Homeless Ministry

Jason Pierce, a very good friend of mine, got me thinking today about Homeless Ministry.

Living in Waco, I saw a pretty good deal of homeless people. Mission Waco does a great job helping homeless people, and Waco in general. In fact one of my favorite churches in Waco is "Church Under The Bridge," which is exactly what it sounds like. It is a haven for those who are not as fortunate as I am for whatever reason. 

Here is an interesting stat and comment by Jimmy Dorrell, who is with Mission Waco:

Waco ranked 19 in the nation for cities containing people below the poverty line in 1990. "That means 20 percent of the kids are below the poverty line," Dorrell said. "Many people can only work 29 hours a week because the company doesn't want to pay for benefits. That means they're making $10,080 per year, which is $7,000 below the poverty level."

Wow. Mission Waco has this program called "Poverty Simulation," it's pretty simple and I attended it in high school. It is exactly what it sounds like, a poverty simulation. I would love to go back and do it again if possible because I really didn't get the full scope of things last time.

http://www.missionwaco.org/povsimhtml.html

Theres the link if anyone wants to check it out...

We have probably all heard this story before, but it's still a good one to hear over and over. In Luke 16, there is a story about a rich man. On his doorstep there was a beggar named Lazarus. The rich man and Lazarus both died,the rich man was sent to hell and Lazarus to heaven. There is no indication the rich man ever did anything wrong to Lazarus. He was simply indifferent to someone the Lord had literally laid on his doorstep.

“And his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham. The rich man shouted, `Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.' But Abraham said to him, `Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to us' ” (Luke 16:23-26). 

The important thing that is so hard for us to accomplish on a daily basis is that we recognize whom God has put on our doorstep, and minister to them. So whether that is simply giving a homeless person a meal, or money or a warm shower, the fact is that they were put into out lives for the same reason that you were put into my life, because thats the way God planned it.