A lady came into our church yesterday to buy 10 bags with her birthday money. She wanted to give bags to her friends and family for Christmas so that they could go hand them out to the homeless.
Upon his encounter with shiverring homeless people on the streets of Portland, Jim Paulk tells his story and encourages you to get involved with his mission.
Please read on and consider helping me get blankets to the street denizens of Portland. It will be 15 degrees tonight and that is cold enough for someone sleeping at home. When you are on the street, huddled with a child, a stranger, a dog, life is just miserable and health problems are multiplied.
Driving home last night from downtown Portland, I anticipated a warm meal with Mary, my wife. Then I saw them....scores of freezing homeless people...all facing a night I can't imagine. I called Mary and told her that I wouldn't be home for dinner. I sped to Freddy's and bought 20 blankets. Then, I went on a search party to find those unfortunates who I thought could use some more protection. That wasn't hard. They are all over the area.
I gave a couple of blankets to 3 men who had a fire going. One man said "The police aren't too happy about fires (even though they are on cement, away from any structures), so we watch out for them and put a grate over the fire to show then we are cooking".
Another family, mother, dad, child, and dog, peeped out from under cardboard and rags. 5 blankets went their way. The night had stories like this until it happened.....I ran out of blankets and returned home. My heart was racing because I felt I was helping people. At the same time, I felt a sense of loss because I ran out of good will.
That's where you can come in; at least to get past this arctic blast. I will be going out again every night until the weather changes. I can't solve all the problems homeless people have, but you and I can help for the short term. Believe me when I say...THEY APPRECIATE US. Almost everyone said "God bless you". My heart was in my throat all night.
If you can find any old blanket that you have no use for, they sure will. I can't pick them up from each of you, but if you can drop them off at the following location. You will be part of a good thing. IF YOU GET THIS AFTER BUSINESS HOURS, JUST LEAVE THEM AT THE FRONT DOOR. If you can add your location as a drop-off spot, let me know and I will pick them up there too.
Allstate 12520 SW 68th Parkway Ste B. Tigard, OR 97223 (right off the Haines exit on I-5.)
Not looking for money, just a used blanket or sleeping bag. "God bless you, too"
A friend recently directed me to a blog with an article titled "Living Homeless (on purpose)". The blogger, Mike Potter, had intervied Kurt Salierno, a pastor who was committed to serving the homeless people and sharing the gospel with them. Kurt walks the streets of Atlanta, gets to know all the homeless people, listens to their stories, spends many nights out under bridges alongside them, and in so doing, gains their trust and admiration--a doorway for the gospel.
In the interview, Kurt Salierno said,
"They know that I care about them and that I understand their plight. I know what it’s like to sleep under the bridges and fight the rats off from biting you...I’m with them in the rainstorms, when it’s miserably cold, and when they’re hungry. Sometimes I’m on the street for four or five days and nights in a row... Normally, when we pass by homeless people, we don’t look them in the eye, and we don’t acknowledge them as human beings....For me to develop a relationship with them and love them as they are, I earn their respect and their trust. This seems to be the key element to staying alive for one thing, but it also allows me to have relationships with them to the point where they share their deepest issues with me. We can then go beyond that to the place where Christ can touch their lives."
What a cool story of how God's using this man! Read the rest of the article for more eye-opening glimpses into the lives of homeless people and what we can do to reach out to them.
As this holiday season approached, we talked a lot about what H2O could do to love on homeless people, who have a very lonely Christmas ahead of them. We find it easy to discuss how we want to help the poor during the holidays and pitch in a little if someone initiates something, but to actually step out and love them ourselves is a lot harder. Sadly, we're usually more concerned about getting our Christmas shopping done for our family or decorating our house with lights than we are with helping those who have nothing. According to a 2005 study, the average American was estimated to spend about $750 dollars on Christmas gifts each year. That's a lot of money for just a few gifts! What if, rather than just giving to our family and friends this Christmas, we went out of our way to give to the lonely, the rejected, and the hurting? To those who won't be spending Christmas with a loving family, but instead, alone on the streets?
That's why and how we came up with a challenge for the holidays, not just for us, but for you to be a part of too. It's called 10by10, and it's pretty simple: give away 10 H2O bags by 2010. We've already touched on this, but the reason for the 10by10 challenge is threefold: to give hope to homeless people this holiday season, to increase bag distribution, and to have fun!
Most likely it won't be easy to find 10 panhandlers near you to hand bags out the window to, but don't let that stop you. We encourage you to be creative. Drive around targeting common panhandling areas to find more men and women with signs. Go downtown with your bags and seek out the homeless on the street. Strike up a conversation with them. Learn their names. Wish them a merry Christmas. And when you're done, tell us your stories . We're excited to hear about the ways that God will use you to bless lonely men and women this Christmas.
1 John 3:18 "Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
