There Is A Gay Guy In Our Basement

The New Attitude blog reports:

We want to hear your stories about how you’ve tried to take the gospel to people around you (and send you a book in return) so we thought we’d share a story ourselves. This is the story of Sarah Young, a girl in our church whose family shared the gospel with someone in a compelling way. Sarah’s family is a great example of sharing the gospel through both words and actions.
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I remember the first time I saw him at orientation and my first conversation with him. I knew I was going to meet some very different types of students at art school, and Todd certainly was. He was amazingly outgoing, fun and bounced off the walls where ever he went. He was a fun friend to have, but I was unsure about how to witness to him because he was openly gay and I didn’t know how he would react to the gospel.

I got to know him well and Todd knew that we were Christians who went to church every week. Todd would mention how many “Christians” he encountered in the past would condemn him for being gay, telling him he was going to hell and not associating with him. My friend Jeff Martin and I just tried to do everything we could to show Todd that we cared for him by constantly inviting him to our houses. He had a lot of car trouble so, more often than not, I would pick him up from his house and drive him to and from our school 45 minutes away.

One day I got a call from Todd, who was extremely upset. Todd’s family situation was always shaky but now, Todd said, his father told him that he didn’t want anything to do with him at all anymore. His dad told Todd that he was taking away his car back and that he would stop paying for school. Not only this, but Todd’s landlord informed him that he needed to be out of his room in a few weeks. Todd was a mess and I thought it interesting that he thought to call me first. I calmed him down and told him that we (meaning my family, the Martin family, and other friends) would be his family now.

Todd ended up moving into my house and sleeping on the couch in the basement. He guessed it would only be for a few weeks, but Todd ended up living with us from the end of July to the beginning of November.

People were surprised that Todd was living with us. One of my sister’s friends asked “You have a gay guy living in your basement?!” She replied, “Yeah, doesn’t everybody?” During this time, my parents, sisters, and friends treated him like our brother. We would drive him to and from work and the metro and invite him to Art Night at the Martin’s.

My dad especially was a living example of our Savoir to Todd. He bought Todd Nicotine patches when he wanted to quit smoking. He re-ordered and paid for Todd’s refill of contacts multiple times. He bought books on Christian views on homosexuality to be better informed on how to talk to Todd. He printed off articles from biblical journals on contentment and anxiety and gave them to Todd to read, and weekly my dad would meet with Todd to talk about the things he read. My dad had the discernment to slowly teach Todd the biblical principals so that when the right time came my dad would explain that Todd was a sinner in need of a Savior.

One Friday night, Todd came home early (very unusual for him) complaining of a really bad stomachache. Todd was sure that it was the pizza he ate earlier that day. But when he wasn’t getting any better, writhing in pain on the couch, my dad took Todd to the hospital. Eventually we learned Todd needed his appendix out ASAP. My dad stayed with Todd to make sure everything was okay and to read him scripture. When we went to pick Todd up from the hospital days later, we brought him balloons and let him know we were praying for him. I know that Todd believes in God and the gospel, but don’t know if he has turned completely to the Savior.

Before Todd moved to Washington state with him mom, he told us, with tears streaming down his face that he will always count us as his family. He told my dad that that he was more a father to him than his biological father ever was. We’d been the first group of Christians who had welcomed him and not shunned him. During those few months the example of my father, family, and friends will always be a reminder and a picture of Christ’s love.