How a man named Arnold changed the World

In a culture of a-list, b-list, and c-list celebrities, sometimes it's good to discover someone who is a true hero in the kingdom of God. Let me tell you about a man named Arnold.
For the past sixteen years, every Wednesday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale Beach across from the Bahia Mar, Arnold has fed the homeless men and women of Fort Lauderdale. You see, Arnold is a chef. And he wanted to help those that were hurting. Not with government funding, but with private donations and with his own dime, on his own time.
Arnold is a man, probably in his late 60s or early 70s. He might weigh 135 pounds-he's not a man of large stature. Why do you need to know this? Because the mayor has called him a menace to society. The city has threatened to sue him. He's been arrested several times. Because he feeds the homeless, and doesn't get the city's permission or get a permit? Yes. Probably because he feeds them at the beach, where all the tourists and rich folk can see the outcasts of Broward. And Fort Lauderdale doesn't want these men and women to be seen.
What have we come to, when the hurting and the poor are ignored? They have names, stories, mothers, fathers. They weren't always homeless. Some are war veterans who fought to defend the people that ignore them every day. Some were successful businessmen and women who lost everything in a bad deal.
Arnold cares for these people. And they care for him. When he arrived on Wednesday, there were over a hundred people already waiting for him. And as he pulled up in a van with food, the homeless and forgotten men and women stood and became a team. Some carried picnic tables over. Some helped unload the van. But on all their faces was love for a man who loved them just the way they were. As they lined up to get this solid meal, Arnold went around and spoke to them individually. They were his friends. His neighbors. His brothers and sisters.
For the past 4 years, however, Arnold wanted to do something more. Since he's a chef, he knows a lot about the restaurant industry here in South Florida. He says that there are over 45,000 food service jobs in South Fla, plenty for everyone. And he knows that being a chef is one of the few good jobs that doesn't require a college degree. So he began his own quest to get his homeless friends off the streets and find them good jobs.
Arnold began a school to train these men and women, whoever was willing, to be in the food service industry. He teaches them classes just like they would get at any top culinary school. And if they accept his offer to enter the program, they get temporary housing for 9 weeks, free schooling, and certification that almost ensures them a job when they are done. AND they can continue to take the next 3 levels of food preparation so that they can become full chefs.
He's now on his 19th class. And one of the most amazing things about it all is that as these "ex-homeless" men and women in the school are learning their craft, Arnold has them learn by helping him prepare the Wednesday night meal for several hundred of their homeless brothers and sisters each week. The chefs-in-training who arrived in that van with Arnold Wednesday night were probably the ones eating there just a few weeks prior.
Why do I write this? Because Arnold is a hero. He is busy about his Father's business. He wants to further the Kingdom of God. He's not a celebrity in our book. He'll never make the front page, never be in a tabloid, never be honored at any awards ceremony here on earth. But I don't doubt that in heaven, this man will be given treasures beyone our wildest dreams.
The name of his ministry? Love Thy Neighbor. Is he doing it? Absolutely.