The next name given to Brianna was Marcus Akers. Looking at the brief background that Henry had given Brianna, she found it hard to realize that Marcus struggled with his life purpose.
Henry was in bed when he heard a knock at the door of the residence facility. He ignored the knock at first, but the persistence of the knocking made him curious. At the door was Marcus. He was starving and homeless. Henry took him in and fed him toast and tea.
Marcus had aged out of the foster care system and had no prospects for a job or a place to stay. He was also older than other residents that Henry accepted. To help Marcus, Henry began to give Marcus small repair jobs to do. Then he gave him some building tasks that Henry had hoped to have completed to upgrade the facility. Henry was amazed about how Marcus got other young people to join him. He really had a knack for making them feel wanted.
When Henry and Marcus met to discuss Marcus’ future, Henry was amazed by what Marcus had to say. The following is an excerpt from the Our Beginnings section of a website that Marcus had created following that meeting which described an organization that Marcus created.
Marcus: I’ve been inspired by a sermon of Martin Luther King taken from Luke 11:5-13. It’s a parable of a knock on the door at midnight asking for three loaves of bread.
Henry: I understand the reference to a knock on the door at midnight, but you didn’t ask for three loaves of bread.
Marcus: Oh, but I did. They were faith, hope, and purpose. You took me in and gave me all three.
Henry: I guess I did. And you have now given those three loaves to many of our residents.
Marcus: That’s what I want to talk to you about. I want to set up a foster care network called Three Loaves. I’m hoping to create an environment of faith, hope, and purpose as a new model for foster care.
Henry: How can I help?
Marcus: I’m hoping that many of your alumni will become foster parents. What you have created here is the model for what I think foster care should become.
From that conversation, Three Loaves became a reality as a national network of remarkable foster care providers. Eventually Marcus set up a sister organization called Three Loaves Childcare for single moms struggling to sustain themselves and their children. Both of these organizations focused on the three loaves concepts:
- Faith in oneself and the goodness of others
- Hope for a fulfilling life
- Purposeful living based upon finding one’s why
Marcus had found his why.
* * *
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
– Nietzsche (Philosopher)