Ollie Horne

It was great to have Ollie with us on Sunday. I love what God is doing through him and his family. Ollie is brother in law to Suzy Black of Suncrest. They are here in the states until December preparing to go back to Ukraine and establish a new church in February. You can check him out at www.lifepointkiev.com. You can also read a little bit more about Ollie in Starving Jesus by Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon. Ollie wrote me after he got back to tell me the following story about his trip to O'hare. How real this is:

I decided that for my trip back to O’Hare, I would take the Metra train from University Park and the blue line of the subway to O’Hare because it should cost about $7 instead $23 for the bus…plus I’d get a little walk through downtown Chicago…

When I went to the subway, I couldn’t find a cashier—just the “vending machine” deal. From what I could understand, the cost was $1.75 and I only had a couple $10 bill…so I put the $10 in to the machine and it gave me the little card with the magnetic strip…and NO CHANGE! I couldn’t believe I had just spent $10 for a subway ride to O’Hare!!

I went through the turnstile pulling my rolling carry-on behind me. I wasn’t paying attention and the bar of the turnstile got caught between the upright bars of the handle. I couldn’t get it loose, so I had to slide the magnetic card again to move the turnstile!!! (I’m SO glad no one was around!!!)

So I get on the subway with my card and its $6.50 balance. I start thinking about the fact that GOD knew I was going to spend the $10 bucks…he knew I was going to get my carry-on stuck in the turnstile and he’d provide a way for me to get it UNstuck…

I was wearing short sleeves and looked down at my “Starving Jesus” tattoo… I decided I HAD to give the $6.50 card to someone on the train who could use it…I was thinking about Jesus saying “I needed a ride on the subway, and you didn’t provide for my ride.”

So I was trying to think of how I could give the ticket to someone…without freaking them out for talking to them on the subway. Also everyone around me was wearing an ipod so I would literally have to tap them on the shoulder to get their attention, which I thought would add to the “freaking-out factor.”

I thought about leaving the ticket on the seat next to me, in hopes someone would find it and use it, but I was afraid it would just get thrown away…

A couple stops before O’Hare, this guy, who was obviously a construction worker, got on the subway and sat across the aisle from me. He was the only person besides me not wearing an ipod. As we approached O’Hare I started getting really nervous about speaking to him. We weren’t of the same race and I didn’t know how he’d react to me talking to him.

I finally leaned over and asked if he lived in Chicago and he did. I told him the card had a credit of $6.50 and I would probably not be able to use it before it expired…and offered it to him.

He got this huge smile and said, “Really? Wow! Thanks man.” He took the card and put it in his pocket.

A couple seconds later he looked at me and said, “Ya know, I wasn’t going to be able to buy lunch today, because I had to have money to get back home…you just paid for my lunch!”

Way to go Ollie! Please pray for Ollie and his family as they share God's love in Ukraine. I'm so blessed to rub shoulders (okay not shoulders because he is so stinkin' tall) with those stepping out in risky faith.