I HAVE NO ONE...Day 8

...and his sign read,
"HOMELESS  HUNGRY
SICK & TIRED
ANYTHING HELPS
I HAVE NO ONE"

A couple of my children have been involved in a homeless ministry (Lights Out) with their youth group for a couple of years.  I have to admit that it seemed sort of scary to see my teenagers go to downtown Seattle on a Saturday night and walk the streets striking up conversations with the homeless and offering them sack lunches, and  new socks and hats.

Then, in October, I had the opportunity to experience the ministry with my kids.  Before we left for church to pack the lunches, I sat in the living room with my kids and told them I was feeling a little anxious about the whole thing.  Both of my boys told me that once I get there I will completely forget about my anxiety.  They were right.

At our church 30 teenagers busily put together sack lunches, piled them in their backpacks and then gathered to pray.  Next we loaded up in the vans and drove downtown. 

Once there, we split into smaller groups so we wouldn't overwhelm anyone with our size.  At this point I was still a bit nervous.  We walked a short way and turned a corner, and there, huddled under an overpass were several homeless people trying to stay warm and dry on a very wet and chilly October night. 

At that point I truly experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit as my fear instantly vanished.  There was an middle-aged woman on the ground, holding her knees to her chest and I sat down next to her.  I introduced myself, and learned her name.  She seemed weak and cold and I took a lunch and some socks out of my backpack and handed them to her.  She raised up her hands and showed me 2 fingers, and pointed to the man curled up asleep near her.  She was trying to care for her companion too.  I gave her another lunch and pair of socks.  This woman didn't speak much English but we still had a conversation...maybe not fully understanding one another, but definitely connecting. 

All of a sudden I realized that the whole time we had been talking I had been grasping her hands in mine and I cold feel her cold skin against my warmth.  I learned from our time together that she was sick (the cough she had was terrible) and that she had been homeless for 8 months.  I asked her if it would be alright if I prayed with her and she squeezed my hands even tighter and we prayed.  By then the rest of the group was ready to move on.  Oh my, it was really hard to pull away knowing I had done so little for someone in such need...but I was glad that she and her friend would have lunches to eat and some thick socks for their feet just for this one night, anyway.

That night as we returned home I felt conflict ...the same conflict my children have expressed to me as these nights in downtown Seattle linger in their minds.  After all,  what we did was just a tiny, tiny, tiny drop in the bucket.  Then again, sometimes God uses little drops in the bucket to do his work...but even that sounds too cliche to me.  The truth is...I don't know how to end this post...there is so much to be done....there is another "Lights Out" tonight...

Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can. -John Wesley

 Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:15-16 (The Message)