Beginning Monday, I will start my 30 days with the homeless in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I want to bring you their story. I want to, hopefully, let you see what I see when I am with these men, women, and children. I want you to feel the compassion, the compassion I feel for them. I want you to see life through their eyes. I want you to see their pain, their sorrow, and their joy. I want you to see that we, as Christians, can bring them hope through Jesus Christ. And hopefully, I will make you want to reach out and help them.
Words cannot really explain how I feel about them. I was asked just the other day, “How do you feel about them?” When i think about the homeless, one word comes to mind. Love! I love them. These “Children” of the street are also “Children of God. Jesus commanded us to “Love your neighbor as yourself“ in Matthew 22:39. Are not the homeless our neighbors? Are not the street people you see on the corners, near the abandoned buildings, in the alleys, sleeping on park benches, and so forth, are they not your neighbors?
The Websters dictionary defines the word neighbor as follows, there are actually two definitions:
1 : one living or located near another
2 : fellow man
Statistics from the National Coalition for the Homeless, one of our outreach partners, had this to say in one of their studies:
“As a result of methodological and financial constraints, (we need to raise more money for programs to help the homeless) most studies are limited to counting people who are in shelters or on the streets. While this approach may yield useful information about the number of people who use services such as shelters and soup kitchens, or who are easy to locate on the street, it can result in underestimates of homelessness. (Studies show that it is very hard to count those who may be sleeping in the woods, obscure areas, etc.) Many people who lack a stable, permanent residence have few shelter options because shelters are filled to capacity or are unavailable. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 12 of the 23 cities surveyed had to turn people in need of shelter away due to a lack of capacity. Ten of the cities found an increase in households with children seeking access to shelters and transitional housing while six cities cited increases in the numbers of individuals seeking these resources (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2007). (Speaks for itself, they are sleeping somewhere, maybe in your NEIGHBORhood)
In addition, a study of homelessness in 50 cities found that in virtually every city, the city’s official estimated number of homeless people greatly exceeded the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing spaces (We need to provide funding to have more shelters and regeneration centers, such as we are proposing at Saved Life) (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2004). Moreover, there are few or no shelters in rural areas of the United States (like Upstate New York where we propose our Regeneration Minitry), despite significant levels of homelessness (Brown, 2002).
Source: National Coalition for the Homeless
My paraphrases are in BLUE
Bottom line:
Most of us who live in any city or major suburb have homeless men, women, and children living near them. They are our neighbors and fellow man by every definition of the word. If we are commanded by Jesus to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” and we sit idly by and do nothing to help them, nothing to reach out to them, do nothing to even offer a smile. What does that say to us about the person we are? What does that say about the community we live in? What does that say about the country we live in? I believe, homelessness is the greatest social disaster in America! The measure of any society is how it treats its weakest element. The widows, the orphans, the strangers in the land.
The root word of community is UNITY! This is a call to action! I am asking that you unite with Saved Life on this Coast to Coast benefit ride and DO SOMETHING to make a difference! Donate Today! Volunteer at a soup kitchen or mission! Even a smile helps, they don’t take much time or cost a thing! Be blessed!
See ya on the road!
Jason
February 12, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: Bible, Bike Charity, Christian, Homeless, Homelessness, Jason, Jason J Day, Jesus, Saved Life, SavedLife . Author: savedliferide . Comments: 1 Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.