It’s been a long, long while since I’ve written about our Homeless Outreach trips. They’ve been happening, to be sure. We continue to have new volunteers join us. We continue to meet new folks.
But, as wrong as it seems to say, nothing “remarkable” stands out to me over the last several trips. They’ve been good. I just haven’t felt like “writing home” about them.
Until Halloween.
Our plan was to invite families to come on the Homeless Outreach trip on October 31st – the whole family in costume. A local store, Buchheit’s, had conducted a coat drive for us, which had great results. We had the coats to hand out, along with socks, underwear, T-shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Some of our volunteers also provided soda and hot chocolate and coffee.
We had planned to lead the kids in a “Halloween Parade” through the neighborhood where we do the Homeless Outreach, once the goodies had all been handed out. The kids would hand out “trick or treat” candy packs to the homeless folks. We knew they’d get a kick out of seeing the kids in costume!
We didn’t have a large number of kids, so we didn’t do the parade, but we did everything else. And we handed out the candy with the other stuff. And our homeless brothers and sisters were VERY grateful.
One man was so grateful for his new jacket that he insisted on sitting near us, waiting until we were finished, so he could help us pack up before we left. He wanted to do something for us in return for his new coat.
Another man asked if he could have two extra pair of underwear. He had 35 cents he could offer us. We told him to keep the money and the two extra pair.
A third man came up and offered us $1 to “take back to our church”. Without sounding judgmental, I’ll say that you learn to spot the “stages” of homelessness. After being there a while, I’ve learned to see who’s been homeless for a short time vs. a long time. Who knows how to take care of themselves vs. the truly impoverished. The man who offered us a dollar was extremely poor. I guarantee that dollar was everything he owned in the world. All of his possessions, outside of the clothes on his back.
And he wanted us to take it back to our church.
My wife told him that we were there to bless him that day. We appreciated his gesture, but he could keep his dollar for a future need. And he gladly accepted the items we offered him.
Another man arrived too late to get himself a coat, the men’s coats went quickly. He did get one for his wife, though. And a couple of stocking caps and other necessities. Afterward, he asked if we had any soda left. We didn’t. And he turned down a “trick or treat” goodie pack. However, he spotted a bowl of Tootsie Rolls and asked sheepishly if he could have a few of them for himself and his wife. I gave him a big ol’ handful.
And I realized what a treat a Tootsie Roll must be. Such a small thing. Such a big deal.
We met a man named John who was celebrating his 60th birthday that day. I asked if we could sing to him and he said YES with a huge smile on his face. We all sang loud – volunteers and homeless folks all together – and he beamed. I have no way of knowing the last time someone sang him Happy Birthday, but judging by the look on his face, it had been a while and it meant a lot.
We met another man named John, who I’ve seen before, but haven’t had a chance to really talk with. John stays with his brother sometimes, but is homeless otherwise. After January first he’s going to have to move out of his brother’s home (he didn’t explain why) and find something on his own. John retired from the United States Army in 1993, after over 20 years of service. He’s one of many veterans who lives on the streets of the country they served.
John enjoys drawing and has some talent at it. After talking with my wife and Bobbi, another of our volunteers, he took a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and told Bobbi he wanted her to have it. It was an original drawing he’d done while sitting in the library to keep warm. It was a large cross with the words of John 3:16 inside it, with a few other doodles around the outside. Bobbi treasures this piece of original art already. The first chance we get, we’ll scan it and post it on our Facebook page.
I prayed with John and several of our volunteers all together. I talked with him a long time and he took some pictures with me and my daughter. The homeless folks enjoyed meeting the children. They also enjoyed meeting family members of those of us they’ve gotten to know over time. It was an incredible feeling introducing our friends to our family. (Even if my buddy Bill did think that my wife was my daughter…)
The Dirty Roots Revolution is a Christian effort, led by Christians. Most of our volunteers are people of faith, but we’re always very careful to state that we will never exclude anyone based on differences in faith, beliefs, lifestyles, etc.
Having said that, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role that evangelism should play in our efforts. We intentionally didn’t hit the streets at the very beginning, preaching the Gospel. We felt it was important to build relationships first. However, now that we’ve been doing that, I’ve begun to wonder how we pursue “spreading the Good News”. I decided to let it play out and let God unveil it as He wants it to happen – that’s gotten us this far!
On Halloween a man named Dewayne asked if he could speak with me. He began by asking a lot of questions about faith and works. Now, several homeless men have attempted to trip us up with that question. Some of them seem a bit bitter, and they ask things like “Do you think you’re going to Heaven just because you hand out these care packs?” I didn’t know Dewayne’s motivation and I didn’t know where he was headed. But it soon dawned on me that he was quite literally asking me how one should live out their faith.
He also asked about what he called “character defects”…like drug and alcohol addiction. He wondered how God could help someone with those kinds of things.
Through the course of our conversation, I learned that Dewayne was in a program for homeless folks to get clean from their addictions. He had been clean and sober for three weeks. And he was seeking God with every fiber of his being.
Later during our visit we met a man named Sam. Sam showed up late after almost everything was gone. He asked if we had food and it just so happened a volunteer had one of their own care packs in their car, which had some snacks in it. He asked specifically if we had a razor. We didn’t bring any – but one of our volunteers who travels a lot happened to have a few in his glove box. Sam told us he really appreciated the razor because he had to “keep lookin’ like somebody out here”. Like the Tootsie Rolls, what a difference a small thing like a razor can make. A disposable razor that we think nothing of meant the difference between feeling “like somebody” and not. Small thing. Big deal.
Sam quickly opened up to a few of us about his life and his family situation. During our conversation he said he knew he needed to “get saved”. I told him he could do that anytime. He’s getting close, you can tell, but he’s not there yet. I pray that I get to meet Sam again, SOON, on another trip. I told him he could pray to God anytime he wanted to. We prayed with Sam before we left.
All week I’ve been pondering how we should share God with these folks. And in one day, two men came right up and asked profound questions about relationships with God. If you are a person of faith, please keep Dewayne and Sam in your prayers. Please lift them up ,that God would move in their hearts and that they would be impacted as God sees fit!
I’d also ask for prayer for a couple of our other friends…O’Lester and Memphis. O’Lester is dear to several of us. He’s a “lifer” whose been on the streets for a long, long time. He’s quite the character. He’s a little old man who reminds me of what I think Bible prophets must have looked like. He’s funny and he has a lot of stories. But more than that, O’Lester is wise and he loves God with all his heart. The last time I saw him he looked very, very weary. He is elderly. DRR board member Chris found out last week that O’Lester was taken to the hospital in an ambulance a little over a week ago. We haven’t been able to find out which hospital and no one has heard anything about him since he was taken in.
Memphis is a special friend to Chris. He was diagnosed a while back with rectal cancer, which causes several physical complications for him. The best we can figure, homeless folks are able to be diagnosed in the hospital and receive the necessary on-site treatment they need right then, but follow-up treatment goes by the wayside. Chris put a special pack together for Memphis, with some of the things he’d need to meet his specific needs. But we didn’t see Memphis. Chris spent a lot of time walking to various places where other homeless folks said they’d seen Memphis, but with no luck.
Please pray for both O’Lester and Memphis.
And pray for our DRR volunteers. Each of us warms up to various homeless folks for various reasons. And after several months of weekly visits, we’re building real relationships with them. It’s been a beautiful thing to see happen. However, the more we get to know and love them, the harder it is to see these situations (health issues, etc.). I’d ask for prayer for all of us who go to St. Louis on a regular basis that we’d continue to be strong, patient, wise, etc. as we get to know folks deeper, and as we meet new folks. That we’d know how to interact with each individual we meet. That we’d be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading when it comes to the Gospel. And that we’d be able to stay “up” in light of situations like the ones I described with O’Lester and Memphis.
If you’d like to join us on one of our weekly Homeless Outreach trips, you’re certainly welcome. We meet at the side entrance of the Greenville First Christian Church’s Children’s Wing at 10 a.m. every Saturday. There is no limit to how many can go on any given week. Bring a friend or bring your family.
For details, contact us at info@dirtyrootsrevolution.com.
