The other night I was leaving work, just as the evening sun was taking its turn downward. Another 12-hour day at the emergency shelter, a typical schedule these past 10 months as we’ve worked to turn things around.

I was pulling out of our parking lot, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of our emergency shelter guests gesticulating wildly out my driver’s side window. But not in a menacing way. Rather, you could see their broad smile as they waved their arms over their head to get my attention.

I braked and rolled down my window, and heard the guest shout, “I get citizenship! … I get citizenship certificate today!”

Not entirely sure that I was understanding, but sensing the guest’s joy, I put the pickup in park and got out to talk with them.

The guest repeated their news; then things clicked. There was a large naturalization ceremony that took place in our city that day, and evidently our guest was one of 200 people who took their oath of citizenship.

He was thanking me for the support that our shelter had provided him in seeking his citizenship. And he simply wanted to share his immense joy with me!

Before long, we were enveloped in a memorable hug, right there in the parking lot.

What an announcement! How serendipitous for me to have been leaving at the same time our guest was walking to the bus stop on the corner. (Kidding, I know it was more than just coincidence!)

There, in that moment, my fatigue melted; my resolve strengthened; and my wonderment about the many miracles that take place under our shelter’s roof every single day grew yet again.

The work is often challenging, and there are long intervals between these spectacular moments of joy. But the episode reminded me of the gospel that takes place each and every day at our shelter. So many things our team does that others wouldn’t recognize as holy. But trust me, when helping a guest obtain citizenship, the Holy Spirit is involved there somewhere.

Friends, the work we do as Jesus followers doesn’t always look like it does on Sunday mornings. Sometimes the work is the real nitty gritty of making sure someone has a meal, or a new pair of socks, or a place to lay their head that night.

Sometimes the gospel looks like assisting someone in obtaining a government identification, or filling out a confusing application for services … or, yes, helping a person obtain their citizenship.

Take a look around you, friends. There is plenty of need in your community. Being the church sometimes means doing the unexpected, but in the end, we are called to do on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.