His life testament of redemption, service

Last week, I attended calling hours for a childhood friend in a most unusual place. The service was held at a soup kitchen.

And it was perfect.

The Rev. Douglas Ramsey Sr. dedicated much of his time and talent to Hope Outreach Ministries, which also houses a church.

Hope Outreach Ministries serves some of the city of Canton’s most needy and vulnerable people.

In fact, some of them were there, seated in the dining area within view of Doug’s casket, mostly just curious about the influx of visitors. Unlike some soup kitchens, Hope Outreach allows people to stay all day because it’s about more than food. It’s also about our universal need for human interaction.

The Rev. Marilyn Roman, the ministry’s founder, said Doug filled the void left by her brother’s death.

Gratitude

Like the Good Samaritan, Doug devoted his life to the types of people we usually try to avoid.

After being incarcerated as a young man, the remainder of his life seemed to be an endless expression of gratitude.

He used his freedom to grant it to others by introducing them to the God who changed his life.

It was poignant and probably fitting that Doug’s calling hours were just a stone’s throw from his childhood home. But the neighborhood we called Crystal Park is a vastly different place today. On many corners, struggle and poverty are evident.

Public amenities, which included a swimming pool, Shanafelt Field and the Cook Zoo, are long gone.

Outside the doors of Hope Outreach Ministries, there is an aura of despair. Inside, it is abuzz with people serving and ministering to others.

Socialized distance

It makes perfect sense that Doug circled back to the old neighborhood to serve it. He also was deeply committed to prison ministry, traveling to adult and juvenile correctional facilities, and through Faith House, a ministry he started to help former offenders re-enter their communities as productive citizens.

He didn’t allow his past to define or limit what he did for others. He not only earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kent State University, but he also built a school in Kenya.

During the first week of May,

Doug could be found on Courthouse Square as one of several marathon Bible readers leading up to the National Day of Prayer.

The irony of our being asked to keep our distance from one another these days is that it underscores how much we need one another. Some people have spent much of their lives in “socialized distance.” You see them every day, wandering the streets, pushing all their worldly goods in a shopping cart.

Doug saw them. He also served them.

The tragedy of what’s happening now is that it deepens our fear of those in most need of help; the kind of people Doug devoted his life to serving.

He didn’t tsk-tsk and cross to the other side of the road. Instead, he laid out a lighted path for others to find their way back to life.