Day of Poverty
So Friday I lived a day of Poverty; whatever I went to bed in is all I was able to take and keep with me, other than that I owned nothing. I woke up unable to brush my teeth because I "don't own one." That was so embarrassing and just made me feel dirty. Then we had to walk to class without our shoes, walking on K Rd barefoot through the glass and trash; people passing by were looking at me weird and I just felt shameful and I was upset at them for passing judgement on me with the looks they gave; they sized me up with every glance, filling in the gaps of what "my story" was. But as painful as their looks were, I didn't want them to just ignore me. I wanted them to look and see me.
We get to school and if we wanted to eat or drink we had to ask the people who couldn't eat or drink to make us something; which was pretty hard to do towards the end of the day when they were starving and their mouths were dry.
On the way back from school I got to talk to a man who lives on the street and he asked me for some change. I told him that I honestly don't have any and explained why I didn't, that I was spending a day in poverty to better understand what it's like. The look he gave me...there just aren't words for what was in his eyes; he was happy, satisfied, impressed, loved, and perplexed that I was spending a day in his shoes. It really humbled me. When I woke up this morning I was clean, I had everything I could ever want at my fingertips; he woke up in the same hell hole he went to bed in.
He got to where he's at because of bad choices but he remains there because of our bad choices-choosing to withhold, choosing to ignore, choosing to keep walking, choosing to judge, choosing to indulge, choosing to be separate. Have we not the courage to sit with broken people and feel with them? "Justice is giving power back to people." Pour your privilege out on others and stretch out your hand to them, help them up. Give them the dignity they deserve as human beings; the dignity of having a friend.
I want to end this blog entry with an encouraging story to give you hope that things can change. One of the leaders here, Andy, befriends people on the streets and has made a commitment to give whenever asked. One time he gave a guy, what ended up being, just enough change for his bus fare. This man was on his way to someone's home where he was promised a hot meal. Andy's act ministered to this man so much that he gave up smoking pot to save up enough money to be able to take Andy out to eat to repay him in thanks. So one day when he saw Andy again he took him out to breakfast and the guy bought him a Sprite and some sausage rolls. This guy ended up giving his life to the Lord and is such a blessing to those around him.
We get to school and if we wanted to eat or drink we had to ask the people who couldn't eat or drink to make us something; which was pretty hard to do towards the end of the day when they were starving and their mouths were dry.
On the way back from school I got to talk to a man who lives on the street and he asked me for some change. I told him that I honestly don't have any and explained why I didn't, that I was spending a day in poverty to better understand what it's like. The look he gave me...there just aren't words for what was in his eyes; he was happy, satisfied, impressed, loved, and perplexed that I was spending a day in his shoes. It really humbled me. When I woke up this morning I was clean, I had everything I could ever want at my fingertips; he woke up in the same hell hole he went to bed in.
He got to where he's at because of bad choices but he remains there because of our bad choices-choosing to withhold, choosing to ignore, choosing to keep walking, choosing to judge, choosing to indulge, choosing to be separate. Have we not the courage to sit with broken people and feel with them? "Justice is giving power back to people." Pour your privilege out on others and stretch out your hand to them, help them up. Give them the dignity they deserve as human beings; the dignity of having a friend.
I want to end this blog entry with an encouraging story to give you hope that things can change. One of the leaders here, Andy, befriends people on the streets and has made a commitment to give whenever asked. One time he gave a guy, what ended up being, just enough change for his bus fare. This man was on his way to someone's home where he was promised a hot meal. Andy's act ministered to this man so much that he gave up smoking pot to save up enough money to be able to take Andy out to eat to repay him in thanks. So one day when he saw Andy again he took him out to breakfast and the guy bought him a Sprite and some sausage rolls. This guy ended up giving his life to the Lord and is such a blessing to those around him.