Hope

A riddle. You can’t see me. You choose where to put me. You need me as much or more than food. Without me you would die. What am I?

That was Dan’s riddle for us last Tuesday night who was filling in for Paul. The answer is hope. He said that hope is for the soul like oxygen is for the body. It sustains us through difficult times. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 15:13 that “now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. True hope is putting the full weight of your trust in Jesus Alone. Only then will you have hope. This message was for all of us.

It was apparent that the homeless appreciated his message. One decided to give Dan a dollar. That is very unusual since most only will ask for a dollar. Dan tried to give it someone else he thought was in need, but that person declined. He told Dan “you got that dollar for preaching” Later he did find someone to bless with his wages. Thanks Dan for your serve to Food for Life.

We served 75 meals with the assistance of 22 volunteers. Everyone was fairly calm, with one exception. One individual, sporting a golf club, threatened to tee off on another homeless person in the food line. Fortunately, he left before there was any serious confrontation.
~Marc

Observation

Last week on Tuesday, I was talking with a volunteer that has not been downtown in a couple of years. That thing that really surprised him was the change in the demographices of the poor and homeless. Now the group is much younger which includes women (some even pregnant). He commented that when he was volunteering a few years ago that most of the homeless were middle age men. They consistently showed up every week and for the most part listened attentively to the preaching and were calm while eating their food. Now some become angry easily when being served regardless how patient the volunteers are. Usually they want specific food or two plates instead of one and can not understand why they can’t get what they want. We try to set some rules to make sure everyone gets something to eat. It is a different group to some degree and some are definitely not happy.

As I write this observation, I wonder how I would act if I was in their circumstances. I probably would be worse. We all expect things to go right for us and when they don’t we look for someone to blame. However, if the truth be known, we are responsible for many things that happen to us and it is hard to accept responsibility. So what is the answer? The same as it has always been. We need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. That is what fuels us to go down every Tuesday and fellowship with the poor and homeless regardless of their behavior.

Last week we served 100 meals with the assistance of 24 volunteers.
~Marc

Lesson Learned?

We get many requests from the homeless each week. I know there are a lot of needs if you are living on the street but cash is usually at the top of the agenda. The reasons given are mostly for a bus ticket or for some breakfast for the next day. Obviously some of the requests are legitimate and some are not. The key is making that determination which is difficult. Lately I have been thinking that if the requests are every week then you know something else is going on. Finally I decided that I would follow the house rules and not give out any money for any reason. If someone needed something, I would purchase it for them then there would be no question in my mind whether it was a legitimate or not.

If you spend any time downtown with the homeless, you can expect to run into them at other times during the week. I was going in to a store the other day and sure enough there was a homeless guy out front that I had seen downtown. It appeared that the manager of the store was having a few words with him about loitering. I knew he would recognize me so I waved at him as I entered the store. I kept thinking while shopping that I probably would see him later. Sure enough he was there when I left the store and wanted to talk to me. It seems he needed something to eat and wondered if I had a few dollars to spare. My new rule was not to give money but to purchase what was needed to make sure the request was legitimate. However, I broke my own rule and gave him all the money I had, which was not much. I really wanted to go home.

The next Tuesday night I saw this individual and asked him what he used the money for that I had given him. His answer was “I have to be honest; I bought a can of beer”. That was not what I wanted to hear. Obviously, rules should not be broken if I really want to help someone. In this case I only contributed to his addiction and I hurt him.
~Marc