Piecing it all Together

So we're slowly coming to understand what this neighborhood can be all about. I do sometimes wish that I had come with maybe a little more idea of what I wanted it to look like, but maybe it's OK that we've taken a moment to look at what's here for us. I am realizing how far out of my element I really am here - and yet somehow how perfectly there. Maybe that's exactly how I'm supposed to feel.

Monday nights we're going to have a small bible study. It's mostly Charlie and Tato and a few others. The ones who want some more personal time with the bible. I think that one we'll try to make a little more of our study as well. It should definitely be a good time to center ourselves and really sink our teeth in.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are our outreach to the neighborhood. It's really pretty great to see a bunch of kids come over. I'm hoping this can take more shape than it has so far, but I'm not so sure how to implement that.

Wednesday is the day for the youth group coming over - they're pretty self contained, though we definitely participate. It amazes me how differently two cultures can reach the same spiritual unity. I can't wait to see what all we have to learn from them!

Friday's are usually pretty open - which is good, because we need to breathe at some point. I think we're probably going to switch out a bit as well. Saturday is our Sabath -and pretty closely guarded largely because of the warnings we've gotten from previous dwellers. Sunday of course is church and time for fellowship.

From 7:30 to 4:00 Tuesday through Friday we all have a 'day job' - all of us with homeless agencies. Alex and I work on the PATH outreach team. It's a pretty interesting occupation to say the least. We're not just reaching a hand out to these people once in a while, we're walking to find them, waking up early some weeks to find them, and getting to know many of them on a very personal level. For our colleagues who have been working at PATH for far longer, they have become far more than just clients. There is pain and passion in the job - and personal investment in each and every person we shake hands with, talk about shelters, and hand over a lunch.

I have to say I am particularly fond of speaking with the veterans. For whatever reason I feel a connection to them. I want to reach out to them all the more. We are helping two of them to get into apartments at the moment. It's pretty crazy. One of them has been on the streets a good 15 years. They are both so full of stories.

I definitely understand some of the objections that I have heard to this line of work. We struggle with trying not to be enablers, and I suppose at maybe one lunch a week (we work different parts of the city on different days) they would not be enabled by us alone. We do reach out to everyone that we come across, but if they refuse us, we merely turn and walk away. If they want to come with us to the shelter, we as that they get a tuberculosis test and are ready to take them as early as the following week - all we as is that they show some effort, some sincerity.

It's crazy to think that so many of them don't even want to change their circumstances, but what can we do but respect that? There are those who break our hearts every time they shake their heads but thank us for the lunch. There are those who seem to have no reason to be here, but every one of them has some motivation. Why is a question far to complicated to even begin answering. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that for one reason or another they are happier there than elsewhere. I cannot imagine it, but I suppose I also understand on some level. We met a man two weeks ago making roughly $3,200 a month living in his van. He'd been homeless 8 years. Said he used to drink - a common underlying cause of homelessness - but had been sober well over a year. He said he just didn't feel like there was any reason to pay some $900 - $1400 for rent. It makes perfect sense from that perspective. What is a shower and bed really worth if you're not used to having one? It's a different way of thinking for sure.

I have great hopes for this year. Things are coming together so nicely. I only pray they continue in the same manner. What an amazing world we live in!

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