Underneath the Veneer
I was talking to someone at church the other week (I honestly forget who - sorry!) and they mentioned something about the suburb we're in (both the church and us) being middle-class... in the context of saying that it was removed from the inner city homelessness, drug problems and general squalor. Well... that's what I thought when we moved there. Then I noticed the famous homeless guy who lives on the footpath outside a church on a huge pile of plastic bags. Then I noticed another guy (who stopped hubby and I for a chat because hubby was wearing a Salvo t-shirt) who, while not homeless, struck me as teetering on the edge. Then I noticed his mate, who sells the Big Issue. Then I noticed a number of other elderly men who quietly wander the streets between the white 30-somethings heading home from work and the international students. Our suburb has quite a few homeless and disadvantaged folk. It's just that they're very easy to ignore.
So... I've been pondering a game plan.
- Get some hexifoam (an antibacterial foam used when soap might not be available). I know it sounds horribly elitist of me, wanting to avoid being 'infected' by these folk. But I'd prefer a discreet squirt of hexifoam round the corner than avoiding touch. One guy in particular really seems to 'click' with shaking hands with us. Maybe people don't do that so much.
- I've invited a couple of these guys to church, with the entirely predictable result of... no presence at church. Can't say I blame them, it must be a pretty daunting proposition. So... do we take church to them? I'm not sure I'm up for that just yet... so I'm thinking maybe leftovers from morning tea would be accepted. Hmmmm. Gotta work out how to avoid offense.
Evangeline
posted by Naomi at 12:35
2 Comments:
Hello there
First I want to say that I have enjoyed reading stuff on your site. I am a SA officer from the U.S. and love seeing that no matter where we are, we are all basically the same!
Anyways, the corps where I am is one that is amidst the homelessness and drugs, and it is a great challenge to get these folks to even notice us, unless we are offering food or some other necessity. We have been successful in incorporating some of these folks into our corps family - we are pretty good for accepting them for who they are and are able to look past what they have or are doing (not that we ignore the sinfulness of some of the stuff - we do approach that carefully). I think it's all about loving them as people and not singling them out as different. My people are learning that they have sin issues too - they just might not be as open with them as the drug dealers and users are.
Blessings!
7:00 am
God sure works in weird but amazing ways. :P I stumbled across this blog while searching for info on Hexifoam for a uni assignment (good ol' google). And what do you know, it's a christian blog! Great to read about the stuff you're doing!!! Keep it up. :D I'm sure God's going to use you in big ways (as i can see he already is)!!!
8:12 pm
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