From homeless to homebuilder, focused on a smooth horizon

Sherri BrownCommunications, GBC

Paul Matson poses with Baptist campus minister Allan Thomas at Augusta State University. Matson met Thomas five years ago during his first week at the university. That was the week Thomas discovered Matson was a homeless student.

Life was pretty good for Paul Matson. He was a senior in high school, a good student who was eligible for the HOPE scholarship, making plans to attend nearby Augusta State University. Then, sometime around the Christmas holidays, his mother told him she was moving.

She didn’t invite him to come along.

Matson, 18, found himself alone in the small Augusta apartment. He stayed there by himself, attending high school every day. When he was evicted from the apartment, he was able to find a few temporary places to sleep, then stayed in a home for homeless adults.

Matson still wanted to attend college and with his scholarship, all his tuition was covered. He asked a friend to drive him to the college to register for classes at Augusta State University.

While all of his tuition was covered, no housing was provided with Matson’s scholarship. With no transportation, Matson knew he had to stay close to campus. The first week of school, he moved onto campus with all of his belongings in a backpack. He found a safe spot for sleeping – between two concrete barriers about a half mile from the school.

He still had no money for food, but discovered the first week of school is a good time for someone who was hungry. Every day there was an event with free food.

Sherri BrownCommunications, GBC

Baptist students at Augusta State University first showed the love of God to Matson, then they helped him learn how to love God himself. Matson has been a summer missionary once before and this summer will serve again in the summer missions program. He’ll be working at registration during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis.

The Baptists had some great food, so Matson planned his schedule around their events – pizza at lunch on Wednesday, food at the Thursday service, and a Saturday night party with a buffet.

There was also a sofa, and after eating until he was full, Matson lay down and dozed off while students continued to mingle around him.

His behavior was a little odd, thought Allan Thomas, campus minister at Augusta State University.

One of the students from the Baptist collegiate ministry offered Matson a ride home. He accepted, but told him to let him off near campus. Matson didn’t want to tell anyone that he slept on a concrete slab. But when his new friend refused to drop him off. Matson finally admitted he didn’t have a home.

He ended up standing on the porch of Allan Thomas’ home.

That night Matson stayed at the Salvation Army homeless shelter.

The next morning, a Sunday, Thomas took him to church. During Sunday School, Thomas was stunned when Matson answered the first four questions right off the bat.

On Monday morning, Thomas called the college dean to make sure Matson was really a student. She told him Matson had an excellent high school record and was a student at Augusta State, paid for by scholarships.

Then Thomas went to work. Matson didn’t have a student I.D., so Thomas helped him get that. With the I.D. he could ride the city bus for free, so transportation was taken care of. He found a spot for Matson at a Garden City homeless shelter.

The few clothes that Matson owned hadn’t been washed in a long time. BCM students took them home and washed them.

Thomas was proud – and a little surprised – at the response of some of the students at BCM. He saw them take care of Matson, watch out for him.

Matson became part of the BCM family and when the BCM fall conference at Jekyll Island was announced, he signed up to go. That weekend, on a Saturday night, a group of Baptist students sat and talked on a deck overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Paul stood up and urged everyone to stand at the rail.

“Stare out as far as you can see,” he urged them in his quiet voice. “Now look down right in front of you where the waves are crashing. In front of you it’s really rough, but on the horizon it’s smooth.

“Right now, it’s really rough, but if we keep on, go through it, later on it will be smooth.”

That was five years ago. Since then, Matson has found more permanent housing, is finishing a degree, and has found a safe place to grow – at BCM.

Although Paul Matson had to grow up quickly and figure it all out by himself he doesn’t think back on those first days. They are his past and his new life is much different.

Not only has he become a follower of Jesus, Matson continues to learn how to live out this new life. He was even able to go on a mission trip with the BCM – to New Orleans where he helped build a house for someone who was homeless.