From the book What Difference do it Make? By Ron Hall, a rich white man and Denver Moore, a poor, black homeless man. Setting: Fort Worth, Texas streets and the Union Gospel Mission.
Traditional mission ministry to the homeless: provide a meal, a bed and a sermon.
Deborah a remarkable white lady who loved the homeless with unusual depth and insight, led a movement that ended up transforming the mission's ministry, adding "a memorial chapel, a new men's center, a women's center, and a free medical clinic."
The medical clinic included a mental health division: "70 percent of homeless people suffer from varying degrees of mental health issues. Before the clinic, the Union Gospel Mission lacked the capacity to offer these folks any meaningful on-site help. Now volunteer counselors and psychologists can intervene directly and also refer those with chronic mental conditions to agencies that can get them on the path to healing."
John Perkins would call this more holistic approach to the homeless Christian Community Development.
Denver, the homeless guy was giving his rich white friend, Ron Hall, a guided tour of the 'streets.' Ron saw a guy that appeared to be dead drunk. Ron was not about to give this drunk any 'blessing' money because it would go to more liquor, but grudgingly he did. Denver explained, "That man you just gave that money to---his name is Jose. And he ain't drunk. He's a stroke victim. And he's one of the hardest workin men I ever knowed." Denver went on to tell me that before a stroke got him, Jose had been a bricklayer and a rock mason who worked hard, lived cheap, and sent all his money home to Mexico to support his family.
"He don't even drink, Mr. Ron. He depends on people like you to eat."
"You know what you did? You judged a man without knowing his heart. If you gon' walk these streets with me, you gon' have to learn to serve these people without judging them. Let the judgement be up to God."
Another word of wisdom from Denver:
"I always did believe in Jesus. Most of the people on the streets know Jesus loves them. But they figure nobody else loves them but Jesus. . . . Tellin us about Jesus is one thing. . . . Whose gon' stick around and show us Jesus."
Some of us need to relocate and live among the homeless or at least do some deep listening to them.
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