Revolutionary Companion

Bob Rapp, Crossroads '13

Bob Rapp came to Moravian Seminary’s Crossroads Lay Leadership program to explore. He had just started working through United Church of Christ’s licensure program after a career as a trucker when he heard about Crossroads. It seemed like something he should investigate, and so he did. From the first class, he says, “I felt safe, and that’s such an important part of the program.” It is that sense of safety that he embodies and that he takes out into his work with some of most invisible members of our communities, homeless veterans.

He takes what he has learned and experienced in Crossroads as well as what he knows is true about himself—that he is a hands-on guy, that he was an Army Brat as a kid and knows the military lifestyle, that he sees the preciousness of life everywhere, that he is a follower of Jesus, that he has a vision for possibilities.

Rapp does street-outreach work for Hope for Veterans, a non-profit organization that provides housing and services to homeless veterans. Rapp’s job is to look for homeless veterans—in alleys, under bridges, out in the woods. When he finds someone, his next step is to be with them wherever they are until they feel safe enough to trust him, and then he helps them get into the Hope for Veterans program.

For some vets, the movement into the program occurs quickly, with others it is a longer journey that can take years. For Bob, the work is all about taking the experience of community he gained in the Crossroads program out into the world. His mission, he explains, is to foster what’s possible by working together. “A lot of people do tremendous stuff,” he says, “and we need to share that.”