The Payoff and I'm Not Talking about the Lottery.

I have been around the homeless population in a serving capacity since the early 80’s. I was blessed to be part of a venture called ‘Ladle Fellowship’ that was birthed by First Presbyterian in downtown San Diego. This was a great experience of learning from the ground floor up how to start a ministry to our homeless friends. Old First Pres just happened to be in the heart of downtown San Diego where so many homeless reside between Balboa Park and the Zoo.

I was fortunate to be part of a concerted staff effort by the church to reach out to the chronic homeless to see if there was a way to break the cycle of homelessness. We were fortunate to live in a city where they chose to fund a downtown effort to have a few social workers work with seniors and the homeless over the next year or so. The lessons I learned about both the plight of the homeless and our shortsighted solutions continue to impact what I choose to do.

Over the last 5 years I have brought probably over a thousand people downtown to the main homeless shelter area. We have handed out food, cold water, popsicles, clothing, blankets and personal hygiene products. My prayer has been to truly connect with a few and connect them to other downtown organizations that can help them be self-sustainable. The reality, which is tragic, is that I have only really talked to a few and only one or two have responded in a way that has ultimately helped them. My heart has been to see a relationship driven approach to giving back dignity to these people who at one time had a normal life but subsequently lost everything.

I have been doing this at Christmas time, Easter time and weekly during the summer extreme heat. I have created almost a cult following of many that love to make burritos at my house and take them to the homeless. This year we did it the Sunday before Christmas and also on Christmas Eve. We had over 70 volunteers both times that made lots of burritos and cooked over 700 dogs. We also served hot coffee from my Starbucks, sliced oranges and some Christmas cookie. Everyone that helped had an awesome time where they realized how blessed they are and how they need to share with everyone as often as possible.

The reality for most is that they went back home with a great sense of helping. I received a significant amount of donations from a few in this larger group so I  can’t deny that this type of work pulls at people’s heart and purse strings. The real opportunity isn’t with the homeless but with our youth that are being raised around generational poverty. I really need families to adopt all of my kids and teens so they experience what it’s like to have your own home. It is much more difficult for most to find the time on a weekly basis to help out much.

The greatest gift for me this Christmas was to have a couple of my teens, Stick and Matt, connected with Dylan, who is a homeless teen. What’s is impressive is that our homeless teen decided to follow through and come back the next. I had promised him if he showed up I would help him get minutes on his phone. His dream was to talk with mom and little sis about his circumstances in Phoenix. I was so pleased, as I was driving, that he talked with his mom. It was a great conversation because there was some distance between them and he had recently moved to Phoenix. We talked a little about the dynamic of reaching back and seeing it as just that. I spent a good portion of today with our homeless teen friend. He is quickly adapting to the ways of New City when it comes to church.

We had a heart to heart talk about the important stuff. He seemed to get the practical logical aspect of stepping up for himself and not making the false assumption that someone else will always do everything regardless of circumstances. As my Anne would say in her own way, ‘He took a shower without destroying the bathroom’. He could stay with us any time he wants if these truly are his behavior patterns when it comes to the way he showers and cleans up after himself.

I was emotionally exhausted after doing this two days in a row. I know that poverty isn’t something that can be attacked without some fall out. The reasons why someone can go from being independent and responsible to being totally a dud and coach potato is difficult to fathom. Yet this happens daily where people just give up on themselves, those around and you that represent Christ and the church.

As I finish up blogging and a group of my older teens come out of the movies I’ll see again whether my homeless teen is serious about growing up and doing it right. This will be an incredible Christmas gift for me. YES! God is alive and about the business of transforming lives that aren’t worthy of our attention.