The Mundane Crisis

A few years ago, I was at a meeting about emergency crisis preparedness and I spoke to a Red Cross worker, who had been trying to prepare different communities for the different regions.  He didn’t know who I was (and I still can’t remember his name), but I asked him, “What is the number one emergency crisis that could hit Multnomah County?”  His response was, “The emergency crisis that Multnomah County faces every day is homelessness… but I don’t think that’s what you are asking.”  It wasn’t, but it should have been. 

Recently, the mayor of Portland and Los Angeles declared homelessness an “emergency crisis”, but we have lived with this crisis for such a long time, we don’t have the drive to get ourselves worked up for it.

If an emergency, such as an earthquake or hurricane hit our county and left four thousand people homeless, it would make headlines across the nation.  Yet the four thousand people who are homeless make no headlines at all.  But we should recognize that homelessness has all the hallmarks of an emergency crisis, without a dramatic event.

92 percent of all homeless women have been physically or sexually assaulted.  (National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, http://www.vawnet.org/applied-research-papers/print-document.php?doc_id=558 )

90 percent of all homeless men and 100 percent of all homeless women suffer from PTSD (Australian/New Zealand Psychiatry  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11127626 )

Those who experience homeless are a third to a fourth more likely to die young.

(Care of the Homeless, University of Tennessee Health Science Center) http://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0415/p634.pdf

Those who experience chronic homelessness cost the public between 30 and 50 thousand dollars per homeless person per year.   (US Interagency Council on Homelessness-- http://usich.gov/population/chronic)

Let's be certain about one thing: Homelessness is a severe crisis.  People's lives are on the line.  Let's take it with the seriousness it deserves. 

Will Plant Trees for Food

The other day I saw an air guitarist earning his daily bread.  Or pizza, whatever.

He was on a street corner, holding a sign for a pizza place… it might have been Little Caesar’s or Pizza Hut.. and he was doing what street sign holders do—holding a sign.  Nothing special, except that the sign was in the shape of a rock guitar.  And instead of just holding the sign, or dancing around, or waving at us passers-by, he was rocking.  Yep, he was playing that air guitar for all it was worth.  As a former air guitarist, I really appreciated his work and that he was allowed to do it in public.  Nay, even encouraged.

It makes me consider the many occupations that might gain no heed were it not for forward-thinking employers.   Think of the many mimes hired by the Disney Company to dress in costumes and wander around their parks.  Think of the thousands of artists hired by animation companies (mostly in Korea, but still).  And the many English majors hired by fast food companies… I mean Huffington Post… I mean… wait, how do English majors earn any money?  Think of all the useless theology majors hired to be pastors.  That’s some innovative hiring.

Then I thought of all these folks I know with practical skills.  I know plumbers, electricians, handymen, landscapers, cooks, factory workers… all of whom are on the street.  These aren’t people who are lazy or stupid.  They are good workers and know their business.  But they can’t get work.  Some of them are poor businessmen.  Some of them moved when they should have stayed.  Some of them changed jobs when they should have remained at the one they were at.  Perhaps they made poor decisions.  But their skills are necessary, and they are essential for keeping our society running.  Yet they are left to languish on the street, not even knowing where they could possibly find employment because no one is hiring people who are on the street.

A new friend of mine told me his story the other day.  He was a union construction worker and made 23 dollars an hour.  He had a family, purchased a house and settled into a good middle class life.  He made an error when he passed the ownership of his house to his brother, as a financial decision.  His brother sold the house out from under him.  He then lost his family, and decided to try his hand in another state as a ranch hand.  They underpaid him and gave him horrible living conditions.  He decided to go back to his hometown, but there was nothing there for him.  His family didn’t want him, and he couldn’t find work.  Now he is on his own in a tent and he doesn’t know what to do with his life or even if he should continue to live.

Why can’t we find work for people with skills?  Perhaps their people skills are something to be desired, and perhaps they are not employable by corporations.  But shouldn’t the church be willing to do alternative hiring, to provide people with work who otherwise can’t find work?  If each person saying “get a job” were willing to hire, the number of homeless could be cut in half.

Dogs Save Lives

Many dogs save the lives of the homeless.

A dog can protect their human.
A dog can keep their human warm on a winter night.
A dog can be a loving irritant to help their human's character grow.
A dog can give their human family to love.
A dog can provide their human with someone to be responsible for and to take care of.
A dog can give friendship and love.

A dog is family.

A dog can be a reason to quit drugs or alcohol.
A dog can be a reason to control one's anger.
A dog can be a focus to develop love and compassion.

Support the homeless with pets.  It is good for the homeless.  It is good for the community.

Dying on the Street

In Portland, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's office released recently a report on deaths that occurred among people who have no known address.

This report admits that the numbers they have are limited and that the report is far from inclusive about deaths of the homeless.  For instance, it does not include those who lived on the street, but died in a hospital or a shelter.  With these limited figures, the Medical Examiner determined that there were 47 deaths on the street last year.  The median age of those dead was 49.  Seven were women. There were more deaths in the cold months than in the warm, although hypothermia was an indirect cause in only three deaths.  Of these 47 deaths, 29 were caused by drugs or alcohol (only three died from alcohol).  The greatest drug killer was heroin, who killed almost a third of those who died on the street.

This is a crisis.  People dying young, dying on the street, and such a large percentage of the street population.  This is, for the most part, preventable.

The recommendations of the report to the county is to obtain housing for people, to build up a health infrastructure, to inform people of services and to get people help to reduce alcohol and drug abuse.

Of course, the other issue is community.  The report mentions that many of these deaths were caused by isolation as much as anything else.  Housing is very helpful, but if one is isolated in a house, there is still many of the same issues.  If we can build communities among the homeless, give them purpose, give them hope, then changes can be made.

That's one of Anawim's main goals: to build community and purpose among the homeless.  

How To Respond To Beggars

It can be a struggle to know what to do for folks who approach us for money, or who are holding a sign asking for support. We want to help, but we often don’t know how. If we give them money, will they use it for drugs or alcohol? By giving them something, are we perpetuating their cycle of poverty? Is it better to give to an organization?

As the debate rages on, and we give neither to the beggar nor an organization that helps them, the one flying the sign is there on the street, in need. The rumors are not true—beggars do not make an excellent salary. A really good day might gain them thirty dollars. But normally, they might get ten or less.

As for alcohol and drugs, yes, some will spend the money they receive to get drunk. Others are hoping to get a place to sleep for the night. Others are just wanting to get a decent meal.

One thing we need to keep in mind, however, that a person begging is desperate for something. No one stands with a sign or approaches people for money unless they are desperate. It isn’t exactly the best employment opportunity—one only takes it if other options are lacking. To beg is to face being ignored, disrespected and openly insulted. No one would take this as their job unless they are at the bottom of their options.

So what do we do? The choice that I have made is to carry around with me items that would assist the beggars, but would not be used to destroy themselves. Below, I have listed a few items that would be used to help a beggar, without any detriment. Some of these items we might have in our cupboards or closets. I just carry these items near my driver’s seat, so I am ready to pass them out to anyone holding a sign as I’m passing by. In this way, I am able to show Christ’s mercy and love without any harm.

By the way, if you would like to hand out tracts to folks, or a list of meals in the area, they are only appreciated if a practical gift accompanies the paper. If you just give paper, that’s a good way to encourage littering. But if you display Christ’s love, they might assume that your offer of the gospel is sincere and not just someone else disrespecting them.

What you can give: 

Socks

A friendly chat about the weather

Breakfast bars or energy bars

A hamburger

A coffee

A gift card to a local coffee shop

A gift card to a grocery store (some stores have gifts cards in which you cannot buy alcohol with them)

An apple

A sandwich (Food prepared at home might be refused by some, because they are concerned that someone might harm them)

Foot or hand warmers (you can buy a pack of six for pretty cheap, and they keep you warm for six hours)

A small blanket (not too hard to carry with them)

A kind word (Very rare in their business, and VERY welcome)

An individual juice

A bagged lunch

Individual chips

Besides this, the other thing I attempt to do is to talk to the person to find out who they are and what their specific needs are. Some folks are taken aback by this, but others really appreciate being treated as a human being and not just a post holding a sign (or a monster).

Be Compassionately Wise

Biblical Response to the Homeless

The homeless are both the bane and pity of our society.  They stand out as the lowest, the outcast, those who perpetually don’t fit in.  In 2005 there were 744,000 homeless people in the United States, yet not all of these people are homeless today.

Not all of these homeless are the same.  Some will only be on the streets for a night or a week or a month.  These have lost jobs and fallen on hard times.  For others, they have a network of supporters sufficient enough to give them a place to crash for a period of time.  But for many, the hard times perpetuate over years, sometimes even decades. These are the chronic homeless and they stand out as the most obvious failure of our society.

James was living on the streets of Gresham.  He was an alcoholic, a violent man and a thief.  But one day, in jail, he had a vision of Jesus, praying for him, calling to him.  He knew he had to change, to live differently, but he didn’t know how.  He approached the pastor who ran a meal and a worship service he attended once a week, and the pastor prayed for him and gave him counsel.  He cut back on his drinking and stopped stealing, but he still had difficulty making the rest of the changes he needed to make.  And no one would hire him because he looked like a bum. 

How are we supposed to react to the homeless?

Many of us look at the homeless in disgust, knowing that if they would just shake their addiction and apply themselves they could get a job and get back on their feet.  Others of us look at the homeless and feel sorrow and sympathy wanting to help, but only able to throw a dollar their way. 

But as believers in Jesus Christ, how are we supposed to react?  Many believers think that if the homeless would just commit themselves to Jesus, then their lives would get straightened out and they could be normal participants in society.  What many Christians don’t know is that at least a third of those who live on the street already have committed themselves to Jesus and are doing their best to live a Christian life.  Yes, some are addicts, but not all.  Many are mentally ill, but we cannot blame homelessness exclusively on mental illness, either. 

How does Scripture tell us to react to these poor and outcast of society? 

• We are to show respect to the poor.  James 2
• We are to respond in love and compassion to everyone in need.  Luke 10
• We are to offer help, especially to believers.  Galatians 6:10
• We are to offer hospitality, clothing, shelter and food.  Matthew 25:31-46
• We are to offer fellowship and peace. Romans 12

Most of all, according to Scripture, we are to love.  This doesn’t always mean giving money or food, although we shouldn’t be closed to that.   But it does always mean being patient, being kind, not putting ourselves over the other person, but bearing other’s burdens and enduring with them.  I Corinthians 13

Bill lived in Vancouver, but worked in Gresham.  He had often seen a homeless man walking by his office as he worked on his computer.  He recalled that his church in Vancouver wanted to begin a ministry to the homeless, but didn’t know where to begin.  Bill decided that he would begin on his own.  The next time he saw the man walking down the street, he approached him and engaged him in conversation.  James was friendly and though he was different, he was pleasant to talk to.  Bill took him out to lunch and began to hear about James’ life and issues.

A New Paradigm

As the people of Jesus who reached out to the outcast, we are not to stand at a distance from the homeless.  We must not separate ourselves from the lowest in society—whoever they are.  Can we continue our practice of throwing evangelistic messages and food out our door to the cold and grief-stricken, while we stay warm, comforted and well-fed in our buildings?  Some of these outcast we need to embrace as brothers and sisters, and others we need to embrace as the poor who need our help.  As the people of the Book which teaches compassion, we must stand with those on the street.

            But how are we to do this?  Thousands of homeless are just too much for any church to bear, let alone the small percentage of the church that are stirred by the Spirit to assist the homeless.  But the Lord has not called us to help the massive crowd, only those we know.  To assist the homeless is not a matter of a huge ministry with hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Rather it is a one-on-one ministry.

James took Bill to his street church and Bill’s eyes were opened.  There were maybe a hundred homeless in Gresham, and many of them were believers who worshipped the Lord in their own worship service.  Bill then made a decision—James was a fellow believer and needed his help.  He offered James some landscaping work, which James readily accepted.  When the freezing winds kicked up one night, Bill drove over to pick up James and a couple of his friends for the night.  Bill became James’ good friend.  James learned from Bill and from his pastor ways other than violence to deal with his problems.  James ended up living with another member of the church, John, and doing labor for Bill, John and the church.  He would obtain his room and board from John, and gain a little bit of money on the side from Bill and the church.

A Personal Welcome From the Church

This story should be replicated in every church.  If every church in our urban areas had perhaps two people among their congregations who would be a friend and support for a single homeless person, then our whole society would change.  The homeless would no longer be outcast, nor strangers in our midst.  They would be members of our churches, participants in our society and our friends. 

            Very few churches have the resources to have a shelter.  And it is not necessary for every church to have a food ministry.  But there is one need of the homeless that every urban church can help—their isolation.  The strength of the church is not our money, nor our political power.  Rather, the strength of Christians has always been their love, their sacrifice and their welcome.  If we take these strengths and focus them on the homeless, then the American urban landscape will change.  The church will have a new people.  And Christ will be glorified.

How Your Church Can Help the Homeless: A Practical Summary

So you are thinking about helping the homeless?  It is an undertaking, and must be done with prayer and wisdom.  Here's some tips to get you started and to keep you going for a while.

   1. Find out: What other organizations are already helping the homeless?  Look for them and find out what is already taking place in the area.  Meet with them and ask them what needs to be done.  If you can visit their program, talk with the homeless, and find out what they need in their area. 

2.      Determine what is the desire and resources of your congregation.  Perhaps your congregation wants to partner with a group that is already working with the homeless.  Perhaps they’d like to meet a need that isn’t already met.  Pray about what the Spirit is leading your congregation to do.

3.     Determine a balanced initial ministry.  Homeless ministry must be balanced between efficiently meeting a need of the community and relating in love to those coming for services.  Some good ministries a single congregations can do might be:

a.       Serving a meal once a month or once a week

b.      Opening up the church building to those in need of day shelter for five or six hours once a week

c.       c. Providing sack lunches, socks, hygiene items, hand warmers, blankets, tarps or sleeping bags to organizations that serve the homeless, or taking such items out to the homeless.

d.      d. Open up the church facility in the winter as an overnight shelter, especially on the worst nights

4.   4.   Educate your congregation about the homeless.  Ask a minister to the homeless to give a "Homeless 101" about homeless culture and ministry. 

       At some point you will have to address the issue of liability and church conflict.  Some people in the church will be nervous about having the homeless around the facility, and some might be vocally unhappy about having the homeless around at all.  Have a person who has been doing homeless ministry come in and give a “Homeless 101” about the culture and needs of the homeless.  Make some fair boundaries (and make sure that everyone sticks to them) for the ministry, such as it occurs during certain times  and no camping on church property (unless that’s one of the needs you are meeting).  At the same time, we need to remember that all real ministry involves risk.  The congregation will have to determine together what the balance of risk and boundaries they will take.

5.      Once you have had some regular contact with the homeless, ask them what their needs are, no matter how small, no matter how big.  It is important that our ministry to the homeless actually meet the needs of the homeless and not what we assume their needs are.  As much as you are able, have the homeless participate in the ministry you are providing them.  Give them volunteer opportunities, ask their opinion and give some leadership (but pick your leaders carefully). 

6.     Listen to the homeless who come to your church, and pray for their needs, both with them and away from them.  For many of these folks you may be the only one praying for them, and God will act if we pray.

7.     To meet the larger needs of the homeless, try to network with other churches in your community.  Many churches are looking for an opportunity to help the homeless, and would love to participate with others.  Come up with a plan and invite as many churches as possible to participate with you.  Some successful ministries that local churches have networked together to do are:

a.       A warehouse of food, sleeping gear, hygiene items and other items.

b.      A day shelter every day of the week in different churches.

c.       A winter overnight shelter, held in different churches, or in one location but the volunteers come from different churches.

d.      A meal for every day of the week.

     e.      A shelter specifically for women or families, providing opportunities for job searching.

8.    8.   Finally, we need to remember that all ministry is about love.  We can serve and give and even sacrifice, but if we do not actually love those we are serving, then we have done nothing.  Sacrifice your heart, as well as your time and finances and space. 

Why The Homeless Should Have A Voice in Your Church

From a paper by Alex Cole, "Church On the Streets", a student at Ambrose University College

  

          In the Bible, the descriptions of the homeless indicate that they are generally there to be helped, and that helping them brings blessing.  Isaiah 58:7 “Give shelter to the homeless.”  Matthew 25:35: “I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.”[1]  There are few passages that speak directly of the homeless having leadership roles.  However, although many Biblical leaders were rich or powerful,[2] many of God’s leaders are taken from those who are poor.  The Israelites were slaves and then refugees in the desert.  Gideon was the least important member of the weakest clan in his tribe when he was called (Judges 6:13-15)[3] and Jephthah was the son of a prostitute and his half brothers’ chased him off his land to deny him his inheritance.[4]  David started life as a shepherd, and Amos was a shepherd.  Jeremiah found himself in destitute circumstances.   Peter, Andrew, James and John were all fishermen.  John the Baptist adopted a life of poverty in the desert, and shepherds were chosen to witness the news of Jesus’ birth.  Jesus himself came from a poor family.[5]  This indicates that poverty and even lack of a stable home (the Israelites were refugees in the desert) are no barriers to leadership.

            Some biblical passages validate a homeless person assuming a leadership role.  Jesus was homeless for periods of time,[6] as was Paul.[7]  God chooses those who are powerless and despised and uses them to shame the powerless and to bring to nothing what the world considers important.[8]   James 2:5 says that God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and it is good to have someone who is rich in faith in church leadership.  Jesus spent a lot of time with the poor[9] and he even says that when people shelter those with no homes, then they are sheltering him.[10]  Therefore the poor are close to, or even identified with Jesus – and closeness to Jesus is also an admirable quality for those in leadership.  The kingdom of heaven will be inherited by the poor[11] and so presumably they will have a leadership or at least stewardship role there.   Jesus encourages not just the rich young ruler but all Christians to “sell your possessions and give to those in need”[12] and he himself “became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”[13]  In fact, some parts of the Bible almost militate against having rich people in leadership, because they foresee those who are rich “fading away”, and thus would foresee those in leadership naturally becoming poor. [14]  For all these reasons, it seems that the Bible would not be, as such, against having a homeless person in the leadership of a church.  

            In fact, in some ways, there are advantages to having homeless people being involved in the leadership of a church.  As part of the leadership, they would be responsible for teaching and preaching, and might have a significantly different perspective on Scripture from that of other populations.  In this way, another voice will be powerfully released in the church, speaking the gospel back to the rich so that the rich might hear the gospel anew.[15]  For example, the ‘gospel according to the homeless’ is more multi-faceted than many gospel presentations I have heard, may contain a clearer recognition of the reality of evil than other presentations of Christianity,[16] and may expose the nature of the spiritual “powers” described in Ephesians 6:12 more clearly.[17]   Homeless peoples’ analyses may elucidate the contents of biblical books more clearly.[18]  Justo and Catherine Gonzales paint a picture of the writers of the Bible being amongst those who are weak and powerless, and therefore “a more accurate interpretation of the biblical word can be gained by those who currently stand in a parallel place in our own societies [to the original biblical writers.”[19]  For example, whereas sin has become seen as sexual sin by some churches, they argue that the poor see social injustice as more blatant sin.[20]  Finally, some have even cast the entire bible in the framework of homelessness.  They describe God as creating a home (Eden) which the home-breakers (humanity) then wrecked and were cast out of (to become homeless).  Jesus then creates the possibility for God to be at home in our hearts, and God creates a renewed home for us after his second coming.[21]  In this way the voice of homelessness adds another perspective to read the Bible from.  To sum up, the Bible being taught by homeless people in the leadership of a church could encourage a voice that would help other churches to see the Bible and the gospel more clearly. 

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[1] Other scriptures that relate to the poor are that God protects the poor (Ps 12:5), provides a refuge for them (Ps 14:6), saves them when they pray (Ps 34:6), rescues them from those who rob them (Ps 35:10), helps them, thinks of them (Ps 40:17), provides for them (Ps 68:10), helps them to see him and hears them, (Ps 69:32-33), satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (Ps 107:9), raises them from the dust and from the ash heap (Ps 113:7), secures justice for them and upholds their cause (Ps 140:12), watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and widow (Ps 146:9), provides a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat (Is 25:4), and re-creates the environment so they can find water and food, planting trees, turning desert into pools of water, making rivers flow, (Is 41:17 – 20).  The Bible also speaks of those who help the poor being blessed, for example: “If you … spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The Lord will guide always, he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the gage-old foundations.  You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings” (Is 58:9-12).)

[2] , For example Moses, Saul, Solomon and all the Judahite and Israelite kings, Nehemiah, Ezra, Isaiah, Matthew, and Paul.

[3]  When he was called he was threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites, indicating a poor situation.

[4] Judges 11:1-2. 

[5] His parents brought two turtledoves or 2 young pigeons to sacrifice in the temple (Luke 2:24), which Lev 12:8 indicates were for those who “cannot afford to bring a lamb.”

[6] “The son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20).

[7] “We have been homeless.” (1 Co 4:11).

[8] 1 Corinthians 1:27-28.

[9] For example, lepers, poor women (Mark 12:42), prostitutes, women with immoral marital pasts, the blind, and the sick.

[10] Matthew 25:36,40.

[11] In the Greek: πτωχός (Luke 6:20) – although notice that Matthew 5:3 says the “poor in spirit” so Luke 6:20 can’t definitely be used as a proof text that this verse is referring to the materially poor.

[12] Luke 12:33.

[13] 2 Co 8:9.

[14]             Part of the Bible’s teaching on money indicates that “the rich will fade away.” (James 1:11).  Paul started with status as a Pharisee but lost everything for Christ.  Barnabus laid the profits from his field at the disciples’ feet.  Many lost everything for the sake of the gospel, for example those mentioned in Hebrews 11:37 who became “destitute”.

                Many of the early church fathers also spoke against private property and condemned the rich.[14]  Ignatius and Hermas instructed Christians to care for the widow and respond to those in need.   Ambrose wrote “Why do the rich claim for yourselves the right to own the land …  When you give to the poor what is theirs you return it, not give it.”   He condemned the few rich people who claimed everything for themselves “not only the land, but the sky, the air, the sea …. every day are the needy murdered.”  Basil the Great wrote that the bread that we hoard belongs to the hungry.    “Those who attain a certain level of power use those whom they have already enslaved in order to gain more strength to commit every greater iniquities, and by using them they enslave those who were still free.  Then their greater power becomes a new weapon for evil.  And as a result those whom they just injured now have no other option but to help them, and thus collaborate in the evil and iniquity committed against the others.”  Augustine, Cyril and Gregory the Great didn’t believe in private property.  John Chrysostom wrote that “the earth is the Lord’s: … nothing is to be held by any as privately owned.  The rich are not really such, for what they have belongs to others.  Anything that one might have, even though legitimately earned in truth belongs to the poor.” These quotes are taken from Justo Gonzalez and Catherine Gonzalez, Liberation Preaching, The Pulpit and the Oppressed (Nashville: Abingdon, 1980), 55-57.  Basil the Great said that if I have a chest full of shoes that I cannot use, while the poor walking in front of my house are unshod, I am committing theft just as much as if I had actually taken their shoes off their feet. Chrysostom went further, declaring that allowing someone to die of famine is committing murder.  Information taken from Justo González, "Faith and Wealth : The Early Church and Ours," Living Pulpit 6, 3 (1997): 12. 

[15] An idea put forward in Lesslie Newbigen, Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 196.  “The only way in which the gospel can challenge our culturally conditioned interpretation of it is through the witness of those who read the Bible with minds shaped by other cultures. We have to listen to others. This mutual correction is sometimes unwelcome, but is necessary and it is fruitful.”

[16] I conducted interviews with four different homeless people at the Mustard Seed in Fall 2011, simply asking them “Who is God to you? And “How do you understand the gospel / how are we saved?”  Their explanation of the gospel drew on the classic Christus Victor approach, and the substitutionary atonement perspective.  The real presence of evil was a strong theme that came through, because many of them had directly experienced the effects of evil on their own life.

[17] William Stringfellow, a lawyer who practiced street law in East Harlem for seven years, realized from those he spoke to that these “powers” are often, to the destitute,  the economic powers of those in charge of labor pools, landlords, police agencies, the city administration, and so on.  In this way these powers seemed more recognizable and insidious, in their effects on human lives.  This description is taken from Stanley Saunders and Charles Campbell, The Word on the Street, (Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans, 2000), 62-81.  

[18]  Saunders and Campbell (2000: 52-3) argue that Revelation can only be understood properly by the poor, because Revelation describes the overthrowing of earthly political rulers, who are happy to keep the world poor.  The powers described in Revelation are those economic powers that have crushed the faces of the world’s poor in the dust.  So, for example, Revelation 7:16 says “they will never again be hungry” in reference to those who die in the great tribulation.  In other words, God’s redemption of his people shows that his persecuted saints are the poor, who will be cared for.

[19] Their arguments are that Israel was a weak and generally powerless nation, sandwiched between other, more powerful nations, and because they were at one point slaves and refugees, and later they were exiles.  It could also be pointed out that the early church was often, though not exclusively poor (1 Co 1:26: “few of you were wealthy”)  (Gonzalez, Liberation, 16).

[20] Gonzalez, Liberation, 23.

[21] This description is taken from Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh, Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008).  This is an outstanding Biblical look at homelessness throughout the Bible.

The Mark

Cain killed Abel.  A pretty well known fact, it’s true.  And most of the time we focus on the “why” of it.  The text doesn’t really give a good answer for that.   Cain had a problem, I suppose, with controlling his anger.  But while Genesis doesn’t give a “why”, it does explain a “therefore.”  What happened to Cain because of his past sin?  He was eternally marked.  He displayed for all, for the rest of his life, a mark that showed his sin.  Why is that?  Because he refused to repent of his sin.  Just like his parents before him, he offered excuses, refusing to admit his sin.  So he was marked.

                The homeless are also marked.  They are marked by their peculiar style of poverty.   By the layers of clothes, by the long beards and hair, by the daypacks and shopping carts.  They are marked.  And just like Cain, they are rejected by other due to these marks.  They stand out as “the Other” and so they are repulsive to the rest of society.  When the police see them, they make sure to take down their names to see if they have any records.  When shopowners see them, they make sure they get what they want and leave quickly.  When they come into churches, certain members cringe inwardly, avoid contact with them and hope that being ignored will keep them from contacting any of them. 

                Why do the homeless have such a mark?  This mark is the mark of the society they have joined, the fellowship that they are partnered with.  But such a fellowship is not often sought or hoped for.  How did they join?  Different reasons…

Sam became homeless because his mother committed suicide while he was still living with her.  The trauma caused him to lose his job and his housing.  He’s been homeless for more than ten years now, nursing his wounds, wandering from meal to meal, because he has no energy or reason to do anything else.

Frank was a methanphetamine abuser for many years, from his childhood.  He pulled himself together long enough to get married to someone who nominally belonged to a restrictive cult.  They had two children. As he became stronger in the Lord, he began to teach his kids about the Lord and what the Bible says.  Their mother got deeper into the cult again and eventually the cult forced her to divorce her husband and not allow the kids to ever see him again.  This event drove him back deeper into drugs.  Now he’s been clean for a year and a half, but because of the damage the drugs caused him for so many years, he is unable to stay at any one job, wandering from ministry to ministry, seeking to serve and to hear the word of the Lord.

Joe had various jobs throughout his life—construction worker, volunteer fireman, shopkeeper.  He loves to quote his father’s pithy quips.  But the main thing he learned from his family is drug abuse.  Both of his brothers died due to some combination of drug abuse and cancer.  He is proud that he uses no illegal drugs, but he freely admits that he is an alcoholic.  He also has cancer.  He can’t handle regular treatment, and so he doesn’t know how long he’ll live.  So he doesn’t bother trying.

The stories go on and on.  Trauma.  Hopelessness.  Disconnection.  Lack of trust.  Just like Cain.  And they are marked like Cain, by the society we are a part of. 

How did Jesus treat those who were marked?  Because many in his society had the mark as well.  In Jesus day, prostitutes and tax collectors, Gentiles and “sinners”, beggermen and cripples, they all had the mark.  The mark of separateness.  The mark of not belonging to “righteous” society.  How did Jesus treat them?

Jesus ate with them, a cultural symbol of partnership.  Jesus called them to repentance.  Jesus healed their wounds and cared for them.  Jesus gently offered them hope.  He offered them God.  He offered them himself.  He was the servant to those with the mark.  And that is what Anawim does.  They minister to one of the groups in our society that have the mark of Cain.  They feed them.  They clean and dress their wounds—both physical and emotional.  They offer hope in the midst of misery and tell the marked, “Jesus is for you.  Jesus came for you, more than for the people in the churches.  Jesus has strength for you.  And Jesus will bring you close to God.  And God will heal you of who you are and where you have come from.” 

The question is not: "How do we get rid of the mark?"  The question is whether we will forgive them for that which is not a sin.

Paintings by Michael Sherriffs Hall.  Find more here.

Permitted To Be Nowhere

The cities of Multnomah County are like a lot of other cities throughout the United States.  They like to look like they are helping the homeless when they are actually oppressing them.

According to The Oregonian,  the owner of some private property has decided that he would temporarily allow the homeless to camp on his unused property in downtown Portland until he sells it.  "I'm willing to let them out of doorways," says Michael Wright, pointing out the benefit to the community.


The city of Portland, however has a problem.  There is no permit for it, they say.  And no one is allowed to camp, not even on private property.  Of course, that is the city ordinance.  That camping outdoors without a permit is illegal in Portland.  Remember that when your kids decide to camp in your backyard.

Or, perhaps, the activists of Occupy Portland should be informed as well.  They have been camping in public areas, not just private.  I want to make it clear, I am not opposed to protest.  I am opposed to the city's hypocrisy.

Or let's take Gresham.  There is at least two police officers, on city time, that have been going to homeless camps and ripping up their tents, sleeping bags and tarps.  They are vandalizing private property.  This is nothing new to the homeless in Gresham.  Those that lived on the Springwater Corridor would have their personal possessions ripped up and thrown in a dumpster by a county paid official.  Or there is the camp under a bridge in Gresham that came back to find their possessions thrown into a pit and burned up.

Many of the homeless are given tickets by a variety of Gresham police.  These tickets are sentences to leave Gresham and not come back.  Yes, they aren't binding by a court, but some homeless just follow it so as not to cause more trouble for themselves.  Many homeless claim Gresham as "home" and have no where else to go.

Okay, okay.  The homeless get the idea.  They aren't wanted here.  Somehow they are considered criminals just for living outside and trying to survive.  Look, if you can arrest them for drug use or for violent activity, no one is really complaining.  But the fact is, the homeless are being targeted as criminals because of what they don't have, not what they do.  They don't have four walls and a roof and that makes them criminals.

Oh, sorry, the camp in downtown Portland on Mr. Wright's property DOES have walls.  Made out of doors.  The City of Portland says that it is not according to code and must be torn down.

Look, here's the point.  You don't want the homeless to be hanging around on the streets?  THEN GIVE THEM A PLACE TO GO!  It is not enough to deny someone a place.  A body takes up room and space.  The cities of Multnomah County have basically denied the homeless the right to exist.  Can this really be legal?

The city of Portland just built a facility that houses 130 homeless and shelters no more than a hundred more. Where are the thousands of other homeless supposed to go?

Let's be completely frank.  The majority of homeless in Multnomah County have lived in the county since before they were homeless.  They became homeless here.  This means that these homeless are our responsibility.  We cannot deny them the right to exist.  The right to sleep.  The right to live.

We must work on a plan to live with the homeless because they aren't going anywhere.

Applied Bible Passages

You have heard that it was said, "Do not oppress the poor." But I say to you, if you have as much as voted for one who 
would kill an innocent person, then you are complicit.


Iraq Body Count


Afghani Civilian Deaths in 2011


 If you take a poor man's tent or sleeping bag or coat, even in the name of a government, that poor one will cry out to Me and you shall be homeless and helpless. For what else are they to keep warm in? (Exodus 22:22-27)

God takes his stand among the judges, police and council members. "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Vindicate the mentally ill and homeless, do justice to the afflicted. Rescue them out of the hands of the wicked, those who are willing to harm the ill and pitiful for the sake of themselves."(Psalm 82)

‎"The outcry against them is very great. I shall go down and see if they have done according to the outcry, and I will know if it is true"

The Bud Clark Commons

Pretty, isn't it?  It's the Bud Clark Commons, and it is a fine-looking addition to Portland's downtown area.  It has a day shelter, a 90 bed shelter and a hundred and thirty single resident apartments.  Those hundred and thirty apartments went to the most needy homeless residents of Portland, mostly to folks who struggle with both mental health issues and addictions. This has been and is a noble project. The idealism and care for the most needy is truly inspiring. 

What is also inspiring is the price tag.  Altogether, it cost the city fifty million dollars to build it.  I don't know how much it will cost to maintain it, but that's got to be a pretty penny.  The city plunked down 29.5 million dollars for it and they obtained other grants for the balance.  *Loud whistle*  That's a chunk of change. It must show how much Portland cares about homelessness. 

That's certainly what Steve Rudman, Excecutive Director of Home Forward said:  "This new building underscores that homelessness is at the forefront of our community's priorities. We are excited to be part of the solution that continues the city's momentum towards ending homelessness."  

Hmmm.  That's interesting.  The goal of the city is to end homelessness?  And this is part of the solution?  Wow, that's really generous of the city.  So their goal to end homelessness is to provide housing like this?  That's great.  However, that comes with quite a price tag.  

In Multnomah County, according to the latest street count, there were 4655 people sleeping on the street or in shelters on January 26.  Of course, there are less people homeless in the winter than in the summer when people don't feel as guilty putting family members on the street, but let's just work with that figure.  If the city was going to spend as much money on all the homeless as they did on the 220 people they just provided housing and shelter then that would be... $1,057,955,815.  A billion fifty eight million dollars.  That's more than half of Portland's annual budget.

That doesn't seem rational, especially in these times of tight budgets and frugal spending.  This must not be Portland's plan to help the homeless, to provide them all with housing.  Perhaps what Steve Rudman said is completely accurate: Homelessness is a focus of the city, not the actual population of homeless people. 

I suspect that the Bud Clark Commons wasn't developed at the request of homeless people.  Frankly, homeless folks are pretty frugal as a group. If the city were to ask them-- the actual people who are homeless, not the "experts" on homelessness-- how to help the homeless, they would have gotten a lot of answers.  "Tell the police to leave us alone," some would have said.  Others would say, "Get us jobs."  Some would say, "Let us have our own space to build up and to keep secure."  Perhaps some of the less thrifty would say, "Rent us all apartments."

However, not a single homeless person would say, "Spend fifty million dollars on a facility to house 220 of us."  

The Bud Clark Commons only makes sense if you take actual the actual homeless population of Portland out of the equation.  It seems like a great opportunity for the city to show that the city of Portland has the issue of homelessness as a focus.  But more than 95 percent of the homeless population aren't touched by the fifty million dollars spent.

I think next time the city wants to spend fifty million-- heck, even 29.5 million-- dollars on the homeless, they should get together the leaders of the various homeless communities in Portland (yes, there are leaders), and create a series of project that could help literally thousands of homeless folks.  When we see that happening, perhaps I would believe that Portland is actually interested in helping the homeless instead of just creating an expensive facade of care.