalds got some warm sandwiches and hot coffee and headed back to the library. I approached the men and offered them the McDonalds goodies. They were so cold and hungry they took the sandwiches and coffee and threw the blankets back over their heads and began to eat their breakfast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lone figure, propped up against the building. He was an older man who just looked straight down. Looking as though he had lost all hope in himself and the rest of the human race. I asked him, “Sir, would you like something to eat?” He didn't answer. So I put a couple sandwiches on his lap, unwrapped them for him and put a cup of hot coffee down by his side and waited. He never looked up, never said a word. After a couple minutes he began to eat. After 2 or 3 bites out of his sandwich he looked up at me and eyed me really suspiciously from head to toe. Then I saw the tears well up in his eyes and he simply muttered one single solitary word...WHY? I went over to him, put my hand on his shoulder and said because I care!! He immediately began to cry uncontrollably, got up and hugged me and I started to cry also. It was so cold it felt like the tears were literally freezing on our faces. Then he looked at me with a gaze that pierced the very depths of my soul and said I love you brother, thank you for giving me hope in a world without hope!! I was hooked and I now knew my life’s calling.
Bob Johnson:
breakfastbob459@gmail.com
So I asked myself, what if that was me? I went to McDonalds got some warm sandwiches and hot coffee and headed back to the library. I approached the men and offered them the McDonalds goodies. They were so cold and hungry they took the sandwiches and coffee and threw the blankets back over their heads and began to eat their breakfast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lone figure, propped up against the building. He was an older man who just looked straight down. Looking as though he had lost all hope in himself and the rest of the human race. I asked him, “Sir, would you like something to eat?” He didn't answer. So I put a couple sandwiches on his lap, unwrapped them for him and put a cup of hot coffee down by his side and waited. He never looked up, never said a word. After a couple minutes he began to eat. After 2 or 3 bites out of his sandwich he looked up at me and eyed me really suspiciously from head to toe. Then I saw the tears well up in his eyes and he simply muttered one single solitary word...WHY? I went over to him, put my hand on his shoulder and said because I care!! He immediately began to cry uncontrollably, got up and hugged me and I started to cry also. It was so cold it felt like the tears were literally freezing on our faces. Then he looked at me with a gaze that pierced the very depths of my soul and said I love you brother, thank you for giving me hope in a world without hope!! I was hooked and I now knew my life’s calling.
Bob Johnson:
breakfastbob459@gmail.com
"CAN WE DO IT? DARE WE DREAM? DO WE REACH FOR THE STARS? POSSIBLY EVEN THE HEAVENS? I SAY WE CAN AND WE DO! TOGETHER WE CAN ROCK & ROLL & CHANGE THE WORLD '"
- BOB JOHNSON
