So, now what do we do?

I've been avoiding the topic of health and wellness because I haven't felt motivated to exercise consistently lately. Usually I run or exercise to think. Lately I've been thinking a lot--just not exercising along with it.

Charity or social change: is charity wasting my time? When is social change in progress and achieved?

We had a group of young adults from other states come and visit the homeless guys under the bridges we minister to. I went around to all of the bridges yesterday to check on the guys (we've had bad weather lately) and to let them know that I'd be back around tomorrow with some visitors. We took them some food and did an assessment to see what they needed (firewood, more blankets, dry socks, etc).

We noticed that at least a few people were sleeping up against the church building where it's covered during the snow and ice this past week. These are new guys. Anyone who's been around for a little bit knows that under the bridge is warmer but sleeping against the building is safer.

We tried to get permission to open our gym as an emergency cold shelter in the early winter but were denied permission to do so. Dekalb county doesn't have ANY emergency shelters...this is a sore subject and a soap box so I need to stop before I begin. Even still, is opening the gym for a few nights charity or social change?

I love the guys dearly. I really do. I enjoy sitting with them, praying with them and telling them that they need to stop drinking. I ask hard questions and kneel with them at the altar when they come to church. It is certainly one of my favorite parts of ministry right now.

I am asking myself where the boundary lies between enabling them to be homeless and truly "helping" them (and who gets to define what true "help" is?). To those of us who are not homeless we think that they should want to stay in a shelter but most of them don't. We are able to help those who want to get off the street and want some help. The rest we feed, cloth, and love.

If they do want to stay in a shelter, and we can get them into one (Atlanta is notorious for not having nearly enough shelter for the amount of homeless the city has) they still need id, transportation to and from, and a place to go all day when they aren't allowed to be in the shelter. We can get them shelter for a night or two but then what? It's just two days later and nothing has changed.

Some guys have been under those bridges for 15 years or more. They are war vets, have disabilities and an array of other backgrounds. One guy is a love child from the Vietnam war. His dad was a soldier and his mom was Vietnamese. He was sent here to live with his father in 1984 and it didn't work out.

Some guys work full-time executive jobs and wear suits everyday. Other guys live in their cars and are estranged from loved ones--too embarrassed to let family know they need help.

We do have some success stories and praise God for Walker still being clean and sober and moving into his own apartment....for William reuniting with his wife....for Paul moving back home with family and being sober...for salvation for several...

I say often that I am not interested in charity but instead am interested in social change. Is loving these guys into the Kingdom really social change or is it just masking mere charity work? Was Jesus about charity or about social change? It's comforting for me to think that Jesus would be sitting under a smelly, dirty bridge chatting with the some men, but would he? He probably would be down at the creek under the bridge performing some miraculous sign and speaking to them in parables. Many of them need to be healed (in many ways) so maybe he would have walked around the neighborhood healing their infirmities. We always hold hands and pray in a circle when I go to visit and I always pray for the taste of alcohol to be taken away from them. Is that really social change? It's certainly relationship building, discipleship and love--but is it social change?

I'm stuck pondering what we should do. We really do what Matthew 25 instructs us to do but is it enough? What about radical change like it talks about in Luke 4, quoting Isaiah, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor." Both passages talk about meeting every human need and we aim to do just that. We teach, preach, and visit in Dekalb County jail. We visit in the hospital, get them where they need to go, advocate for them, etc, etc. Is doing this social change?

Sometimes I guess I just feel stuck. My husband calls it my holy discontent. I want to do more but I don't know how or what to do. LORD, help me!

While a few homeless guys and I were waiting for the visiting group to arrive today it was pointed out to me that people were living on the church property. Now this isn't the first time. We had to ask everyone who was living in tent city on the church property to leave back in the summer because they were unruly. One time several church members saw a few guys sitting on the grass on lawn chairs drinking at 9:30 in the morning and making a mess while they were coming to Sunday school.

Today I visited a man's home. Right on the church property. He was out so we were intruding. He has basically two rooms set up. Everything is covered and shaded from the elements. One room has a full sized bed in it with all the fixings and the other room has a couch, two chairs and some other things. He has clothes placed neatly around and has a collection of little girl shoes, clothes and toys. I'm certain that most, if not all, of this stuff was lifted from our donation bin (I saw two of my things that I put in the bin). The ground is covered quite nicely with a large area rug. That small, tiny spot has become his home.

Now what do I do? He isn't disturbing anyone. He's a HUGE liability. He feels safe being so close to us (as I was later told). What he's doing is illegal--but so is him being in this country. He comes to our church. He works during the day. Is leaving him there charity, social change, or maintaining the status quo? Or is it something else entirely? What would Jesus do?

Call it holy discontent. Call it naivety. Call it passion. Call it whatever you want but what do we do? As God's people do we sit by and watch? Do we comfort ourselves by carrying out charity work and maintaining the status quo? Do we usher in social change?

LORD, I'm searching for answers and for YOUR vision. What would you do?