'Mercy Had a Face': How One Man’s Detour Sparked a Life of Mission

(Photo provided)

For Sam Schultz, a life of service began with an unexpected detour. 

While driving through Denver six years ago, en route to a social event, he passed a group of people sharing a meal with the homeless in a park. Something stirred in his heart, and he turned his car around.

“That decision changed my life. I was inspired by the missionaries and staff to think about Jesus’ invitation to love the poor in a new way,” Schultz said. “The community was vibrant, authentic and free. It wasn't long after that experience that I decided to apply to Christ in the City and leave behind my plans to pursue engineering,” he said. 

Now the Director of Mission Operations at Christ in the City, Schultz leads a ministry that is as much about presence as it is about service. Through friendships formed on the streets, he and the missionaries he mentors bring the love of Christ to the forgotten and rejected corners of Denver. 

“As the director of mission operations, my role is to accompany the missionaries and volunteers as they accompany the poor. I help prepare them for ministry at the beginning of the year with a variety of trainings in our ministry style, communication skills, boundaries and safety,” he explained. 

In addition to preparing missionaries for ministry, Schultz also makes connections with local organizations to support their efforts in relational-based ministries. 

“The other part of my job is to enter into dialogue with various organizations in the Denver area so that we can support them with our ministry in their facilities,” he said. “These are called our volunteer ministries, which entail the same relational-based approach that we do on the streets, except the ministry is done in nursing homes, hospitals, jails and homeless shelters.”

Schultz’s decision to pursue ministry instead of engineering led to years of service, including the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when only a handful of staff could continue serving the homeless. Schultz recalls one winter encounter in particular. 

“A man came forward with a severely disfigured face. I had never seen anything like it. In that moment, I was frozen with shock and disgust, unable to respond or look away,” he said. “But without hesitation, my co-worker Erika smiled warmly at the man, drew near to him and began to speak with him. I stood there mystified by the boldness, confidence and love radiating from this missionary disciple. I could tell that she saw not only a disfigured face, but the face of Jesus. I'm confident that this encounter between the homeless man, Erika and Jesus was not only a gift to them, but it was a grace for me to have witnessed it. Mercy had a face that day.” 

Schultz sees discipleship as simply following where the Master leads and standing alongside the poor and lonely — like his coworker did that very day. 

“Where do we often see our Lord? With sinners, outcasts and those on the fringes. He chose to take company with ordinary, unimpressive men and women and invested in them and loved them,” he said. “I think discipleship is following our Lord’s example, taking company with the poor and lonely in our midst with a loving intentionality.” 

That loving intentionality is at the heart of the formation Christ in the City offers to its missionaries and volunteers. 

“We train our missionaries and volunteers to build relationships with the poor,” Schultz explained. “The deepest poverty is a lack of being wanted, loved and known by others — a poverty of loneliness and isolation. No amount of transactional service can heal that kind of wound. Only a person can fill another’s need for love and relationship.” 

To support that mission, formation is key: spiritual grounding, psychological wholeness, communication skills and community life. After all, as is often said around Christ in the City, “You can’t give what you don’t have.” What the missionaries give must be rooted in something deeper than human strength alone. 

“Without prayer, this ministry would only remain at the level of human love, which is fickle and conditional,” Schultz said. “Only with God in the picture can our efforts lead to supernatural fruits.” 

For those wondering where to begin in serving the poor, Schultz offers a challenge: look where Jesus would go. 

“Where should one be able to find Christians in today’s world? Certainly in churches, worshiping God. But outside the walls of church buildings, I would also hope to find them in the places of greatest need: on the streets of our city, in nursing homes and hospitals, in the jails, prisons and homeless shelters.” 

In recognition of his steadfast discipleship, Sam has been recognized as this month’s Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal Disciple of the Month. His love for others serves as an inspiring testament to Christ’s own love for those who find themselves on the outskirts of society. 

Congratulations, Sam, for being named the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal Disciple of the Month!  

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