One of my favorite things about the Dirty Roots Revolution is how it has managed to bring together such a wide variety of people. Of course, that IS one of the main points of the whole thing :-)
People are energized when they feel called to come together and work together on things. We have people from different backgrounds. Different denominations (and non-believers). Different races. Different economic situations. Different hometowns. Different skills. Different interests. People with different motivators for being involved. Etc.
One of my favorite “differences” is in age. EVERYONE can be involved in the Dirty Roots Revolution.
Little kids join us on care pack building day and they draw and color note cards to put in the care packs, which are delivered to the homeless. The kids love doing that! They feel involved. Because they ARE involved. And that’s not a “let’s find something for the kids to keep busy with so they feel like they’re helping” kind of involved. Those cards are important. Even the most hardened, streetwise, weary, and grizzled homeless person softens and smiles when they look at those sloppy cards, obviously drawn by a child with a genuine desire to be involved, help out, and do good.
College students are involved. They don’t have money. Some don’t have a car. They don’t have resources. BUT – they are equipped with what I feel is one of the very most important things on the entire planet - the desire to (and belief that they can) change the world! The college students are the bulk of our Saturday morning Homeless Outreach “army”. They may not be able to “give”, but they can “go”. And they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty.
We have young families who go on the Homeless Outreach trips. Sometimes it’s just husbands and wives. We’re planning a Halloween event, where kids are invited to participate in a costume parade for the homeless to enjoy.
The elderly often support us financially. Many are not able to go to St. Louis, but they often have funds, which enable us to do what we do.
One retired teacher tells us she can’t do much financially and isn’t able to go to St. Louis, but she likes to sew. So she crochets warm hats all year long and we deliver them to the homeless when it gets cold.
She also gives her cooking talents and her time in helping with meals we’ve held. Other ladies take the day off work to prepare and help with these same meals.
Everyone has something to give. And it all matters.
One of the coolest things about having little kids involved is to see how this impacts them.
The first time we saw it happen was after I shared the Dirty Roots message for the first time, from the pulpit, at the First Christian Church. This was part of what initiated the whole movement. I talked a lot about the R-word: “Revolution”.
The college students I work with told me that throughout the next week, the kids they worked with at church and in small groups, asked a lot about what I meant by Revolution. What was one? What did it mean? How could we do one? Why do we need to?
Several months later, the DRR had incorporated as a non-profit organization and was doing weekly Homeless Outreach trips. We had met and befriended the family of a beautiful three-year old girl named Bubbles. Everyone’s heart was captured by her story. We told everyone we could. They melted.
One day, Chris, one of our board members who works at a local church day care, said that the mother of one of his day care kids told him that her daughter was continually talking about Bubbles. “Who is Bubbles? We’ve been continually praying for Bubbles!” As I understand it, this wasn’t necessarily a “praying family”. But they were praying for Bubbles, because their daughter insisted.
Chris filled the mom in on who Bubbles was and then investigated the situation. He found out that one of the day care classes at the church had a picture of Bubbles taped above their classroom sink. And the kids and teachers prayed for her every single day.
The teacher started it. The kids took it home. Who knows where it’s gone since then?
The other day I got a note from a mom who has been involved in our Homeless Outreach care pack build days. Her son had to write sentences using his spelling words. Here’s what he wrote:
Some people are HOMELESS. That means they have no HOME. You should give them CHANCES and be CAREFUL. They very RARELY have money. They are LIKELY to want some. They are HOPEFUL. Please give them PRICELESS gifts. Some are LONELY. They are LOVELY.
Mom said she was really proud :-)
And I, for one, am really encouraged.
I’m encouraged to see a mix of people – and a mix of ages – in all things connected to the Dirty Roots Revolution.
I’m encouraged that the older folks who have wisdom and experience are on board with this “crazy” scheme to change the world.
I’m encouraged that young people are being taught that changing the world isn’t crazy. It is possible. It is something that should be encouraged. It is something they can do!
It’s something WE can do. Together.
Imagine what could happen if we raise up a generation of children who want to make a difference and believe it’s possible. Imagine what could happen if they are equipped with that from the beginning and have that belief set already in place when they’re college age and the “change the world” mindset, which most college students and young adults have, kicks in. Imagine what could happen if they don’t lose that as “real life” sets in.
Imagine what could happen if those of us who caught onto this later in life enable these young dreamers to continue being crazy enough to care and crazy enough to try. Imagine what could happen if a whole generation goes their entire life, secure in the knowledge (and I say knowledge because it’s not a belief…beliefs can be wrong…knowledge is truth) that this is the way it SHOULD be. The way it CAN be. The way it WILL be.
Imagine what could happen.
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