Tiger Lily (Evangelism Episodes, part 2)*

Thomas and I were shopping in the city, just taking the cart outside, when we noticed two half pints of raspberries yet in the bottom of the cart.  Examining the receipt, my husband realized we had accidentally forgotten to pay for the berries.  The bus was waiting while Thomas dashed into the store, berries in hand.  As he approached the cash register, our ride pulled away.    

“Well,” I thought, “God must have something in store for us."  

Earlier, Thomas had offered his testimony tract to a 20ish guy sprawled against the building, his crop of curly hair, his baggy pants, and his backpack showing a distinct style.  A sad-faced German shepherd sat beside him as did a mountain bike, his girlfriend, her dog, her bike, and her backpack.   

The girlfriend’s long brown hair fell in front of her, some of it hidden under the knit brown cap on her head.   

“I’m saved,” she had said when we'd given her the pamphlet. 

When Thomas returned from paying for the berries, we lugged our bags of groceries over to the bus stop to wait.  Within minutes, the two backpacking bikers had joined us.  Thomas struck up a conversation with the man. I was still trying to get over the profane language this girl was using in the little bit of small talk we had had.  I knew I should talk with her, tell the gospel to her, but I felt really uncomfortable with her profanity.   "Please help me, Lord," I prayed silently.  "I need Your boldness and love to give this dear girl the Gospel!"

A few moments past, and the girl was in front of me, handing me a yellow lily.  “These smell good!” she said, tucking the flower behind her ear. 

I followed suit.  “Thank you,” I replied.

She called herself Tiger Lily and told me she’d hitchhiked with her dog to all but four states.  She and the boyfriend had been staying in the park in this city; that’s where they were headed now.  

When our bus arrived, she sat behind me as we continued our conversation.  “Is that your real name?” I asked. 

“It’s a nickname,” she said.  “So, like, Dude, what would you call yourself if you could choose a nickname?” she wondered. 

“I’ve always liked my name,” I said; but after thinking a moment replied, “Maybe Autumn.  I like that name.” 

My new friend offered her commentary.  “Dude, I know a lot of [prostitutes] with seasonal names—and colors, too.”  Her comments indicated she had seen a lot.  She told me about demonic influence in the park at night and about a serial killer she had met there.

She didn’t look homeless and when I told her so she replied, “There’s a difference between houseless and homeless, Dude.” 

When Tiger Lily was eighteen, her mom had died, so she’d dropped out of school and had taken to the road.  As an only child with little to no relationship with her father, she didn’t feel her dad really minded what she did.  Back in March, she’d found Gareth, and they’d been together ever since. 

“What about you?” she wondered, pointing to Thomas.

“We’re happily married,” I replied.

“So, like, from your perspective,” she began, “like, what do you think is the secret of a happy marriage?” 

“God,” I replied. 

“Well, like, dude, what about for atheists and agnostics?”

Playing along with her “what if,” I said, “Thinking more of him than you do of yourself.”

Tiger Lily didn’t like that and said she’d just finished reading a book on selfishness and  had done something purely selfish the other day.  “It felt so good,” she explained.

“So you said you were saved,” I reminded her.  “What did you mean by that?” 

“Oh,” she replied, “This like Korean pastor picked me up in while I was hitchhiking Southern California.  He was like so encouraging, Dude.  He said God had like told him to give me $50 but not a ride. Oh, man, it was just what I needed to hear.  He said the world needed people like me, that we were like the type that Jesus would need in His kingdom, that I should like just keep doing what I do.  So I’m satisfied, dude.  I’m ok.”

I had never met a person like Tiger Lily, a modern day hippie.  Nor had I ever heard an explanation for being saved quite like hers. 

“Are you afraid hitchhiking?” I asked. 

She pointed to her dog and told me she trusted her heart for things, so I opened my pocket Bible and showed her Jeremiah 17:9. 

Nonplussed, Tiger Lily responded, "Hey, I love it.  That's beautiful.  Will you copy it down for me?"  All the same, she agreed she'd been tricked by her deceitful heart.  Next, I reviewed with her the Ten Commandments, because she couldn’t remember any of them.  When we got to Commandment 3--about not taking God's name in vain--she immediately changed the subject.  “The thing I don’t like about Christianity is like, dude, you have this fear of God thing.  Dude, I like don’t think that’s cool at all,” she said. 

She was tired.  Between jobs performing with the circus and dispensing marijuana, neither she nor her boyfriend had gotten much sleep.  I glanced over to see how Thomas’s conversation was going with Gareth.  He too was nodding, even though we were engaging them in questions. 

“When I start to mumble, dude, I know I’m sleepy.  Sorry,” she told me.  She called herself an altruist as she dug out a new package of safety pins from her backpack and handed a few of them to me.  But Jamie (she later told me her real name) didn’t like the idea of damnation for a kind-hearted person like herself.  Yet she has a tract and promised to read it. 

“Listen, we can pay for your train ticket if you want to go to church with us Sunday,” Thomas told them, getting Gareth’s number. 

They got out two stops before us. 

I couldn’t get over that I’d actually met Tiger Lily and we’d become friends in this short time but that tonight she’d be sleeping somewhere under a bush outside in the park and I’d be enjoying the comfort of a bed. 

The next day, we were out walking when I saw a hippie girl and her boyfriend admiring fresh flowers at a stand.  I looked twice.  Was it Tiger Lily and Gareth?  No, there were no dogs or bikes and there were different backpacks and faces.  But I felt I understood them, even though I’d never met them. I also got it that they probably thought they were good, too.   

It seems so many we meet--“saved,” “changed by Christ,” or whatever--have the lingo of Christianity but have never met the person of Christ, who radically changes His people from the inside out.  

I still have one of the safety pins given me by Tiger Lily and when I see it, I remember to pray for her--and for the thousands of people like her who live in this sprawling nation of ours--houseless, homeless, or whatever.  

Jesus died to save every one. 

This series is chronicling unique people, events, and situations I have encountered giving out the Gospel, God's Good News of salvation.

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