Home-Less

Before I left New York, I wanted to give back to the community as I've been abundantly blessed with insight and experiences while living and working there. So when a volunteer opportunity came up at the church I've been attending, I jumped on the idea without hesitation.

Well, the hesitation actually came later on as this was an event to reach out and invite the homeless to a BBQ the church was having in a nearby park. I've done the Mustard Seed back home before, so I didn't think this would be too hard or uncomfortable, but I was wrong.

After a quick orientation after service, we were split up into groups with a leader who is part of the homeless outreach ministry at this church. I found out that every Sunday morning before service, this ministry goes out to talk and engage with those that are homeless in the area where the church resides. I was quite surprise that they did this so early on a weekly basis, but also humbled by their heart to do so. So each group was given a map and a designated area to "find" homeless people and invite them to this BBQ we were having later in the day. FYI, the area the church is in is Upper West NYC, a relatively rich area near the Ivy League school Columbus and the famous music school Julliard. Thus, the sight of homeless people wasn't as obvious as say Midtown or Times Square where tourists are abundant.

Going through this process of seeking and confronting homeless made me realize my lack of awareness and all the stereotypical judgements I had of the less fortunate. When I first observed my leader approach a homeless person, I questioned why she was being so bubbly and over-the-top happy as I felt like that would turn people away from her, but I soon realized that it wasn't how she was communicating, but how I wasn't comfortable doing what she was doing. She would always introduce herself first and put her hand out for the homeless person to shake and give her their name, but when it came to my turn, I had my hesitations.

Hesitant because I felt like they were dirty and unclean and by shaking their hand, I would be dirty. As quickly as this thought came up, I felt terrible because I was reminded that I'm not any better as a person just because I'm well washed and clean. I was totally judging on this person I hadn't even met because of their exterior and physical image. How ignorant and shallow was I? But once I shook their hand, a revelation had set fire in my mind that they're probably more scared than I was. It's  probably rare for people to talk to them like this, let alone shake their hand; they probably thought they were more unworthy than I was thinking of them.

As the BBQ neared, we were able to find and invite more homeless people than we thought. Some didn't care for what we had to say, others blew me away with their bible knowledge and were eager to share stories. I will never forget this one African American that came out to the BBQ. He's from Harlem and has been a New Yorker for fifty years. He's literally a walking GPS of the city, from street names to where all the buildings are. Not only was his knowledge impressive, he had a great sense of humor and interacted with everyone at the church like friends. There was no difference talking to him versus conversing with any other new acquaintance. I was also very impress with the church members present and their interactions with the homeless as if they did this all the time. I felt bad for his situation, but also glad that there is help available for him. He broke off all the naive thoughts and stupidity I had of the homeless and towards the end, those of us chatting with him asked him to take a photo with us. What he said next to us was utterly inhumane,

"I'm glad you guys asked for a photo and not like those reporters/media that just take photos of me and next thing you know it ends up on the front of the newspaper..."

Needless to say, I'm so thankful I got to have this opportunity to serve. It was more than giving back, and more than community service. I got to step out of another level of my comfort zone and make myself vulnerable to those I walk by daily and never took the time to stop and care for.

Please send a prayer for the homeless population of NYC.