Tuesday I drove with Ann to Greenville SC to visit what turned out to be a very interesting man, Fred McCain. Hs is currently in a skilled nursing facility with a number of ailments. Mainly he is being treated for liver cancer. While I would say my least favorite visit is hospital visitation. I am very uncomfortable in these situations. While most people know I tend to say the wrong thing in everyday conversation, I am always fearful of opening my mouth in a hospital. Fred was different than I expected.
When we arrived he was at physical therapy his assistant, Fernando, greeted us. Fernando has been by Freds side since the day he entered the hospital. His admiration for Fred was immediately evident. I knew very little of Fred’s ministry. Fernando filled me in on how Fred has change his life and given him an opportunity to get back on his feet and start his life over. Fernando has hope. During this time Fred returned. I had expected a warn tired frail shell of a man ridden with cancer. What came in was anything but. Fred was cheerful and showing plenty of energy. He greeted us we started catching up on nearly 30 years of separation. When sharing his history and vision he seemed to gain energy. I found an amazing man.
Fred has had an incredible journey. He recognized in 1969 he was an alcoholic and joined AA. In 1992 he had lost everything he had including 2 wives. Literally homeless he found his way to his sons house in Greenville he was on his way to Denver. The second day he was there a man approached him and asked if he knew anything about alcoholism they needed a driver to get men to the meetings. These men after a short time offered him the ministry. Fred had no money so they took an iou. Fred had 3 apartments and 1 resident to start. He went into some of the monumental hardships you face when running a ministry like this. For instance; as the ministry grew, and he was adding apartments to facilitate incoming residents his building went condo. It took time to get his funding together when he got it he was told the building had already sold. He feels they pushed him out. As his story goes it was for a reason for he found a new home large enough to grow and the right price. Turning Point is still in that building. Today they house 125 residents he has impacted and changed the lives of 1000’s of men. He has never taken a dime from the state and has remained privately funded. You can find more of his story @ http://turningpointsc.org.
There are hero’s doing amazing deeds to keep society moving forward and giving people hope. While there will never be a Dr Fred show or Fred show his impact is far more than giving someone a car or trip. As I press on towards the goal my hope is to be half the man Fred McCain has become.
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