Daniel: Part 2

Beyond the Broken // By R.G. Ryan
“Every wound leaves a scar, and every scar tells a story.”
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Daniel*: Part Two
*name has been changed to protect identity
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Candace received a photo of Daniel from his parents and showed it around our homeless community. Miraculously, someone recalled seeing him at a fast-food establishment only two blocks from where we host our Tuesday dinner parties. She passed the encouraging news on to the parents and asked them to fly out, promising that she’d do everything in her power to help them find their son.

They arrived on a Tuesday in time to serve alongside our volunteers. After introducing the parents to our homeless guests, Candace walked with them through the dining area showing Daniel’s picture to everyone. Unbelievably someone not only knew him, but also knew where he stayed in the San Diego riverbed.

The following day, Candace took Daniel’s parents deep into the riverbed—a place where, in the not-too-distant past, she too had camped as a homeless, hopeless addict. Stopping frequently to pray with those they encountered, they finally found Daniel at a place the riverbed residents call God’s Garage…and the family was joyfully reunited.

The next morning Daniel and his parents met for breakfast and began sorting through the missing pieces of his story as it had unfolded over the previous year. While the relationship was restored, in the end, Daniel found that he was unwilling at this point in time to leave the streets and return home with his parents. As disappointing as his decision was, his parents left rejoicing because they knew that their son was alive and that We See You is now an ally.

Daniel’s road goes on, and We See You is committed to following wherever it leads.