Homeless people. They are all addicted to drugs, right? They all have drinking problems, they all deserve to be homeless because they mismanaged their money, they're ignorant, they're psychotic, etc. Let's be honest with ourselves... we've probably all thought some of these things at one time or another. Sure, a very small portion of these people may fit the stereotypical description, but the truth is that we could ALL be homeless in the blink of an eye.
Ex1: You were in the military, bomb went off, you're now disabled but the money you're given isn't enough to maintain your home, and the pain you're in or your handicap keep you from being able to hold a job. On top of that, lets say you get sick and the medical bills are outrageous. Before you know it you're deciding which bills to pay off and which bills to let slide. You choose to pay for your life-saving medical treatment instead of paying your rent. A few months go by and before you know it, you have an eviction notice. You have no family. You are now homeless.
Ex2: You work hard your whole life to provide and your wife gets cancer, or your child gets leukemia and can no longer stay at home. The doctor tells you that they only have a 6 months left. You work hard to pay the medical bills but you're self employed and the insurance you have isn't covering enough of it and the bills stack up. The worse your loved one gets, the less you feel like being at work because you want to be by their side. Your business suffers, probably crashes and your once profitable business is now bankrupt. You have enough going on in your life to deal with and before you know it, you're staying at the hospital every night and you've forgotten to pay your mortgage. Your family member passes away, you salvage enough money to pay for a funeral but you're a mess and you come home to find out that your house has been foreclosed on. You're now homeless.
I realize these may be crude examples, but you get the idea. We have the stereotypes that only certain people become homeless, but it can happen to anyone. If you had no home, no hope, everyone on the streets passed you by, you weren't sure where your next meal was coming from or where you might sleep, wouldn't you drink a little to numb the pain? Wouldn't you want a temporary escape? Because we all know the loose change people throw you out the window isn't going to be enough to change your life. Even rich people, powerful people, who have never had a care in the world can become alcoholics, (but its so glamorous when they do it) so wouldn't it make sense that people who have nothing and no one might feel that same urge? Yet we judge them. We think that our few dollars here and there might actually provide a life and home for them and that they should just get up and start applying for jobs? Get real. What they need is people who care. People who ask them their name, people who treat them like human beings, people willing to get involved beyond the car window.
Real life encounter: Just today Jeremy and I found ourselves at a light with a homeless veteran on the corner and we decided to give him the only money we had, a $20. When we handed it to him and he realized that it wasn't merely a scrap, he started bawling. It was the most powerful and convicting thing I've witnessed in a while. It hurt me down in the pit of my stomach. Lord willing, none of us will ever know what it's like to be a "nobody," to be given scraps of change from a window, to be lumped into the group of homeless people who often go unnoticed. To see a grown man cry in front of your eyes over handing him what (to us) is a weekly Starbucks tab and have him sob over the gift, was a sobering feeling. It reminds us that above any label we can give him, he is a human being who is deeply affected by a kindness we can ALL provide. We have the ability to change peoples lives and through our seemingly small acts we are revealing God to them. His response is something that will stick with me, possibly forever. We hope it is an inspiration for others our there to go out and do the same.
The story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore in these books will change your life. I dare you to read them and encounter a wave of knowledge and realization of the power and effect you can have on another human being. You don't have to be a doctor to save someones life. You might just be the answer someone is looking for.
The excerpt below is from "What Difference do it Make?" To give you a little background: Roll Hall- a white guy who volunteers at the homeless shelter and Denver Moore- a homeless african american who has befriended Ron are walking around the streets of down town Fort Worth:
Ron Hall (to Jose, a hispanic homeless man): What can I do for you today?
Jose: "I needsh a reedle mooney" he slurred in a heavy spanish accent
Ron Hall: I'm not giving a drunk a $20 bill I thought to myself as I watched the drool drip down the hispanic man's chin. Smiling away, I dug into my pockets feeling for smaller change. When I found none, I pulled out the twenty dollar bill and showed it to Denver. Glancing back at (Denver) my mentor in the 'hood, I tried intently to telegraph a message with my eyes: If I give him my last twenty, all he's gonna do is go down the the liquor store and buy more booze. Suddenly Denver leaned in, and I felt his breath at my ear, "Don't judge the man, just give him the twenty dollars." Reluctantly, I held out the money, and the man took it. Just at that moment the southbound drop of drool detached itself from his chin and hurtled toward the sidewalk.
Jose: "Shank ew"
Ron Hall: I had never stopped smiling, but now my grin felt as fake as a plugged nickel. I felt like I'd just given a push to a suicide jumper. Denver and I bid the man goodbye and headed down the road toward the mission. We hadn't gone thirty yards when Denver stopped.
Denver: Turn around and look at me, Mr Ron. I gotta tell you something. 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. He don't even drink Mr. Ron. He depends on people like you to eat. You know what you did? You done judged a man without knowin his heart. Now i'm gonna tell you somethin, if you gon be walkin' these streets with me, you gon have to learn how to serve these people without judgin' em'. Let the judgin' be up to God.
Real life encounter: Just today Jeremy and I found ourselves at a light with a homeless veteran on the corner and we decided to give him the only money we had, a $20. When we handed it to him and he realized that it wasn't merely a scrap, he started bawling. It was the most powerful and convicting thing I've witnessed in a while. It hurt me down in the pit of my stomach. Lord willing, none of us will ever know what it's like to be a "nobody," to be given scraps of change from a window, to be lumped into the group of homeless people who often go unnoticed. To see a grown man cry in front of your eyes over handing him what (to us) is a weekly Starbucks tab and have him sob over the gift, was a sobering feeling. It reminds us that above any label we can give him, he is a human being who is deeply affected by a kindness we can ALL provide. We have the ability to change peoples lives and through our seemingly small acts we are revealing God to them. His response is something that will stick with me, possibly forever. We hope it is an inspiration for others our there to go out and do the same.
The story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore in these books will change your life. I dare you to read them and encounter a wave of knowledge and realization of the power and effect you can have on another human being. You don't have to be a doctor to save someones life. You might just be the answer someone is looking for.
The excerpt below is from "What Difference do it Make?" To give you a little background: Roll Hall- a white guy who volunteers at the homeless shelter and Denver Moore- a homeless african american who has befriended Ron are walking around the streets of down town Fort Worth:
Ron Hall (to Jose, a hispanic homeless man): What can I do for you today?
Jose: "I needsh a reedle mooney" he slurred in a heavy spanish accent
Ron Hall: I'm not giving a drunk a $20 bill I thought to myself as I watched the drool drip down the hispanic man's chin. Smiling away, I dug into my pockets feeling for smaller change. When I found none, I pulled out the twenty dollar bill and showed it to Denver. Glancing back at (Denver) my mentor in the 'hood, I tried intently to telegraph a message with my eyes: If I give him my last twenty, all he's gonna do is go down the the liquor store and buy more booze. Suddenly Denver leaned in, and I felt his breath at my ear, "Don't judge the man, just give him the twenty dollars." Reluctantly, I held out the money, and the man took it. Just at that moment the southbound drop of drool detached itself from his chin and hurtled toward the sidewalk.
Jose: "Shank ew"
Ron Hall: I had never stopped smiling, but now my grin felt as fake as a plugged nickel. I felt like I'd just given a push to a suicide jumper. Denver and I bid the man goodbye and headed down the road toward the mission. We hadn't gone thirty yards when Denver stopped.
Denver: Turn around and look at me, Mr Ron. I gotta tell you something. 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. He don't even drink Mr. Ron. He depends on people like you to eat. You know what you did? You done judged a man without knowin his heart. Now i'm gonna tell you somethin, if you gon be walkin' these streets with me, you gon have to learn how to serve these people without judgin' em'. Let the judgin' be up to God.
