I Walk By Faith: A Walk for the homeless

By Leroy Bailey and Henry Darcus II

When God puts something on your heart to do, this book explains the process of walking by faith. It’s not only figuratively but practically. It is the forming of the plan, to preparation and execution. There are lessons learned about God, mankind and myself while doing something for a cause greater than myself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369423684

Leroy Bailey

He wants you to see it’s not about him, it’s about the faith that is within. He only professes to be a servant of God.

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Copyright © 2024 by Leroy Bailey and Henry Darcus II.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/20/2024

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1Preparing for My Journey

Chapter 2The Journey Begins

Chapter 3Florida

Chapter 4The Gulf Coast

Chapter 5Texas

Chapter 6California

Chapter 7The Northern Track

Chapter 8Washington

Chapter 9Idaho

Chapter 10Montana

Chapter 11North Dakota

Chapter 12Minnesota

Chapter 13Wisconsin to Pennsylvania

Chapter 14New York

Chapter 15Vermont and New Hampshire

Chapter 16Massachusetts

Chapter 17New York and New Jersey

Chapter 18Moving toward Philadelphia

Chapter 19Heading Home

Chapter 20Lucy’s Story

Chapter 21Lucy’s Interview

Chapter 22Lessons from the Walk

Chapter 23To My Church Family: Ocean Lakes Church of God, Virginia Beach

Chapter 24To All the People along the Journey

Afterword

PREFACE

A little about the author: my name is Leroy Levi Bailey. I was born on July 25, 1962, in Olean, New York. My earliest memory is of my father dying when I was three. I barely remember him. We were poor, so we moved into the projects, or a low-income neighborhood as they say it today. Before I was five, my mother remarried my stepfather, Ben. My mom and stepdad were both heavy drinkers.

When I was five, I was hit by a car as I was walking to the school bus. I had a fractured skull, broken ribs, and punctured lung. I was in a coma for four to six weeks. When I came home from the hospital, my oldest brother introduced me to beer and cigarettes. He said they would help with the pain. My oldest brother left home when I was nine.

My mom always made us go to church, although she never went herself. When I was eight, I gave my life to Jesus during a night revival. They were singing Put your hand in the hand of the man who stills the water. Looking back, I believe that decision has guided my life to this day, though I didn’t know it at the time.

When I was twelve, my brothers and I were placed in foster care. I was very blessed by the family I stayed with. For the first time in my life, I had stability at home. They owned a dairy farm and built houses, so I was given responsibility. Barb and Bill Campbell gave me some of the best years of my life. For the first two years with them, I didn’t drink or smoke.

I started drinking again—every chance I could—in ninth grade. I managed to graduate from high school, but I was in trouble a lot. I flunked out of college due to my drinking and ended up homeless for about two years.

Being homeless led to depression and started me on a journey to stop drinking. I spent time in several psychiatric wards and ended up at a twenty-eight-day alcohol treatment facility. I progressed to a halfway house for recovery. It was through Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, that I started to develop a strong relationship with God. I was mentored by my sponsor, Bill C. He told me there were only two things to know about God: there is one, and I am not Him.

During this process, I tried several different churches to help get me sober. I was baptized several times by Methodist, Baptist, Full Gospel, and Pentecostal churches. Regardless of the church, my explorations increased my relationship with God. That relationship became my driving force to show people the way to a stronger relationship with God.

Over the next several years, I got married and had two children. Then I became divorced after seven years of sobriety. During the divorce, I lost custody of my children. At this time, I relapsed into alcohol abuse. After finding myself contemplating suicide several times, I admitted myself into a treatment facility, where I became sober again and went on to another halfway house.

In 1993, I moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. I developed a relationship with my current wife, Lucy. I started a construction business, and I became successful quickly. A downturn in business caused me to go into a depression in 2005. This spun me out, and I returned to drinking. In 2006, I got a DUI—a ticket for driving under the influence of alcohol. Believe it or not, through all of these experiences, I was always volunteering and helping veterans and the homeless whenever I could.

In 2006, God instructed me to sell our house and downsize into a mobile home. This was something that I needed to convince my wife to do. I was fine with it because I knew the Lord would provide all that we needed. I had no clue what following His instruction was going to lead us to do. We were able to find a home and moved into it debt-free. We continued our journey of working and serving others.

Then came Mother’s Day 2008. I was sitting at the kitchen table, discussing the Bible with a friend, Paul, while drinking a beer. I heard a distinct voice inside of me say, You can teach the Word or drink, but you cannot do both.

That was the day my life truly changed. I stopped drinking. My relationship with God became stronger and stronger. I spent a lot of time studying the Bible. The following Sunday, I found Ocean Lakes Church of God. I met Pastor Steve, and he had a heart for God. Within three weeks, I was involved in several ministries, like lawncare, cleaning the church, and Bible study.

My study habits improved through the process of studying the red-letter words of Jesus. Before I started a Bible study session, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would enlighten me, and then I began to read. I didn’t read just to get through the passages, but to internalize the true meaning of His words. That allowed the Bible to truly get into me.

In 2010, while I was in prayer and meditation, a voice inside of me said that God wanted me to spend forty days in Zion. The only Zion I knew in the United States was Zion National Park in Utah. When I told my wife and Pastor Steve about it, they told me I was crazy. They encouraged me to pray for more clarity. Maybe God meant that I should go to Pungo, a wooded and water rich area in Virginia Beach, to pray?

I packed a backpack with a sleeping bag, food, and a tent. My son drove me to Suffolk, Virginia, on Route