So a few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Christians and their response to homelessness and poverty. That article still rings true, I still hold to everything that I said in it. However, in this article, I am going to expand on the idea brought forth in the last article. If you were unable to read the last article, essentially what it said was this: Christians need to step up, follow what the Bible says, and provide for the poor and homeless. We need to figure out what love is and truly love people, following after the work that the early Christian church did with giving to all who had need. Minneapolis and Hennepin County alone has thousands of people homeless and sleeping in shelters and on the street while Christians sleep in warm houses with extra beds. This in and of itself is a travesty and something that we should change.
All of that being said, I would like to address a few more topics about homelessness that have not been touched upon yet. This article is going to take a more personal approach as a Christian who both has experienced homelessness (voluntarily) and is trying to do something about the homelessness I have seen in Minneapolis.
This story starts less than a week ago. Last Thursday, I had Thanksgiving with my family. It was absolutely wonderful being able to spend time with people I love and have known my whole life. I swear my family is comprised of professional chefs and bakers although none of them hold a job as one. I watched my family come together over a filling meal and realized that food is one thing that can always bring people together, no matter their differences. My sister and I packed up some food leftover from the meal (enough for about four full plates) and I headed down to Minneapolis to share Thanksgiving with more people I love.
Two friends and I reached Minneapolis with a mission to find people to love on. Within fifteen minutes, we met Fairbanks. He was leaning on a wall outside of a ritzy hotel just off of Nicollet Avenue with no pack, no bag, no nothing. We asked him what he was up to, started talking with him, and asked if he wanted to share a meal with us. As we started walking back to the car a few blocks away, an employee from the hotel approached us. “Hey guys,” he said “you can’t stay here.” When he noticed Fairbanks with a visible limp and unable to walk a straight line, he told us, “That guy needs to sit down.” We knew that, but we also knew that he would be the last person to offer this homeless dude a place to rest his feet.
Later in the night we were trying to find Fairbanks a place to sleep for the night since he had been kicked out of his apartment the week previous. It was 11:15 p.m., we had spent a few hours with this man already and enjoyed listening to his stories, his poetry, and just talking with him. Since most shelters have a curfew of 11:00 p.m., we were having no luck in taking Fairbanks to a place where we knew he would be warm and taken care of, even if just for a night. As we were talking to Fairbanks and trying to find a place for him to go, a police officer stopped by us and asked us to roll down our car window. He told us that there is no stopping on the road we were on (even though we were in a parking spot on the side of the road) and to move along. Somehow, upon looking into our dark car, he saw Fairbanks. “Careful,” the police officer stated, “that guy can be really violent.”
We rolled up the window and started snickering, Fairbanks included. “Violent?” he questioned, knowing that just a few days previous he had been beaten up (a huge egg left above his eyebrow with glass probably still in the wound) and had his bag stolen from him.
This is not the first time I have had a run in with a police officer. While I know they think they are correct and are trying to protect people, violence and treating people without dignity and love is not the way to handle people, homeless or not. They demand respect when none is given to the people they are demanding respect from. Lesson #1 from being on the streets in Minneapolis: if you want to gain someone’s respect, you have to respect them. Not even talking about love, just respect.
I decided that this summer, I would try and live semi-homeless for a few nights. This meant sleeping in my car in Minneapolis, by myself. I always had some place to sleep if I wanted it, but I wanted just a little taste of what homeless people felt. Once, I even had a homeless friend stay in my car with me. She was overjoyed at the thought and I wondered why I hadn’t invited her into my home on wheels sooner. Anyway, one of the first nights I decided to do this I found a place in downtown Minneapolis to park my car. Within the night, I had three different police officers knock on my window. Each time I calmly explained to the officers that there were no signs posted about parking overnight nor was I violating any laws: I was simply trying to get a few hours of sleep. The first two cops told me they would be keeping an eye on me. It was when the third cop came and pounded on my window that I began to get irritated. I’m ornery enough when I get woken up, but three times in one night by the same police department sends me BEYOND ornery. I flung open my driver’s side door to speak with him and immediately he jumped to defenses. “Calm down!” he yelled. I didn’t even respond since I was still trying to wake up for the third time that night. “What are you doing here?” he demanded to know as if the last two officers had not asked the same thing. As the questioning increased, so did my agitation. True, I probably didn’t handle it in the best way, but neither did the police officer. Instead of seeing me as someone trying to get a few simple hours of sleep, he saw me as a threat and treated me as one.
I’ve seen it other times as well. I’ve seen fights break out about half a block away and cops stop it with more violence. What Minneapolis needs is not more law enforcement, but more people to love. More people willing to get others off the street. More people willing to open their hearts and their homes to the poor and hurting.
This past weekend I saw the movie “The Blindside.” Very few movies bring tears to my eyes, but this movie definitely did. I watched as a family loved a young man who had never had a bed or a chance to thrive in society. The way this family was brought together made me hopeful to see more of this in society; more Christians opening their homes to people who need a place to sleep. Sure, not every family is wealthy nor is every homeless person a 17-year-old boy with potential to become a professional football player. But each person deserves a chance at life and each person deserves love and respect. Every family has something to give: if it is not a home, it is time and provision of needs for everyone they come in contact with.
I have had a lot of people from both the Morris area and the Minneapolis area ask what they can do to help. Many people feel helpless in both places and instead of researching ways to make a difference, they just assume someone else is doing the work. Here’s the truth: the work it takes to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and love the broken is more work than just the few who are devoting their time and energy to it can handle. We need your help. Volunteer at the local food shelf. Take a friend who is struggling financially out for dinner. Spend time with someone who you know is hurting emotionally, spiritually, or physically. Find the location of a local free store and volunteer your time. Go out on the street and talk to people; make relationships with people you never would have met otherwise. Don’t let fear of what might happen stop you or have police officers and the media send you negative messages about people who are living with less: remember, they are hurting people. And always serve with a servant’s heart, not expecting anything in return yet still helping because you want to show love to people.
Lesson #2 learned from being on the streets of Minneapolis: Love knows no bounds. Love on the least likely people and you never know what will happen.
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