So school has been crazy....but here's an update over the last few weeks in Atlanta...
Ronald: He made it to Arizona! He emailed us when he got there and found a library...said he likes the shelter system...haven't heard anything since then...
Sarah: We took her out to eat..went to an Indian restaurant called Havali....that was a first for me...I absolutely loved it! Sarah was great at helping us out with what to order (actually she ordered for us!)...so good! Business is really slow at Underground so she's having to leave early because there just aren't people spending money...she is still such an encouragement in her faith!
George's Ministry: It was rocky there for awhile...but this past week they actually had more than enough food! Praise the Lord! Everyone got fed and then some! I've never seen so much food there before...Jerry even started to try to give us plates of food! (Jerry is my new friend there...we talk politics! He's really smart...he's also a vet and really nice!)
Christian and his mom: We've seen them at a glance for the past couple of weeks...it's either been raining or foggy and cold so they usually hurry to wherever it is they spend the night. We've actually seen quite a few new young faces recently...some even younger than Christian
It's starting to get cold...really cold...tonight's trip is going to be the coldest weather we've seen so far...in the 20s. woohoo. not really. but hopefully we'll be able to pass out some blankets and coats we got from our clothing drive we had. We were definitely blessed by the amount of 'gently used' articles of warm clothing, new socks, and new blankets...we also got some handmade wool hats and scarves! so cool! hopefully it will be a big blessing to the people of atlanta experiencing homelessness this winter...
In observance of the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov 16-23): some random stats and facts
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless...
Atlanta is the 4th "meanest" city to those experiencing homeless by criminalizing homelessness and enforcing anit-homeless laws.
40% of the male homeless population are veterans
23% of the homeless population are families with children
42% of needy families in the metro-Atlanta area make the choice between food and housing
1/2 of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence
3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness in a given year
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
"Doin' good in the 'hood"
this week's trip to ATL was really good...
Last week while I was home, David and Selah met up with Ronald.
Ronald is headed for a program in Arizona this coming week. A ministry in ATL is buying him a bus ticket to head to a transitional housing program of sorts. So they planned to take him out to eat for a mini-goodbye party.
Ronald wanted BBQ so he led the way to the food court at Underground. We had Ronald get whatever he wanted and it was our treat (well. David's...haha). He was really thankful because last Saturday the cops kicked him out of his van with the option of jail instead. So Ronald lost a lot of his contacts because he left the van. He's been staying under the MARTA bridge and had only eaten 3 times in the last week. So...Ronald was very grateful to say the least.
He's pretty excited to head out of ATL. He says the cops are starting to crack down on homeless guys. His friend Dave went to jail for panhandling. He says he's ready for a quieter city with a better shelter system. (Apparantly the ATL Union Rescue Mission has terrible food...)
After eating with Ronald we walked down to George's. This was the first week we've gotten to prep the plates. I dished up about 200ish scoops of mashed potatoes. They didn't run out of food this week. Praise the Lord. I served alongside of Lyndell...the master of plating chicken! He was funny! Also, Stevie was there...he's a really funny guy that knows how the line is supposed to work and made sure Selah and I knew what we were doing!
It's pretty cool to see the homeless take pride in how meals are served (Lyndell and Stevie are there every week making sure plates get the right amount of food and everyone has gloves on)...it's pretty encouraging. Also, George's grandson, about 6 or 7, was out there with his dad (they're not homeless) learning about serving...he was a really cute kid in his baseball uniform handing out plates...
We didn't see Christian or his mom this week. Hopefully that's a good sign that they've gotten some help.
Next week is fall break so we won't be going to Atlanta. The next week after that we are taking Sarah to dinner because she finally got her greencard!
Continue to pray for Ronald and his bus ride to AZ and George's ministry that they'll continue to have enough food to meet the needs of the community.
Last week while I was home, David and Selah met up with Ronald.
Ronald is headed for a program in Arizona this coming week. A ministry in ATL is buying him a bus ticket to head to a transitional housing program of sorts. So they planned to take him out to eat for a mini-goodbye party.
Ronald wanted BBQ so he led the way to the food court at Underground. We had Ronald get whatever he wanted and it was our treat (well. David's...haha). He was really thankful because last Saturday the cops kicked him out of his van with the option of jail instead. So Ronald lost a lot of his contacts because he left the van. He's been staying under the MARTA bridge and had only eaten 3 times in the last week. So...Ronald was very grateful to say the least.
He's pretty excited to head out of ATL. He says the cops are starting to crack down on homeless guys. His friend Dave went to jail for panhandling. He says he's ready for a quieter city with a better shelter system. (Apparantly the ATL Union Rescue Mission has terrible food...)
After eating with Ronald we walked down to George's. This was the first week we've gotten to prep the plates. I dished up about 200ish scoops of mashed potatoes. They didn't run out of food this week. Praise the Lord. I served alongside of Lyndell...the master of plating chicken! He was funny! Also, Stevie was there...he's a really funny guy that knows how the line is supposed to work and made sure Selah and I knew what we were doing!
It's pretty cool to see the homeless take pride in how meals are served (Lyndell and Stevie are there every week making sure plates get the right amount of food and everyone has gloves on)...it's pretty encouraging. Also, George's grandson, about 6 or 7, was out there with his dad (they're not homeless) learning about serving...he was a really cute kid in his baseball uniform handing out plates...
We didn't see Christian or his mom this week. Hopefully that's a good sign that they've gotten some help.
Next week is fall break so we won't be going to Atlanta. The next week after that we are taking Sarah to dinner because she finally got her greencard!
Continue to pray for Ronald and his bus ride to AZ and George's ministry that they'll continue to have enough food to meet the needs of the community.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Are you my friend?
This Friday night excursion into Atlanta was different. I'm quickly learning that every week will bring new encounters and different experiences.
We started at the Underground as usual. Selah was sick so Amy came with David and me. We met with Sarah (the watch/bling/grill-selling Muslim turned Christian lady who happens to be awesome) for the first 20 minutes or so. Amy is considering starting a disciple-type relationship with her. It's pretty exciting.
David and I then went and scouted out the area for potential new relationships....we shall see.
Around 8 we went to go meet Ronald (see 2nd post). Though we didn't actually catch up with him till around nine, we did get to meet George. He's the guy that brings the u-haul type truck to the parking lot every week. He's a large Hispanic man with a thick accent and a compassionate heart. This particular night we stuck around for the whole process.
Lines begin to form around 830ish. George speaks to the crowd and then a pastor gives a short sermon and a time of prayer. This night George spoke about how there has been a short supply of food for the past two weeks and he would like prayer for that. The pastor spoke about the power of restoration through Christ and urged the people present to allow themselves to be restored. It was pretty powerful.
It was also pretty awkward. Amy, David and I just stood around for awhile not wanting to be rude...but we also wanted to meet the people. We ended up getting to meet quite a few. I met Jerry and Gloria. Jerry helps out with the set up and tear down every week. He's homeless. Gloria is a mother of 6 and this particular day she did all of her family's laundry because her daughter is expecting and due any day. Gloria was pretty cool...she also towered over me by more than a foot. I felt reasonable safe just because Gloria was standing next to me.
Once the 200 meals of chicken, bread, and cookies were passed out...my eye caught something I did not want to see.
it was in the form of a 4 year old little boy wearing an ATL braves hat, spiderman shirt, and bob the builder back pack...
I know the face of homelessness has changed from primarily single men to families. But knowing it doesn't make it sting any less.
We approached the area where he was standing with his mom when he turns around and looks at us and says "Hey!" Around a mouthful of chicken he begged us to play with him. He didn't even have to beg. David and I sat with him on the ground as he rummaged through his back pack and pulled out a plastic box containing 6 matchbox cars. He then plopped down in my lap. Turning around, he looked up at me and asked "Are you my friend?" Yes, yes Christian I'm you're friend. He asked David too...and of course David replied in the affirmative.
We played cars amid the broken glass, trash, and needles. My heart broke.
We played with Christian and spoke with his somewhat out of it mom of 22 for the next 45 minutes until it was time to go...he didn't want us to go. I didn't want to go either.
Walking back to the van, Amy, David, and I debriefed the time with Christian. It was interesting to me how deeply it affected all three of us. I can only imagine how much more it breaks the Father's heart.
Part of me hopes Christian is there next week. But a bigger part of me hopes that he and his mom have found a safe haven of rest and no longer need the identity provided in the streets.
We started at the Underground as usual. Selah was sick so Amy came with David and me. We met with Sarah (the watch/bling/grill-selling Muslim turned Christian lady who happens to be awesome) for the first 20 minutes or so. Amy is considering starting a disciple-type relationship with her. It's pretty exciting.
David and I then went and scouted out the area for potential new relationships....we shall see.
Around 8 we went to go meet Ronald (see 2nd post). Though we didn't actually catch up with him till around nine, we did get to meet George. He's the guy that brings the u-haul type truck to the parking lot every week. He's a large Hispanic man with a thick accent and a compassionate heart. This particular night we stuck around for the whole process.
Lines begin to form around 830ish. George speaks to the crowd and then a pastor gives a short sermon and a time of prayer. This night George spoke about how there has been a short supply of food for the past two weeks and he would like prayer for that. The pastor spoke about the power of restoration through Christ and urged the people present to allow themselves to be restored. It was pretty powerful.
It was also pretty awkward. Amy, David and I just stood around for awhile not wanting to be rude...but we also wanted to meet the people. We ended up getting to meet quite a few. I met Jerry and Gloria. Jerry helps out with the set up and tear down every week. He's homeless. Gloria is a mother of 6 and this particular day she did all of her family's laundry because her daughter is expecting and due any day. Gloria was pretty cool...she also towered over me by more than a foot. I felt reasonable safe just because Gloria was standing next to me.
Once the 200 meals of chicken, bread, and cookies were passed out...my eye caught something I did not want to see.
it was in the form of a 4 year old little boy wearing an ATL braves hat, spiderman shirt, and bob the builder back pack...
I know the face of homelessness has changed from primarily single men to families. But knowing it doesn't make it sting any less.
We approached the area where he was standing with his mom when he turns around and looks at us and says "Hey!" Around a mouthful of chicken he begged us to play with him. He didn't even have to beg. David and I sat with him on the ground as he rummaged through his back pack and pulled out a plastic box containing 6 matchbox cars. He then plopped down in my lap. Turning around, he looked up at me and asked "Are you my friend?" Yes, yes Christian I'm you're friend. He asked David too...and of course David replied in the affirmative.
We played cars amid the broken glass, trash, and needles. My heart broke.
We played with Christian and spoke with his somewhat out of it mom of 22 for the next 45 minutes until it was time to go...he didn't want us to go. I didn't want to go either.
Walking back to the van, Amy, David, and I debriefed the time with Christian. It was interesting to me how deeply it affected all three of us. I can only imagine how much more it breaks the Father's heart.
Part of me hopes Christian is there next week. But a bigger part of me hopes that he and his mom have found a safe haven of rest and no longer need the identity provided in the streets.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Street Skills 101
The student advisor of the AOM is Beth and she's amazing. She let the new members (Selah and myself) take the first 2 weeks to decide where we want to be...
Week 1: Little 5 Points
I decided to check out L5P for the first week to get my feet wet in true street evangelism. The evangelism we use is pretty atypical comparitively to the "normal" way of reaching people for Christ. No tracts. No mention of Jesus until a relationship is formed. Who are we to judge and condemn in the first 5 minutes?
The group I was with was Paul, Danielle, Brittany, and Me...we met tons of super cool people. People that I'm pretty sure I would never have been brave enough to talk to pre-internship. I'm still amazed how God has changed my view of people. So...we talked with Jonesy the artist, a rap artist, the lady from Senegal that owns an African shop (she was amazing...she has young two daughters...she showed us how to play the Jimbay and her daughters taught us an African dance/game)...we then met Robin and Joe. We met Robin because we met Joe.
Joe. He was wasted. "I ain't drunk! God still wit me sos I ain't drunk. If'n I was drunk God wouldn't be wit me...so I ain't drunk!" "I done had bout 15 beers...hehehehe" so...it was intensely intriguing watching Paul try to talk about God with Joe when Joe was not even close to being able to comprehend. But he was able to curse up a storm and share some truthful insights about his own spirituality....Robin told him he was blaspheming. And proceeded to defend Christ to Joe...it was all very lively involving lots of spit and curse words from Joe and lost of peace and patience from Robin.
Robin has 5 kids. and a black eye. she just got a job at Philips Arena. Despite peace...she had an overwhelming sense of sadness and despair around her.
That night gave me lots to think about. And pray about.
Week 2: Underground/Ronald
This past week I went to UG. My group was David, Selah, and myself. David gave us a tour of the UG and introduced us to his African friends and Sarah (converted Muslim to Christianity from India). It was fun being able to meet people that already had a relationship with someone in the ministry...we also got to pray for a couple of them as well...
but...the real fun began when David introduced us to his friend Ronald. Ronald. Ronald. Ronald.
He's a homeless guy that lives in a van about a thirty minute walk from the UG. The company who's property it's on let's him stay as long as he watches the building. Pretty cool. According to David...Ronald got really sick awhile back and went broke because of medical bills. He can't work...so no work means...no money...no money no house/food/etc. He's also a Christian and well educated...Well...Ronald gave us lots of tips as we walked to where he lived...
Week 1: Little 5 Points
I decided to check out L5P for the first week to get my feet wet in true street evangelism. The evangelism we use is pretty atypical comparitively to the "normal" way of reaching people for Christ. No tracts. No mention of Jesus until a relationship is formed. Who are we to judge and condemn in the first 5 minutes?
The group I was with was Paul, Danielle, Brittany, and Me...we met tons of super cool people. People that I'm pretty sure I would never have been brave enough to talk to pre-internship. I'm still amazed how God has changed my view of people. So...we talked with Jonesy the artist, a rap artist, the lady from Senegal that owns an African shop (she was amazing...she has young two daughters...she showed us how to play the Jimbay and her daughters taught us an African dance/game)...we then met Robin and Joe. We met Robin because we met Joe.
Joe. He was wasted. "I ain't drunk! God still wit me sos I ain't drunk. If'n I was drunk God wouldn't be wit me...so I ain't drunk!" "I done had bout 15 beers...hehehehe" so...it was intensely intriguing watching Paul try to talk about God with Joe when Joe was not even close to being able to comprehend. But he was able to curse up a storm and share some truthful insights about his own spirituality....Robin told him he was blaspheming. And proceeded to defend Christ to Joe...it was all very lively involving lots of spit and curse words from Joe and lost of peace and patience from Robin.
Robin has 5 kids. and a black eye. she just got a job at Philips Arena. Despite peace...she had an overwhelming sense of sadness and despair around her.
That night gave me lots to think about. And pray about.
Week 2: Underground/Ronald
This past week I went to UG. My group was David, Selah, and myself. David gave us a tour of the UG and introduced us to his African friends and Sarah (converted Muslim to Christianity from India). It was fun being able to meet people that already had a relationship with someone in the ministry...we also got to pray for a couple of them as well...
but...the real fun began when David introduced us to his friend Ronald. Ronald. Ronald. Ronald.
He's a homeless guy that lives in a van about a thirty minute walk from the UG. The company who's property it's on let's him stay as long as he watches the building. Pretty cool. According to David...Ronald got really sick awhile back and went broke because of medical bills. He can't work...so no work means...no money...no money no house/food/etc. He's also a Christian and well educated...Well...Ronald gave us lots of tips as we walked to where he lived...
- don't go past the '45' sign under the bridge...that's where people are always getting shot
- just say 'I'm Straight' if anyone asks you if you need anything, otherwise they'll misinterpret anything else you say (saw two drug deals that night...hmmm)
- never come here alone
- don't stand in the same spot too long (cops will bother you. drug dealers will want to sell to you)
- stay by the lights
Ronald was going "canning" that night. 26 cans equals 1 pound. 1 pound equals 62 cents. He was saving up to buy a thermometer. the hospital won't admit him if his temp isn't over 101. He says it's around 100.9. He doesn't dig too deep in the trash cans...just the tops...or picks them up from the side of the road. When we were with him, he asked the garbage truck guys to throw down any cans they had...they threw out 2.
Ronald says the hardest part about living on the streets is if you hurt your leg or if you get sick and if your leg hurts and your sick...you're screwed. You have to walk everywhere. if you can't walk you can't get water. If you can't get water you get dehydrated. and so on and so on...
Halfway between Ronald's van and the UG is a huge vacant lot that some guy comes to every friday with a big u-haul type truck and feeds the people. There had to be about 200 people waiting on the way to Ronald's and about 200 people spread out all over the place with plates full of food on the way back.
I've decided to stick to the UG and Ronald's hangout. David, Selah and I decided that we would help feed the people with the guy with the truck (I think his name is Gary...or Greg...anyway apparantly he told them the first week that we could help them anytime). I'm pretty much really excited about this.
Could definitely use some prayer for more relationships...safety....and open hearts...
I'm just happy that my internship wasn't all for naught....that the change that occured because of it...is a lasting change....
AOM
So I'm in my senior year of college (woot woot)...and I've joined a new student ministry properly known as the Atlanta Outreach Ministry...every Friday night (leave TFC at 5 and return at 12/1ish in the am) we take a 15 passenger van down to ATL and split into two groups. One group heads to Little 5 Points and another to the Underground.
Little 5 Points is an area heavily populated with the 'original' types...lots of shops dedicated to art/clubs/bars/reggae/tatoos/Africa/pizza. Apparantly the best pizza in ATL is at L5P. Also...it's home too street kids/street artists/homeless/transients/friday night hangout spot for the counter-culture/sub-culturally aware.
Underground is a mall type place...underground...whoa! okay. Many shops and booth type things selling watches/bling/crocs/liscence plates/jewelry/etc. Most of the booths are operated by immigrant workers from Nepal/Africa/India/etc. We stay there until about 830ish and then head to the park outside which is a huge homeless hangout place.
We head back to the van around 10 and then stop at the QuickTrip halfway back to TFC (it's about an hour and a half or so drive depending on traffic) for slushies/slurpies/coffee/taquitos/breadsticks/bathroom/etc. it's pretty much the best gas station in the world.
So there's a description of what the AOM is.
the next post is all about my first 2 weeks...
Little 5 Points is an area heavily populated with the 'original' types...lots of shops dedicated to art/clubs/bars/reggae/tatoos/Africa/pizza. Apparantly the best pizza in ATL is at L5P. Also...it's home too street kids/street artists/homeless/transients/friday night hangout spot for the counter-culture/sub-culturally aware.
Underground is a mall type place...underground...whoa! okay. Many shops and booth type things selling watches/bling/crocs/liscence plates/jewelry/etc. Most of the booths are operated by immigrant workers from Nepal/Africa/India/etc. We stay there until about 830ish and then head to the park outside which is a huge homeless hangout place.
We head back to the van around 10 and then stop at the QuickTrip halfway back to TFC (it's about an hour and a half or so drive depending on traffic) for slushies/slurpies/coffee/taquitos/breadsticks/bathroom/etc. it's pretty much the best gas station in the world.
So there's a description of what the AOM is.
the next post is all about my first 2 weeks...
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