Churchgoers Ignore Unconscious Dirty Man outside Church until Little Girl Shows up beside Him — Story of the Day

While everyone ignores an unconscious man outside the church, a little girl resolves to help him and approaches the churchgoers for help. However, none of the adults help her, so she rushes to her mother for assistance.

"Thank you for today, Father. I'll bring my husband along the next time," Sierra told the priest of the local church in their area. She visited the church with her 6-year-old daughter, Lucy, every Sunday and wanted her husband to join her. But Adam wasn't particularly religious.

Father John laughed. "Don't worry, child. Even though we abandon the Lord, he never abandons us. He makes no distinction between His children. Your husband is always welcome at the Lord's house."

Sierra thanked him again, hoping to persuade Adam to accompany her the next time. She found the Sunday church service inspiring, mainly because she was typically preoccupied with housework and didn't have time for herself.

As Sierra left the church, she saw Lucy playing outside in the garden, so she stopped for a bit of chit-chat with the neighborhood ladies. While talking to them, she forgot to watch Lucy for a couple of minutes, and the little girl decided to take a quick stroll around the church.

As Lucy stepped outside the building's compound, she noticed a man curled against the church's boundary wall. He appeared dirty, and as she neared him, she realized he was also stinky. Sierra had warned her not to approach strangers, but Lucy felt something was wrong with him.

"Sir, are you okay?" she asked, patting his shoulders. He didn't reply, and she noticed he was sleeping.

"Are you hungry? Do you need water? My mom makes the best sandwiches!" she told him, thinking he would be awake instantly.

Lucy loved the sandwiches Sierra made, and she always got up quickly from the bed when Sierra told her they would have sandwiches for breakfast! Lucy was concerned that the man did not wake up after hearing about the sandwiches. She looked around and saw the adults leaving the church, and she dashed up to them for help.

"Ma'am, that poor man needs our help! He is not waking up!" she told a woman, pointing to the man.

She looked beyond Lucy's shoulder and frowned. "Oh, ask someone else. I'm running late," and she disappeared.

A little help can go a long way and turn someone's life around.

"But…we need to help him," muttered Lucy helplessly.

Lucy hurried back to the man and promised she would get him help. "Don't worry," she whispered in his ear. "I will help you!"

Lucy approached the churchgoers leaving after the Sunday service for help, but they all refused to assist the man because they assumed he was homeless.

"Go to your parents, girl! Stop bothering us!" a man grumbled as he walked away. But Lucy couldn't spot her mother among the people leaving the church. She waited on the curb outside the church until the crowd dissipated, and as she noticed Sierra talking to the ladies, she hurried to her for help.

"Mommy! Mommy! Please, we need to help him!" she cried as she ran to her mother.

"What's wrong, honey?" asked Sierra, worried.

"Mommy, a man is sleeping, and he didn't wake up when I told him about your sandwiches! Is he okay, mommy?"

Sierra's heart began to pound. "Sandwiches…what…Where is he?"

"There, mommy!" Lucy replied and dashed outside the church. Once they were near the homeless man, Sierra quickly realized he was unconscious.

"Sir, can you hear us? Are you okay?" she gently shook the man's shoulder, but he didn't respond. So Sierra quickly dialed 911. "Honey, go to Father John and ask him for water, okay? Tell him a man has fainted on the road," she told Lucy.

Lucy went back to the church and returned with Father John. "Here," he said, offering the water.

"Is he alright?" he asked worriedly.

Sierra sprinkled some water on the unconscious man's face, but the man didn't get up. "I don't think so, Father," she replied, worried. "The paramedics are on the way."

After a couple of minutes, which seemed nothing less than eternity, the paramedics arrived on the scene, and Lucy and Sierra accompanied the man to the hospital.

Once the man was admitted, Sierra called her husband and asked him to pick up Lucy from the hospital. "I'll wait with him, Adam," she said on the phone. "I don't know yet what exactly happened, and Lucy needs to be home. She didn't even have breakfast."

"Okay, honey, I'll be there. But are you sure you wanna wait? I mean, the doctors are there, looking after him."

"He looks homeless, Adam. I guess he'll feel better to have someone by his side for help."

"Alright then, but don't stress yourself. I'm leaving right now…."

Adam picked up Lucy from the hospital, and Sierra waited outside the man's room for information about his health from the doctors.

After a couple of minutes, the doctor came out of the man's room, and thankfully, he had good news. "So, is he okay?" asked Sierra.

The doctor nodded. "A case of fatigue and exhaustion. We've started an IV drip for him. He is conscious now. You may see him, and please fill in the patient's admission form at the reception."

"Thank you, doc," Sierra replied gratefully. Then she quickly finished all the formalities and went to the man's room.

"Can I come in?" she asked softly, and he nodded.

"Are you feeling better now? Are you comfortable talking?" she asked, sitting on the chair by the bedside.

"Yes, thank you," replied the man quietly, "for bringing me here. I'm Caleb."

"It was not a problem, Caleb. Do you want me to call your family? I could…"

"I don't have anyone," he said sadly. "I'm an orphan and homeless."

"Sorry," Sierra replied, feeling bad for the man.

"It's okay… not like it's anyone's fault."

"The doctors said you fainted due to exhaustion…." She quickly changed the topic because she didn't want him to be more upset.

Caleb's eyes welled up. "I haven't eaten in days. I didn't have money, and I got no work. I was so helpless. I - I feel bad saying this, but could you get me some food? Anything would do. I just need to eat."

"Oh, of course, I can, I can…." Sierra felt terrible for the man.

Luckily, there was a supermarket nearby, so she shopped for some groceries and fruits and gave them to Caleb before leaving the hospital that day. She also covered his medical expenses and hospital bills.

On her way home, she ran across Father John. He asked her how Caleb was doing, and she told him everything. Father John was disturbed to hear that a man who needed help was ignored by everyone except little Lucy.

"May God bless your precious daughter…what a lovely spirit. I would gladly assist him in any way I can. The Lord guided him here, and I shall do my best to help him."

"I hope he gets better soon, Father," said Sierra. " I'm curious what would have occurred if Lucy hadn't noticed him. I feel terrible… I can't blame others either. With rising inflation and skyrocketing living costs, not everyone can afford to help others."

"Yet you and your daughter helped him," smiled Father John. "You see, dear, it doesn't matter whether you have plenty of wealth or not. Sometimes, those who have a lot don't have the heart to help. You had, and you did help him."

"Probably, Father," she said. "I just hope he gets well soon…."

Later, Father John paid a visit to Caleb in the hospital and made him an offer. He felt bad that the poor man didn't have any means to support himself.

"You could work at the church," Father John suggested. "You'd have a roof over your head, I'll request the funds to pay you a small salary from the diocese, and you'd be able to serve the Lord."

Caleb had tears in his eyes. "I appreciate your help, Father. Thank you, thank you!" he cried. "I will do my best!"

So after getting discharged from the hospital, Caleb began living and working at the church. His life changed for the better, and he felt blessed that the Lord had given him a means of living again.

The following Sunday, when the parishioners arrived at the church, they greeted Caleb with respect as he was now an employee of the diocese.

Some people at the church recognized Caleb as the homeless man they'd refused to help, but they pretended they didn't know him; others were shocked he was working in the church. But when Lucy and Sierra arrived, they were happy to see Caleb.

Sierra greeted him with a smile as their gazes met, then she took a seat with Lucy. Adam, unfortunately, didn't join them this time either.

The priest began the sermon as everyone assembled. "...And if the Lord does not distinguish amongst his children, how can we…."

The priest wanted to express his dissatisfaction with the recent incident outside the church when Caleb needed help but was turned down. He advised the people to evaluate their faith and attitude, as religion teaches that one should be humble and helpful, not ignorant.

"And it's wonderful how a little soul saved the poor man," he continued. "Perhaps this is why the Lord never abandons his children, particularly the young... 18:10 in Matthew. We need to reconsider our decisions. Negligence can have serious implications, and we must consider how we would feel in the man's place..."

As the priest concluded, the faces of the people who had ignored Caleb were red with shame. They all realized what they'd done was wrong, and it was time to make amends. So, one by one, they approached Caleb and apologized to him.

Little Lucy, on the other hand, approached Caleb with a lunch box and a huge smile. "These are Mom's chili cheese sandwiches. These are the best!" she chirped.

Caleb accepted the box with tears in his eyes. "Thank you so much, my dear. This has to be the best sandwich I've ever had."

Lucy gave him a big smile. "I need to go now, bye! Take care!"

Caleb waved her and Sierra goodbye with a teary-eyed smile and whispered a thank you, holding up the lunch box.

From then on, Lucy became friends with Caleb, and Sierra was tasked with making more sandwiches because her sandwiches had attracted a new fan—Caleb. But Sierra loved making them for Caleb because she had been in his shoes as a child. She is an orphan too.

What can we learn from this story?

• Children have pure hearts, and they frequently do things that teach us, adults, a valuable lesson. Little Lucy's heart went out to Caleb when she found him unconscious outside the church, and she helped him. It taught the other church-goers a lesson about why they were wrong to ignore Caleb and walk away, and they were ashamed.
• Never ignore someone who needs help. Lucy and Sierra jumped in to aid Caleb after finding him unconscious outside the church.
• A little help can go a long way and turn someone's life around. Thanks to Lucy, Father John, and Sierra, Caleb could get his life back on track and start fresh.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a single pastor who adopted a girl abandoned at the church on a rainy night, only to learn her father was looking for her all along.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.