A flash fiction story inspired by Street Store, a ministry initiative whereby multiple local churches in various cities partner with each other to serve precious people within their most vulnerable communities. All visitors to Street Store are offered a dignifying experience of being ministered to by multiple teams of dedicated individuals who pull out all the stops to make each one of their guests feel special at every ministry station. First of all, visitors are treated with a meal while sitting down in a restaurant area. From there, they are guided through the shopping area where they can select clothing items for themselves. Finally, each visitor has the opportunity to be ministered to in a one-to-one setting in a special prayer area.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME….I PROMISE. A silent, secret oath reverberating in the mind of the man sitting on the blue chair inside the prayer tent. His eyes are shut, and while the young man in front of him prays for him, tiny streaks of tears are trickling down his cheeks. On his lap, he is nurturing a backpack full of newly acquired merchandise.

For most of Donald’s life, he has made every effort to play by the rules, but he has realised that the game is rigged and he has become desperate. WE ARE DOWNSIZING AND WE ARE SORRY BUT WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO KEEP YOU ON STAFF. He has heard these words far too often, and he decided that it was time to stack the deck. He became a self-righteous Robin Hood who steals from the privileged to relieve his own poverty. He uses the profit from the back alley sales of the stolen merchandise to make highly questionable business deals. Deep inside his heart, where nobody sees it, he keeps hope alive. The hope to cut himself free from these dirty business strings and go back to take care of his family. But the more he dances with the devil, the tighter the strings twist around his neck, slowly choking not just this hope, but also his very life right out of him.

While on a journey through the clothing store with the praying young man, Donald collected multiple warm winter items for himself and packed it into his backpack. But, also tucked away securely at the bottom of the backpack, are items which had never been on offer. Robin Hood’s loot of cellphones and wallets, which he sneakily lifted from the pockets of unsuspecting volunteers. THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME…

After the prayer time, the young man escorts Donald to the exit gate where he hands over all of his identification items to the security team before exiting the gate. Donald has managed to successfully pull off yet another heist and now he was home free. But as he walks away, the young man’s parting words to him, transforms into a powerful force field of remorseful conviction around him. He stops dead in his tracks before turning around to walk back to where he had come from. JESUS LOVES YOU, DONALD, HE IS WAITING FOR YOU, HE WANTS TO REDEEM YOU!