I have often thought of the homeless and maybe to some degree said prayers and at times even given a blanket or a little food. But, recently I have read and seen so many new homeless situations in our nation that I was once again awaken to a need. Living in the Nation’s Capital or other large cities at times we become desensitized to many situations without even knowing it. Many times it is just feeling completely helpless.
While reading and seeing many news reports of the ‘homeless’ I began to understand the great increase in homelessness in our little towns and villages across our great nation.
I was reminded in my heart of a passage of scriptures in Isaiah that I have read often and maybe used it as an excuse to eat more myself since I didn’t have to fast food.
Passage Isaiah 58:6-9:
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
Then we go back to verse one in the same chapter and the prophet says “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Many of us may know this chapter to be a study on the issue of a “blessing of True Worship.’
I just by chance read the following news article which just delighted my heart and awakened a different attitude about our ‘homeless’ children of God. What do you think of this concept? How would it feel to have one in your community? Maybe we could pray and seek God’s counsel on this project and other like projects. Isaiah goes on in verses 9-12 of chapter 58 pointing out to us that a heart that is pure toward God cannot be indifferent toward other human beings. (news article below)
Fla. City Plans Homeless-Only Village
A controversial proposal in Daytona Beach, Fla., would create a special village to house hundreds of the county’s homeless people, Local 6 News has learned.
Volusia County Council members are expected to consider a plan to build the Tiger Bay Village and treatment facility for the area’s 2,500 homeless community.
“Although it is only in its exploratory stages, developers for the Tiger Bay Village say it is invaluable,” Local 6’s Tarik Minor said.
Click here to find out more!
Developer Michael Arth is proposing to build a 5,600-bed community on a 125-acre lot of rural land.
The village will provide shelter, psychiatric help and the support of neighbors.
“This is for the people who can’t work and can’t integrate themselves into society,” Arth said. “The answer is not to build a Hooverville of tents and trailers but to make these buildings attractive enough so that if you or I would went there, we would say, ‘Wow, I’d live there.'”
Critics worry that the Tiger Bay Village will only promote homelessness and that the population will relocate to rural areas.
Arth said homeless people are costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year.
He said building a village is better than putting Band-Aids on the problem.
“I would go to the village to get out of the weather and the cold,” homeless man Daniel Hector said.
http://www.local6.com/news/10796453/detail.html
Looking with great expectations unto Jesus, the provider, (Psalm 121:1) and hoping to hear from others on this issue. Does your community, church, or prayer groups have creative ways to be a part of loving, caring and sharing with our homeless?
thedailylily.com 
That is a great idea. We have to pray that all opposition is quelled. It has been one of my desires to purchase individual homes and place qualified homeless in them. By qualified I mean, those that can take care of themselves. The rent and taxes would be taken care of. There are many one and two bedroom homes in each neighborhood. With only one in a wide area, people would not have to know that their neighbor is a homeless person. This was possible before the price serge. Before you could get these homes for around $70 to $80 thousand dollars. Now they are $120 thousand and up and the taxes are $3000 to $6000 a year. Insurance is around $5000 a year. So on to more prayer. The county is taking a survey of all the homeless this Wednesday. The Community Caring Center is participating with our church, Grace Community, of Boynton Beach, Florida, supplying the room where one of the sites for the homeless to register. Of course it depends if the homeless come. Overall there is an attempt to improve the plight of the homeless.
“The Pursuit of Happiness.”
WASHINGTON, I just read where the Mayor of Washington, DC. invited 100 homeless people to be his guest for the screening of “The Pursuit of Happiness,” the real-life story of a homeless man who worked his way to becoming a millionaire.
As reported by The Associated Press article… “City officials said they hoped the audience would be uplifted and gain hope from the film. Others cautioned against high expectations, noting that many homeless people are mentally ill and struggle with substance abuse.
The crowd of mostly homeless adults and elderly people groaned at some of the familiar difficulties faced by Will Smith’s character, Chris Gardner, and clapped at his triumphs.”
Hope for all as Hollywood and City officials make moves to help.
With Katrina many places that housed people in need were severely damaged by the flood waters. Our church down here decided that we would adopt “Liberty House” as our project. This is a home where unwed mothers can come, have their babies, and receive help psychologically in order to get them on their feet so they can go back into a community and be a vital part. Teams from the church went in and stripped down the moldy sheetrock. Others took moldy furnture out of the primaces. All that was left was a shell to be built upon. New sheetrock was put up. All the work was done by the church. Walls were painted. For those who couldn’t do the work, they gathered supplies that the women and personnel at the facility might need. The Sunday School children set about filling laundry baskets with materials. At Christmas the whole front entrance of the church which is glass was dotted with angels with wishes of Liberty House listed on them. All kinds of furniture including baby beds were needed as well as bedding, clothing, books, etc. All the angels seemed to take on wings and the needs of Liberty House were met. The church continues to assist Liberty House. I don’t know which is blessed more – Liberty House or the people at our church. What a wonderful feeling to reach out and give a cup of water, a warm blanket, a bed to sleep in, and all covered in prayer for the receiver of these. May God bless each mother and each baby as they journey and stay a while there. May they feel Jesus’s loving embrace and know that someone out there really cares about their needs.
This a helpful blog and article that promotes awareness of the plight of the homeless and the facts of how God feels about them. The developer in the article is aiming at a viable solution and is helping to raise public awareness to the problem even if the project is facing opposition. As ecericloa points out, it does take prayer. Prayer to change opposition and prayer to change attitudes and hearts when the solution to helping the homeless is on your personal doorstep, in your backyard.
Like your Thanksgiving article and prayer concerning the plight in Darfur, or your blog, “Call us from Our Settled ways” confronts us… waking us up from our settled ways to see and to face these realities and to look for our part of the solutions is a must. It is inspirational for me to read above of the churches and communities that are in motion and working to help solve the problem.
I know of a very special lady in my neighborhood, she works for a very large hotel in the Washington area..and when the hotel gets new linens and blankets they sale the old ones for just a little money to the employees or they discard them…for cleaning rags…she buys all she can afford and before she makes it home she has passed out all shes bought to the homeless she sees on the streets and where ever…she has always told me…”it could be me or Dorothy so I want to make sure they stay warm”….it is no wonder because her name is Chris…..she says they don’t sell the linens anymore…but she still will give what she can when she can….dj
I am enjoying the stories of inspiration. They are all very encouraging. Thanks for stimulated us mentally to do something, especially to do something creative for others as we past by.
Chris is Dorothy’s story had the right idea as she reaches out and touches the Lord as He walks by. Jesus Himself gave us a story to confirm this. And, Chris does mean a follower of Christ-Christ-bearer.
Passage Matthew 25:35-40:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
They start gathering around ten thirty on Monday mornings; two or three; little groups, some loners. Some haul little children and a baby carriage. Sometimes they arrive, even a little earlier if the weather is not too hot; anxiously awaiting. They come from all over the city. Some come from other townships, using their precious bus passes to get to Boynton Beach when they hear the promising news. Some sit on the curb outside Rigo Hall, the fellowship hall of GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH, Brother Braswel, pastor. Some sit under the tree for shade, in the vacant lot beside the church. OH! That lot that the church has prayed for for so many years to acquire the finances to purchase, They are pretty somber, mostly a quiet group; MOSTLY. Some know one another and talk, and they wait… patiently. Their clothes are shabby and their shoes, worn. Some have no teeth, or just a few at most. They wait patiently, for one of the most important events of the week; for something that the rest of us who are so incredibly blessed don’t much worry about. They are waiting for a meal! They are waiting for food, possibly the only real meal of the week, for most.
And it has been my humbling privelege to “work” the soup kitchen at Grace Community whenever I visit my family in Florida. My brother Gene, a deacon after the true sense of the WORD of GOD as described in the BOOK OF ACTS, chapter 6, whose passion and heart calling from the LORD is to minister to the homeless, the poor, the disavantaged and the downtrodden has been set in charge of the running and administering of the “soup kitchen” by his pastors, which includes planning the meals, buying the food, enlisting and training of the volunteers and sometimes cooking the soups/stews, himself when no one is available to help in that capacity.
I am so impressed and touched by the faithfulness of the regular volunteers who help set a pleasant atmosphere in the hall, as a dining room, with colorful table coverings and a little vases of flowers; they prepare the plates in the kitchen, serve, fellowship with the people and then clean up afterwards. This is a true ministry of love and compassion.
Just before the blessing of the food, a GOSPEL message is given, usually by Pastor or Gene. And a few months ago, I was invited to present the WORD of GOD to the many men and several women and their children who come to partake of the offerings of the BODY OF CHRIST at Grace Community Church. What a humbling experience that was! They are prayed for, invited to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and several have committed their hearts to the Lord over the past few years.
Some of these men are ones that have fallen on hard times. A few are educated but have lost jobs and haven’t the fortitude or the opportunity to recoup what they’ve lost. Some have lost their wives, or husbands in violent family breakups. Some
are trying to get off drugs or alcohol. Some are one parent families with several hungry little ones that they bring to the kitchen every MONDAY morning.
But in Gene’s eyes, and in his pastor’s eyes, they are VIP’s. These are the invited GUESTS of The Lord JESUS CHRIST . They have been invited to the Lord’s wedding supper. They are being called and it is Grace Community’s and Gene’s fervent prayer and mission that they will be CHOSEN when the LORD breaks bread at that glorious Marriage Feast of the LAMB and that this anointed “soup kitchen to the poor” is just the “rehearsal dinner”.
Blessings on this CHURCH and ALL CHURCHES that minister to the POOR, in Spirit and in truth. Their reward shall be the SOULS of these poor ones and it shall be GREAT!
MG, Happy to see that you have had a part in the soup kitchen. More than wonderful to see that some have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Do many of them become a part of Grace Community and able to work back into jobs, homes and community?
Some of the homeless have received the Lord and come to the Wednesday night services when they can find a way. And, two or three have found jobs, which Gene has researched for them, become productive citizens of the community, attend church regularly, and most importantly, there is a special fellow who is helping with “Overcomers Meetings” at the Church. Those who have been delivered by the LORD JESUS CHRIST are very effective in helping to minister to those who are in dire need of deliverance from drugs, alcohol and other addictions, in the SPIRIT of what
Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:32…”When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren.”