Staying Mission Focused

December 4, 2022

Staying Mission Focused

Seeing several homeless friends walking our way, we pulled to the curb and rolled down the window. Paul was the first person to arrive. As we extended our gift packet of $10 cash, along with a $10 DD gift certificate and our prayer card, a shiny new Toyota pulled up. The driver got out of the car and came to our window. He asked, “Can I get one of those too?” We answered, “absolutely,” and handed him a packet. He replied, “thank you!” Then, he got back into his car and drove off. Paul was astounded! Indignantly, he exclaimed, “Can you believe that guy? He’s driving a nice car and gets out and asks you for money!” I told him, “We give to all who ask…no judgments.” When serving others in the name of Jesus Christ it is important to stay“mission focused.”The mission of On the Street Ministry is “To make the love of God known through word and deed.”We do not know the circumstances of the man who drove the Toyota. He may well be asset rich and cash poor. He may have been rushing to get to a new job with his gas gauge reading empty. And yes, he may have been trying to take advantage of us. None of it matters, because the prayer card is in his possession. The words on the card assure the reader that“God never stops searching for you”and that”God is constantly calling you back into His loving arms.” Mission accomplished!*

“If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.” Matthew 5:45

$1,400 a month for a shared room with the bathroom down the hall.

We regularly see the reality of homeless Social Security recipients and minimum wage workers being priced out of the housing market. Reasonably priced and readily available single rooms and efficiency apartments are no longer to be found. Last Sunday we met Josh, a young man who suffers from chronic asthma and other disabilities. He currently rents a “shared bedroom” and the use of a bathroom “down the hall” for $1,400 a month. Apartments and rooming houses, once rented at affordable rates by people who are financially marginal, are being sold, renovated, or demolished. They are being replaced by condominiums and apartments that sell or rent for prices far out of the range of the economically challenged. The misconception is that drug and alcohol abuse along with mental health issues are the primary contributing factors of homelessness. These serious issues certainly exist, butthe major reason for homelessness is that the poor and marginalized cannot find a home they can afford.

“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”Unknown *