By Ben Jacobs

Ironically, they are everywhere. They walk by us and we walk by them. Yes, we notice the ones that have an attractive appearance. One that has that bubbly personality, an infectious laugh. The one who seems to be able to jump into any conversation. And then there are “the rest.”

Juliana, a new growing convert herself and recently baptized, is not one that you would classify as unnoticeable. She stands out in many areas in her life, but she has the unique ability to notice everyone, including the unnoticeables. She met Aline, a lady in her workforce who was at that age when she should be rejoicing over many victories. Instead, Aline is one of the many, working long hours in front of a production belt—not just picking up those pieces, but the pieces of her life.

Aline had just gone through an unexpected divorce after she found out her husband had left her for another man. Desiring to just get away from this nightmare, she signed the papers too quickly. Financially strapped, she found herself sharing a room in a small house with her teenage son, Lucas. In her free time, reeling from the emotional aftermath, she had to take care of her nearly paralyzed father who had a stroke. She herself cannot see very well due to a deformity in her right eye. Her personality is both simple and sincere. Lucas, already on the quiet side, was beginning to isolate himself even more.

This description is not for you to take pity but to describe some quiet and sad souls that we usually would simply pass by. The Unnoticeables. But Juliana noticed her sadness. She befriended her and invited her and Lucas to our church barbecue. And then our church noticed them and opened up their hearts to them. After a few weeks, I was able to offer them a Bible study, and my wife, along with Juliana and her husband, joined them. We plodded through the studies and answered their simple and sincere questions as this material was very new to both of them. What a joy it was after about two months of Bible study as we knelt down in their living room (there was barely enough room for all six of us). And these two unnoticeables realized that Jesus had noticed them long ago, and they accepted Christ as their Savior.  

Aline has no problem noticing the unnoticeables (maybe because she knows what it is like). She struck up a conversation with a troubled lady who had just been visiting someone on her street, and Aline invited her to church. Aline’s father—almost 80 and barely able to talk—is also someone that most people would just pass by. Aline makes the extra effort to bring him to the studies. Because his body is so stiff after his stroke, he nearly had to be dragged from his home next door. He has yet to make a decision, but he keeps wanting to hear more about Jesus. Aline and Lucas both keep their eyes open to people now. Bernardo, their neighbor and factory coworker, might just be one of the most shy people I have ever met. Who noticed him? Yup, the new ex-unnoticeables.

It is rather ironic that the factory where Aline works is a plastic factory. It takes old, worthless plastic pieces and recycles them into functional items. That is actually what Jesus did to Aline and Lucas, unnoticeable and seemingly without worth, only to be recycled into children of the King!

All names besides Ben and Dani’s are pseudonyms.