Allen Collins was living through some of the worst times of his life when he met Jeff Powers.
Through a series of devastating events, Allen had lost his wife, seriously injured his back and began living with his daughter and helping care for his grandson with autism. He was denied disability benefits, so he began doing woodwork at a company where Jeff worked.
Jeff, in his soft spoken, thoughtful way, reached out to Allen, inviting him to dinner and to church.
Allen, who describes himself as “rough” at that time, did go with his daughter to dinner at Jeff and Lisa Powers’ home a couple of times. But he turned down the invitation to church because his daughter didn’t want to go.
“Best dinners I had thus far in Lynchburg — and we said grace at dinner. I hadn't said grace in 35 years,” Allen remembered. “In the back of my mind, I thought, ‘I'd like to have the peace Jeff has.’”
Then, in August 2015, things took an even worst turn for Allen. In the matter of a day, Allen found out that his daughter was moving out with his grandson, and he was losing his home.
“I was hanging on by a thread,” Allen said.
Allen quickly made arrangements to stay in a downtown Lynchburg shelter. Though it was a good place to stay, it wasn’t open during the day, even on Sunday. Allen reached out to Jeff and Lisa and asked if he could go to church with them and spend the day with them on Sundays. Even though the Powers lived just 5 minutes from Blue Ridge, they began going downtown every Sunday, taking Allen to church, inviting him home for lunch and the afternoon and taking him back to the shelter in time for dinner.
“The first service here was overwhelming.” Allen said. “ I was brought up Catholic but stopped going in tenth grade. Coming to Blue Ridge, I realized that was the part of my life I was missing most: Faith.”
For the first time in 40 years, he picked up a Bible and started reading it. With Jeff and Lisa’s encouragement, Allen called Lifeline, was assigned a caregiver and began attending a group for men with chronic pain. He applied for assistance through the Blue Ridge Benevolence Fund.
“I was constantly nervous about how to pay bills,” Allen said.
In October, he was able to get housing, he was approved for disability benefits and soon was able to buy a car with back payments. He kept coming to Blue Ridge on his own and also began attending Encounter.
Through these different parts of the church showing Allen the love of Christ, he came to know Jesus. He plans to be baptized in our December service.
“I’m so grateful for the words, ‘Do you want us to pick you up?’” Allen said, pointing back to what first brought him to Blue Ridge: Jeff and Lisa Powers. “There were times I felt really bad about being so dependent on Lisa and Jeff. But they didn't just take me to church, they brought me into their whole lives.”