Meet Marcelo

My friend wasn't asking God for anything.

I was walking back from a laundromat in Belo Horizonte, pulling a suitcase stuffed with laundry and feeling more than a little frustrated. The morning hadn't gone according to plan, the laundry had taken longer than I'd hoped, and we had a very tight window to get packed up and make our flight to São Paulo for the final leg of our trip.

I was in a hurry. And not in my most grateful mood.

Then I saw Marcelo.

He was in a busy median a few blocks from our Airbnb, surrounded by the small things he sells to earn a little money. As you can see, he was on his knees praying.

When he was done, I walked up and asked him a question in my rusty Portuguese.

“May I ask what you’re praying for today?”

“Por nada,” he said.

Marcelo told me he never starts his day without prayer, but that on that morning, he was simply thanking God for his blessings.

He wasn't asking God for money, food, or a roof over his head.

We chatted and I bought a few of his things. Then I gave him some money from the Kindness Card Movement. But his first instinct was to give me more merchandise.

I explained that wasn't how this worked. I pulled out my phone and showed him pictures of people I've met through the movement, and his smile grew.

When Marcelo realized he was now part of that story—that somewhere in America people would see his face and hear about the man in Belo Horizonte who begins every day on his knees—he was honored.

Then, as I walked away, he prayed again.

Marcelo was one of several people I met in Brazil because some of you donated to the Kindness Card Movement just before I left. I have a few more of those stories to tell.

The truth is, that morning I was frustrated about laundry and worried about making a flight.

Marcelo was living on the streets and thinking about gratitude.

I've met a lot of people through the Kindness Card Movement, and I know we've helped some of them. But every once in a while, I meet someone who gives me considerably more than I give them.

Marcelo was one of those people.