Rusty's story

One of the neighbors that we met while visiting the property on Dec. 1, Paula, had lived in Braddock Heights for 20 years. We met her as she was on her nightly ramble with her dog. She said, "The man who used to live here used to have three white crosses on his lawn. I remember saying to my friend, 'boy, he's really religious.' My friend looked uneasy and said, 'I don't think he's that kind of Christian.'"

Last night we went to Care Group and shared our desire to purchase this property. One of our Care Group members, Rusty, piped up. He said, "I can tell you about that house. I used to deliver pizza there. The old man who lived there had a couch by the door on the right, and a TV on the other side. And he lived on the couch. From behind this front area, there was just tons of garbage piled up. He had paths through it to the kitchen and to the bathroom, and that was it."

Rusty then said, "As a pizza delivery boy, I was never on time, or the pizza was never hot enough, or the right kind, and of course there was never a tip! Forget it. The guy was a mean, nasty individual. He was also a Grand Poobah, or something, in the KKK. One time, in my 20's, I heard that there was going to be a cross burned up there. I decided to go and see, 'cause I'd never seen the ritual. As they were getting ready to burn the cross, though, God's Spirit told me not to watch the cross burning. I turned away, even though I really wanted to look."

Finally, he said, "Later, I passed the house one day. There was something to indicate that the man had died. I remember praying and an idea welled up in my heart, 'Lord, wouldn't it be grand if someday that old house was torn down and something good that glorified You were built in its place?' "

We were all pretty quiet. Scott and I felt encouraged. Scott has personal experience with the KKK. When he was 2 years old, they burned a cross on his lawn. Later, they ran his father out of town: Jim Somerville was a pastor who would not join the White Citizen's Council in his town and spent more time ministering to his black congregation than his white one, which made him a nigger lover. As a result, the family spent one memorable winter in an unheated cabin in NC, truly a shaping experience. What Scott remembers is that his dad was not cowed by the KKK; what I know is that Jim Somerville has a deep and passionate love for blacks who are denied their civil rights, or in truth any oppressed person.

It seems that God may be answering Rusty's prayer (or sense) for that old house from years ago through us. If not through us, we sure know that God has not forgotten what has gone on there in the past, and He has plans for the Phoenix house in the future!