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By Mike Yankoski
Several years ago, my friend Sam and I felt the Lord
leading us to live on the streets of different American cities, in order to
better understand what life is like for men and women who are homeless.
For five months, Sam and I lived in
Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix and San Diego.
We panhandled for money to buy food – or, if we didn’t
make enough money, would eat at soup kitchens or from trash cans. We
slept out under overpasses, and basically anywhere we could find shelter.
Our experience was difficult, challenging and eye opening, and taught both
of us a great deal about how essential it is for all of us as Christians to
do what Jesus told us – to “Love your neighbours as
yourselves.” (Matthew 22:39)
One evening in Washington DC, Sam and I had been
panhandling for four hours in front of a beautiful restaurant on the banks
of the Potomac River. In those four hours, we did not receive any
leftovers; and we had only made a depressing $1.18. We were kind of
frustrated by this point, and were thinking to ourselves: “What are
we going to do? Maybe we should just sleep off the hunger, and then try to
find breakfast at a church or something.”
But as we are finishing our last song, a group of
small boys come walking along the sidewalk, all under the age of 10. They
were about as out of place as Sam and I. When they saw Sam and I
playing our guitars, they ran up and surrounded us. As we finished the
song, the leader of the group stepped forward. With his hands jammed in his
pockets, and obviously nervous, he asked: “Excuse me sirs, we are
from the Boys and Girls Club of America and we're trying to raise money for
our baseball uniforms. Could you help us?”
I looked at my guitar case, and back at him, and said:
“Sure man, we have $1.18. If you want it, it’s yours. Take
it!”
At that moment, from the back of this group of boys,
the youngest and smallest one stepped forward, pushing all of his friends
out of the way. He looked me straight in the eye, and said:
“Hey, you don’t have any money at all do you, you don’t
have anything?” I looked down at my guitar case, and said:
“Well, besides this $1.18, no.”
He thought for a minute, put his hand into his pocket,
pulled out $1.25 and put it into the guitar case with a smile. Then,
looking directly at me, he said, “Don’t worry about it bro, I
got you covered!”
We couldn’t believe it! Sam and I started
laughing out loud. Here was a little boy who had been more generous in a
single moment than thousands of adults had been over the course of four
hours! The most incredible thing, though, was not that he had given us
money. Rather, it was that he had treated us like human beings. That was
the most encouraging aspect of our interaction.
He looked me in the eyes, spoke to me like I was a
person. Very few people ever did that while Sam and I were on the streets.
One Saturday evening in Phoenix, Sam and I decided to
sleep outside of a church in order to discover what would happen the next
morning. That particular Saturday evening, there wasn’t
anybody at the church; so we decided to roll out our sleeping bags directly
in front of the main entrance. We were hoping that the next morning, as
everybody came to the church service, perhaps they would notice us lying
there. We were counting on it, because we hadn’t eaten in a day and a
half and were hoping the church might help.
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Next morning, at about 9 am, I woke up and looked
through the glass front door into the sanctuary – to see that the
sanctuary was completely full.
I elbowed Sam awake, and said: “I don’t
understand. Did they step over us? What happened?”
We found out a couple of minutes later, because they
turned on the speakers outside so we could hear the service. The person
giving the announcements apologized for the inconvenience of the two bums
on the front doorstep. Everyone had gone through the side doors of the
church. No response. No kindness. No compassion.
Being a ‘Christian’ means that we ought to
follow after Christ and seek to imitate him. (Ephesians 5:1) In the
parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus explains what it means
for us to love our neighbours. Essentially, it means being willing to go
out of our way to be neighbourly to those whom the Lord may bring across
our path. Certainly, none of us can help everybody in our world; there is
too much need. But this is not an excuse to do nothing. Each of us is
called to seek to love others insofar as we are able. For, after all,
“we love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
A few ideas:
Find out about the local homeless shelters in your
area, and volunteer some time – or support their work financially.
Buy some $5 gift certificates to local fast-food
restaurants or coffee shops. Keep these in your wallet or purse, and when
you see somebody who may be homeless, offer the gift certificate to them
– but don’t assume they’ll take it.
Consider getting together with some other Christians,
and making a meal. Then, take it to a local park or area where homeless men
and women may be gathered. Offer the meal (again, don’t assume) and
spend some time getting to know them.
Mike Yankoski is currently studying at Regent College
in Vancouver. To learn more about the journey of Mike and Sam on the
streets of America, pick up a copy of Under the
Overpass, or visit UnderTheOverpass.com.
Options Spring 2009
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