Thursday walking down the street in Die Haag (The Hague) looking for a place to eat I got stopped by a man saying something in Dutch. I did my typical motion in this scenario of pointing to myself and saying, "I speak English." It took me a second to realize that as I did so the man subtly started speaking English. Being an older gentlemen that surprised me (typically the younger generation speaks English much better than the older generation). What he wanted was now pretty clear to me: money. Speaking to me in a proximity that far exceeded the American personal space bubble, he started telling me his story. He said that he needed money for food because he has a mental condition and could not get work. Diverting the question, I asked if he was homeless. "Nobutthegovernmentdoesnotgivemeenoughmoneyforfood" he responded without taking a breath. Now, being skeptical of beggars but wanting to help out in some way I to get some lunch with him. He was a bit caught off guard by my offer and said that he cooks his own meals. I said that I didn't have money to give, but I am willing to get lunch with him. He finally settled for my offer. I asked where he wanted to go and he pointed to the pizza restaurant down the street (Pizza Hut).
There were already some people from our group in the Pizza Hut (surprise, surprise... Americans in the Pizza Hut). But, other than the logo, this restaurant looked very little like what a typical Pizza Hut and more like a fancy upscale restaurant (in business major terms we say, the company has a different marketing positioning strategy for Europe than the U.S.). I got looks from my friends implying, "who is this guy?" We sat down and when the waitress came and asked us what we wanted Case (I now got his name, but I don't know if that is how he spells it) started ordering a medium Margarita Pizza. I told her to make it a large and we could split the pizza. While we were waiting for the pizza he said, "I appreciate that you are getting lunch for me, but could you give me some money?" Diverting the conversation I talked to him about sports, he is watching to tour de France and cheering for the Dutchman to win, and likes football. I found out he spends his days walking, and has no friends. He sees the doctor a couple of times a week. I noted the North Dakota logo fleece jacket he was wearing and naively asked if he had been there. He would get distracted by my small talk for a little while and then remember that he was on a mission to extract euros from my pocket. He eventually changed his tactic to asking me if I could ask my friends if they had money to spare. Reluctantly I asked a few of the others if they had some money.
When the pizza arrived, Case dove right in. I typically eat pretty quickly, but I had barely finished my first slice by the time he was starting his third. Fortunately he got full and left me my half of the pizza. But if you give a mouse a cookie, he is going to want something to drink... so I ordered him a water.
After we were done eating, I asked Case if I could pray for him. I prayed he would find work and that he would be healed from his condition and that we would trust God. I think he appreciated this. I think he was still hoping I would give him more money. I left torn whether I should have done more.
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