I’ve decided to start getting back onto the blogging band-wagon again. I’m setting a goal for myself to do some kind of update every day in May. I’m teaming that up with my goal of spending time reading/reflecting on Scripture every day in May too, so that might end up being the updates for many of those days.
I thought it fitting to use this “fresh start” to move over to WordPress, especially since I don’t have comments ability anymore on Blogger. I’m still figuring stuff out and will probably tweak here and there as we go.
I felt like doing my first new post on the new platform today, as I had another “fresh start” today. I’ve been following the Street Church on Facebook for a while now, but haven’t really had any activity in homeless ministry since Christmas and 2010’s new city ordinances that have changed a lot. I finally took an opportunity to do so today, and, of course, it was great.
Robert Moran, who heads the Street Church, pulls his van up on the street behind the Marion House soup kitchen at 11:00am every Saturday. His van is loaded with all sorts of things from the usual donated clothing and canned food to new socks, razors, deodorant, etc.
I had spoken to Robert on the phone earlier to let him know I was coming, so when I walked up he saw me and asked if I was Josh. There was a line of homeless folks already queued up, so Robert just said, “Go ahead and hop up in the van. They get one pair of socks and two cans of food.” Training complete!
Fortunately, there was another man helping, so I kind of followed his lead on how things were done. After the line died down and there was a lull, I had a chance to chat with him. Come to find out that he was homeless himself until a couple months ago, and was so grateful for the help others had given him, that he wanted to turn around and do the same in helping others. How cool is that?
I was only able to stay for a half hour or so, but it was enough to whet my appetite. As I drove home, once again I was remarking at how fun and fulfilling the experience was. I realized how much I’ve missed my “fix”. I even saw a guy I had spoken with a couple times at Acacia Park. I think my brief interaction with him is the main inspiration for the title of this post and wanting to go back and do more.
When he walked up, I immediately recognized him and mentioned remembering him from Acacia Park. Here’s the heartbeat: after giving him socks and a razor, I simply asked “How are you?” His reaction was a mixture of shock and grateful emotion. He held my handshake for a while as tears welled up, and he gave me an emphatic “Thank you! Thank you for asking!”
Wow. Most of the time for me, “How are you?” is how store cashiers and people you pass by in church say “Hi”. But for him, someone asking how he was was such a special rarity, he genuinely appreciated my asking. So simple.
That’s going to be my new recruiting pitch for getting people interested/involved with homeless ministry: “Can you say these four words?: ‘Hi, how are you?’ If so, you’re perfect for the job.”
Woot! First comment on the new blog!
Thanks…you win! =)