Close Encounters of the
Interfaith Kind

Many volunteers of GIHN have experienced the humbling and mystical experience of being God's hands and feet. Here are two stories for your inspriation. If you got one please share it! Click here to email your Close Encounter of the Interfaith Kind to

It happened over ham & eggs

One morning my husband and I went out for breakfast where I saw a young lady waiting tables. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. A little later we made eye-contact. A smile broke over her face, and she bolted over to our table and said, “I remember you from Interfaith.”

It came back to me in a flash, but the story bubbled out of her. "You helped my son with homework one evening a couple of years ago when we were in The Network. I remember you because you told him he was smart! I guess no one had ever told him that before. I hadn't, but I knew he was smart. Anyway, it made a real impression on him. He’s been studying real hard ever since and is doing real good in school. He makes GOOD grades! I’m so proud of him! He still remembers what you said.”

For me it was just one of those evenings I sleep overnight at the church with the guest families. I don't do anything really - smile, chat, maybe read to a little one, and sometimes help a child with homework.

I’ve volunteered as an overnight shepherd, well, shepherdess since Guilford Interfaith started back in the 90s. Sure, it’s not the best night’s sleep I get all year, but it sure makes the rest of my days and nights sweet! There’s nothing like being the hands and feet of the Lord, nothing!

You just never know how the Lord will take our little tiny offering to change a life. That mom blessed me more than she’ll ever know, and it happened over ham & eggs!

Pizza Night

I wish you could have seen the families tonight. We had Pizza Night with the volunteers bringing their kids, too.  We had a room full and had great fun.  Another volunteer came after dinner to take family portraits for the guests. They all got dressed up. I saw the shoot - it was so amazing - very tender! It brought tears to a lot of eyes.

Another of our volunteers came after dinner and everyone went into the gym and played basketball and volleyball. When I left there were moms, kids, volunteers sitting around watching movies and stretched out on the floor playing board games.  It looked just like any other family on a week night before bedtime.

It is awesome how God brings us all together. Thanks you for the opportunity to  be a part of all this wonderful ministry!

The IHN model is in my roots!

From one of our supporters: My mom was a WWII war-bride from eastern France. Her dad, my grandfather, was taken prisoner by the Germans to run a factory of some sort in Germany, which left my mom and her mother alone. As the Allies moved toward Berlin, their home was demolished along with much of their town. For the last 18 months of the war, my mom and her mother lived in churches.

I understand the blessing of Body of Christ providing shelter for homeless. That's how my mom survived the war to meet my dad. I believe in GIHN!

What Does God's Will Look Like?

A parishioner at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for 14 years, retired school teacher May Toms says her participation in the ecumentical Servant Leadership School (www.ServantLeaderGreensboro.com) connected her to various charity organizations, including Greensboro Urban Ministries and the Salvation Army. In her work with Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network, May found a calling and a purpose for this stage of her journey.

“Of all the things I’ve tried in retirement, working in the homeless community is the one I enjoy the most, or I get the most energy from,” May says. “But probably, it’s more connected to the spiritual journey.”

May’s journey intersects that of the homeless who find shelter, comfort, and support through GIHN. Since she first became involved with GIHN in 2003, May’s service has come full circle. After volunteering for a while, she partnered first with Suzan Bly and later, in 2006, with Susan Taylor to work as the GIHN Coordinator for Holy Trinity.

“I was there on Sunday night to meet the new families,” May says. “I would go Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night and have dinner and be with the families, which I loved.” Even though she stepped down from her official role coordinating Holy Trinity’s participation with GIHN, May continues to volunteer her time and talents to the organiza­tion. “I go as evening host, from 5:30 to 8:30, to help set up for dinner, have dinner with the families, clean up… it’s different for different families that are within the network,” May says. “Some families have kids that need help with homework, sometimes the families just get together after dinner.”

“One of the more mean­ingful things that came out of it for me was meeting Nicole M., a single woman with two young girls. Less than a year later, she showed again, which is very unusual,” May recalls. “I became an informal mentor, and I’ve watched her grow,” May says.  That growth included completing a GED and enrolling in Guilford Technical Community College. For May, it was personally and spiritually rewarding to be a part of the woman’s journey.

“Just to be connected to her and her girls and to see some of the obstacles I never considered,” she says. “It’s so mov­ing to see her perseverance. I’m so proud of what she’s done and what she is doing.”

At a time when Americans claiming no religion continues to increase the need to practice what is preached is perhaps greater than any seen in recent history.

“I think one part of being involved is the support we can give to the homeless fam­ilies,” May says. “The other part is opening the hearts of the people at Holy Trinity to the homeless.”

As May looks toward the next step in her journey, she is aware that God’s plans aren’t often revealed with the same immediacy as a teacher’s lesson plan. “I’m trying to be open every day to what unfolds next,” she says. “I’d love to be the first to know, but I don’t think that’s how God works. Or maybe I do know, and I’m doing exactly what I’m called to do, and this is what it looks like.”

Edited from an article by Gary Keffer in the April 2009 Parish Post.