After years of serving those in deep need in our community, I’m beginning to learn how far from Christ I have drifted and how blind I was to pain and suffering right before my eyes. Even with perfect physical vision and hearing, we cannot see that which we choose not to see. We cannot hear if we do not listen. And we cannot love our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, when we walk on the other side of the tracks, refusing to lend a hand.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34).
Jesus commands that we “must” love one another. We have the hope of eternal joy with our Lord Jesus Christ, but it includes fellowship that begins now. So many guests we serve have been beaten down by a world that has lived up to Jesus’ promise, “In this world, you will have trouble,” that they no longer live with the joy intended. The joy found in community. The joy found in a loving Christian fellowship we call koinonia – the love of fellow believers.
Money can’t buy koinonia, but the lack of funds for basic needs continues to beat down those we serve. Words like unworthy, deadbeat, useless, lazy, addict, whore, stupid, and many more tear down those we have come to know – all made in the image of God. All we call brothers and sisters – our neighbors.
What we have found is many struggle to beat the identity that the world has tattooed on their forehead.
- We see hopelessness in the faces of elderly guests who have been evicted or are no longer able to support themselves.
- We see hopelessness in older adults who have lost one too many jobs and live week to week just getting by.
- We see hopelessness in the faces of domestic violence victims, abused children who have become addicted adults, or worse.
- We see hopelessness in those struggling with invisible trauma disguised as mental illness or covered by substance use disorders.
- We see hopelessness.
- We see with broken hearts and eyes wide open.
- We see.
“But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The promise of Jesus in John 16:33 erases the labels attached by the world. Jesus has won!
If we only saw hopelessness, we would simply be wallowing in misery, but this is not the end of the story. Yes, we see the pain, but we have seen incredible joy.
We have seen families reunited, the homeless move into homes, the lost become found, and the least of these in our society who have found hope.
The least expensive way to prevent homelessness is simply to provide a meal.
From a practical, worldly perspective, we have been able to offer hope by providing breakfast Monday through Saturday and a Warming Center in the winter when it’s extremely cold.
We’ve connected people with services that provide temporary relief as they get back on their feet. We have served people by navigating the difficult process of staying housed or finding attainable housing. Often, this requires a one-time investment of $300 to $3,000 – a barrier our clients cannot manage on their own.
We’re physically located in the middle of nine communities of deep need, where most residents are renters or those who own minimally viable houses.
We need your support, your presence, and your prayers.
Your Support. No solution is possible without money. We need support to pay salaries for the small staff who have answered to vocational calling to serve the hurting in our community. These few are able to navigate the cumbersome process of applying for benefits or paying bills through systems that, more than ever, require technology many do not understand or know how to interact with. We need support to pay the incredible cost of becoming housed or expenses of recovery programs.
We need your support with in-kind donations that provide our “daily bread” at the Mission: coffee, sugar, creamer, instant grits, oatmeal, socks, underwear, and various hygiene items.
Your Presence. We need you to show up—somewhere. Those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior embody Christ’s very nature through the Holy Spirit. Your presence makes a huge difference. Show up at HOPE Missions Monday through Saturday. Show up at The LOT Project. Show up at the Mercy Center. Serve at one of dozens of food pantries or places serving meals. Serve your brothers and sisters with gladness and joy. Your presence lets people know we are willing to be the roadside Samaritan. We see Jesus in the hungry, the widow, the orphan, those in jail, those naked, those fighting battles we may never know or understand. Your presence means more than you know. Just show up.
Your Prayers. Above all else, we need your consistent prayers. If you have toured the Mission, remember the room where we securely store the belongings of 60 guests we serve. This has become a sacred place for us. The stories in this room represent the lives of hundreds of guests we see weekly. Father Gregory Boyle reminds us that,
The measure of our compassion lies not in our service of those on the margins, but only in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them. The compassion of Jesus is the one we seek. The one that can stand in awe of what the poor have to carry, rather than stand judgment at how they carry it.
When we learn to stand in awe of the burdens our brothers and sisters bear, we pray differently. We are moved from pity to action. We are no longer on the sidelines complaining about the referee’s bad call. We find mud on our shoes, dirt on our hands, and tears stain our faces. Our prayers become directed and more effective because we pray from a position of experience with the hurting and a posture of humility. We pray without ceasing. We pray.
I’ve tried to paint the picture much larger than one organization can handle because it is much more than we can do alone. We are all in the battle together. I hope you will support us, but far more; I hope you will have stories to tell, experiences to reflect on, and confidence that Jesus will be talking about you when you read Matthew 25:40.
- For the hundreds of volunteer servants who have served at HOPE Missions – thank you!
- For the donors that send us checks every month – thank you!
- For those who continue to pray for our work in the community – thank you!
We literally would be lost without all of you.
For others who hear the calling in this message, I pray you will join us. The work is not easy—that was never a promise. But my oh my, the eternal rewards are worth every hour, every drop of sweat, and every tear shed as we serve each day. We are spending ourselves for those who need it most (see Isaiah 58:9b-10).
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.Numbers 6:24-26