Image via Wikipedia"What are you lookin' at?!" The man shouted angrily as we were gathered on the street. Apparently someone from my team had been looking a little too long and hard. "How ya' doing, sir?" was my reply. Clearly my question threw him off, and like a one-two punch combination, my brother saw him for the first time and asked him the same question in different words. He had a brown paper bag wrapped over a bottle, and shiny lips from drinking the liquid inside. The man carried crutches as if he were supposed to be using them, but had given up trying. We were doing a street outreach to tell homeless folks in the city about a group of services offered at Calvary Baptist Church. The initiative, Don't Walk By, organized by a group of faith-based organizations, gathered hundreds of volunteers (of which we were a few) to walk New York's streets for four hours, finding folks that most people walk by, and do the opposite.
Just when my brother started a conversation, telling him why we were there, the man's countenance changed. He started to walk away with and shouted "pray for me". Still walking, he said, "really, pray for me". That was like being granted permission to speak and my brother ran towards him, and complied right there on the spot. For the next twenty minutes, the man with the crutches preached to my brother and warmed his heart.
I let them talk since they had formed a bond, but overheard some of the louder portions of the sermonnette. He paraphrased Galatians 5:14: "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The irony of the situation was not lost on situation was not lost on me. It turns out I had two brothers, both professed "backsliders", one in a more distressing disguise.
Later on, when my teammate and I debriefed, we reflected on how funny it is, that when you intend to do the blessing, most often, it is you who is blessed.
Watch a video of the Don't Walk By of 2009:
Don't Walk By is a Rescue Alliance initiative. The Rescue Alliance is a partnership of faith-based ministries that are focused on offering homeless men, women and children an alternative to living on the streets.
The goal is to educate and mobilize New Yorkers to compassionately engage homeless men, women and children throughout the city.2011 OUTREACH
Every Saturday night during January 2011, over1,000 volunteers will fan out across Manhattan looking in alleys, doorways, subway stations and hidden corners for homeless men and women.
These volunteers will compassionately share Christ, and provide food, blankets and other needs. For those ready to leave the streets, they will offer a place in a residential recovery program featuring a Christian discipleship curriculum composed of one-on-one counseling, career and educational training and Christian growth.
For more information, check out http://hfny.org/dont-walk-by-2011/
No comments:
Post a Comment