Knowledge
10/26/2009So, as of the last post we have had many comments on whether or not we as Christians should be responsible for helping the homeless. We have also discovered however that helping the homeless is not just going and giving them everything they need. In order for a homeless person to really get help do we need to educate ourselves in the matter? Well, yes and no. I believe there is power in just going and helping. Here is a video made by my friend and coworker Nick Jones, it was created for “Love is an action” 2 years ago.
The Block Party is now held by LifeChurch.tv at “the Refuge” in Oklahoma City. I just shot video for it this weekend (I’ll show it to everyone once its finished). The Block Party is a time for Christians living in the suburbs to look at Christ face to face. Look into faces of people that have nothing left and give them hope in the future. But in order to do that we must educate ourselves on how to really help an “urbanite.” We should try and get them out of poverty and not help keep them there. So here is the question that I would like answered – What can we do to educate ourselves on helping the homeless?
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What can we do to educate ourselves on helping the homeless? I think the answer to this question looks different for everyone since we are all created with unique gifts. Tim commented on the book Under the Overpass. The author Mike Yankoski had several goals and one of them was to educate. It did just that for me and really put a passion in my life to serve the homeless.
Personally I think one of the best forms of education to this issue is exposure. I have read books, researched statistics, and explored what other people are doing but I have learned more by getting up and going, by engaging in conversations with the homeless and listening. What better source to educate yourself on the issue than the source itself.
I think there are plenty of things we can do to educate ourselves, but I think the best way is to be in there shoes. I know we can never really be in their shoes, in the fact that we havent lost our homes and our work, BUT i have always wanted to do one of those events where you live all day and all night in a cardboard box with no food. I think only then can you really be educated on how to help the homeless because then we see how it is. Also, we need to go and talk to the homeless, see what their individual needs are. Not every homeless person is a raging alcholic and not all of them are addicted to drugs, some of them really just need to be shown how to work and I think we need to help them find jobs that they can keep. We need to educate them on money and educate them on what is essential in life. I do not think if you just throw money at them that you can help them, but I do believe that everyone deserves and equal chance to see what they can do for themselves if given a push in the right direction.
schizosketch and Paige have a great point, get exposed, wallow around in the mud, have a goal of conversation…not conversion. Throwing money at situations never solves problems, it only creates more dependence. Educate and break free. Look on your fellow man with compassion. Find a big box and have a sleep over. Give them your shoes. Serve in a soup kitchen. Offer help to the addicted. Listen. Christ’s first public words were Matt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” God is on your side if you are a zero, a misfit, a prostitute, a crackhead, a cheater, a liar, a loser. We were once poor in spirit, it is time to use our talents and show them the face of Christ.