Home for the Holidays

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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Home for the Holidays



By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) – On a recent cold day-after-Thanksgiving Friday passing through downtown Albuquerque, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a steady parade of homeless people making their way somewhere.

After all, it was downtown – where many of the homeless shelters are located. However, at that time of the morning, most shelters and social service agencies were closed, so the homeless were doing what they do when faced with no other options. They walk – to nowhere in particular. After all, where else can they go to?

In addition to helping the homeless stay warm and dealing with mind-numbing boredom, walking also heads off a possible confrontation or an order to “move along” from a police officer, who while possibly well meaning often doesn’t have a clue how to help the sometimes troubled and usually discouraged human being standing in front of him.

My heart went out to this sea of humanity. Everyone I saw with the exception of one person was moving slowly, and looked as if they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Contrary to what some people think, it’s no fun being homeless, and people don’t choose to live on the streets or stay in homeless shelters just because they’re “lazy.”

Mike

One man in particular drew my attention. Unlike some of the homeless who were carrying bed rolls or backpacks, this gentleman (I’ll call him “Mike”), was pulling a big suitcase on rollers, but nonetheless moving at a pretty good pace. With the exception of his windbreaker, he looked like a harried businessman going through the airport terminal in a hurry to catch his plane.

While many would criticize Mike and applaud the luggage-toting businessman, I reflected that in one sense there wasn’t a lot of difference between them. They both struggle with the problems and issues of life – it’s just that Mike’s turmoil was a lot more visible. The businessman’s struggles are usually kept locked up inside him, perhaps only coming to the surface in a lonely and anonymous encounter in a hotel room many miles, and perhaps countries, from home.

I wondered what had brought Mike to that point in his life. As I watched and prayed for him while stopped at a red light, Mike turned west. I thought of trying to follow him and ask if he would like a meal, but the light seemed unusually long and I figured that by the time I could find Mike, he would be long gone.

During the next few minutes, the plight and the sight of the homeless weighed heavily on my mind. Even though Joy Junction Homeless Shelter – the ministry I founded and direct and which helps about 300 people each night- is the largest homeless agency in the state, what we are able to do seems so small in comparison to the overall need both locally and nationwide.

What was the answer? As I prayed about and internally debated this issue, I thanked the Lord that helping the homeless isn’t just a job – it is an all consuming passion which is burning more deeply in my heart as the days go on (and I get older), the nights get colder and the streets of our city get increasingly dangerous.

However, one answer is for us all to do something when we see a homeless person, and not just pass by disdainfully on the street while internally patting ourselves on the back that we would never be like “them.”

Mickey

Joy Junction Chief Administrative Officer Roseann Vona Page and I had the opportunity to put that philosophy into practice a few days earlier when while leaving a restaurant a number of miles from where homeless people usually gather, we were stopped by a man who asked us for help.

“Can you do me a big favor?” he asked slowly.

Mickey (not his real name), a well-spoken man young man with a pony-tail, told us that his mother was waiting for him in a motel a few miles away, and he wondered if we had a dollar so he could get the bus over to where she was staying.

Over the next few minutes, Mickey’s story unfolded. He had been living on the streets in Albuquerque for the last few months and had finally called his mother for help. She had come down from Southern Colorado to retrieve her son.

He told us that at some point he had been sober for three months, an achievement of which he was justifiably proud. However, he had recently started drinking again.

Roseann asked Mickey if he had been drinking today. He said he had. Mickey told us that as soon as he connected with his mother, he would get a lecture from her about drinking.

“So I don’t need to give you one, then,” Roseann said smiling.

“No,” he said.

Mickey didn’t tell us why he had started drinking again, and neither Roseann or I asked. Sometimes it is often best to just let people tell us what they want to reveal, and not pry for additional details.

While we are always happy to buy a meal (or more) for a needy person, neither Roseann or I usually give money. However, there is always an occasional exception and today was one of those times. Roseann went back into the restaurant to get some change.

I asked Mickey if he was a Christian and had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

“Oh yes,” he said fervently. “I have.”

Roseann came out, handed Mickey a dollar bill and said, “Now, you will spend it on the bus fare, right?”

“Oh yes,” he said, very earnestly. With surprising animation in his voice he continued, “The two of you need to believe me. I’m going back over to the hotel to see my mother. She’s a Christian, and she’s going to give me a lecture.”

I couldn’t even come close to imagining what turmoil Mickey’s poor mother had gone through with her son, and the pennies she had counted in order to get the funds to come down to Albuquerque – all to ensure that her son was home in time for Thanksgiving. My heart went out to her. Mickey’s mom wanted to make sure that her son would be staying in a real home for the holidays – not one which he had to carry with him each day, like everyone I see walking downtown.

Evidently feeling a little more comfortable, Mickey started telling us about the “promises” that the Enemy had made to him, and how while they were all true, had produced nothing but emptiness in his soul.

For Mickey to realize that, I thought, was in and of itself quite amazing.

“Yes,” I said. “The Enemy delivers on his promises of drugs, women and alcohol, but he exacts a terrible price.”

Mickey agreed.

I felt very strongly at this point that we should pray with Mickey and we all joined hands. I was immediately assaulted with the rancid smell of alcohol. Roseann said later it was probably whiskey. However, rather than repulsing me, it resulted in my heart reaching out to Mickey even more.

As we joined hands and turned that restaurant lobby into a church, we prayed that the Lord would draw very close to Mickey and give him victory over all the temptations that he faced. We asked our Heavenly Father (and Mickey’s too), that when Mickey was troubled instead of turning to booze, he would turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as the solution to all of his problems.

As we concluded praying, we gave Mickey one of our cards and invited him to call us if he ever needed anything. He said he would, and we made our way to another meeting-thanking the Lord for what we both strongly believed was another divine appointment.

Perhaps you’re wondering why we didn’t offer to buy Mickey a meal. Well, he never asked and I didn’t feel led to ask him. Roseann didn’t either. Whenever these God-ordained opportunities occur, we try and be led by the Holy Spirit and do just what we feel He is telling us to do.

However, there are many instances when we are motivated to buy a meal for someone. One such occasion occurred a couple of weeks ago on a late Saturday afternoon right in the middle of downtown Albuquerque.

Melvin

Roseann, who sees people routinely unnoticed by others (which is, I believe, a gift given to her by the Lord), suddenly noticed Melvin (not his real name), who was on crutches standing on the sidewalk.

We stopped the car; Roseann rolled down the passenger window, and asked Melvin if he was hungry. He said that he was, and we asked him what he would like to eat. He said a hamburger and a coke. We told him to stay where he was, and we would be right back. We quickly made our way to a local fast food restaurant, where we bought a couple of hamburgers, fries and a coke.

Making our way back to Melvin, we saw that he hadn’t moved from his spot. We gave him his meal, and Roseann told him what we had purchased.

“Oh ma’am,” he said gratefully, “that’s more than righteous.” We gave him our card, encouraged him to call us if he needed us, and went on our way.

We haven’t seen any of these three gentlemen since, but the Lord continues to bring Mike, Mickey and Melvin to my mind. I pray for Mickey that he did indeed make his way over to his mother staying in that motel and get home for the holidays.

I pray for Mike and Melvin too, that they find a home for the holidays. If that home isn’t a house made with bricks and cement, I pray–and encourage you to do likewise – that they will return to the spiritual home offered by their Heavenly Father and rest in His love.

Joy Junction

And will YOU pray for us at Joy Junction; that the Lord will provide the resources we need to help us take care of the ever increasing number of people who are turning to Joy Junction for assistance?

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master’s degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is “The Face of Homelessness.” Additional details are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. Reynalds’ upcoming book is “We All Need a Little Help.” It will be released on October 3 2008. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.

<!–BYLINE:By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service–>