There are a couple of women and a couple of high-school small groups that have been making double-thickness fleece blankets for the people downtown. We take a couple everytime we go downtown. We’ve given a bunch to Naomi House (an apartment for women and their children transitioning from life on the streets). Others we’ve given them directly to people we’ve met.
One day Bill and I were walking, and came across a couple of people sleeping in an alcove. They woke up while we were leaving some food and water. We offered blankets, as they had none. When we handed a fleece blanket to the woman, she took it and scrunched it up and rubbed it against her face. She looked at us and said in a surprised voice “This is new! And so soft and beautiful! Oh thank you!” I told her that I knew the people that made it, and that they cared about the person getting it. Walking away, we realized that even though this lady was on the street, she showed a tender side that we didn't expect. It opened our eyes a bit further to our friends.
A couple of weeks later, we were handing out blankets. One lady that we'd given a blanket to saw another one in our bag. "Oh, can I give this one back and have that blue one? It's so pretty!" The one she was pointing to was powder blue with a white snowflake pattern. Of course, she got the one she wanted. Walking away, Bill said "She's a lady. She's still a lady." And our eyes were opened a bit more.
Tonight at church someone asked us how much longer we would be collecting blankets. "Ah, the Second Coming?" I said. Goofy, but that's the intention. Blessings to the ladies and senior high groups that have been making the blankets, and also the people that donate new store-bought blankets. You have kept people warm at night.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Birds
The other day as we were walking through Rice Park, we spotted a couple of our friends at a bench. We walked over, said hi and offered them some water and cereal bars. They took them, then asked for a dollar to buy some bread for the birds in the park. One man said that only the homeless take care of the birds, and that the rich don’t care about the little birds, don’t even see the little birds. This was an odd request, and we haven’t usually given people money. We said we’d bring bread next time for them. We gave them some handwarmers and introduced ourselves to them, and they said their names were Tony and George. We chatted a bit more, then headed off.
The next weekend when we were packing to leave, Bill opened his knapsack and showed me a loaf of bread. “For George and Tony” he said. I laughed. Unfortunately, we didn’t see George or Tony that trip.
The following Saturday we headed out, again with a loaf of bread. This time walking through Rice Park we saw George. We called out to him as we walked over to him. He looked up, searched our faces for a couple of seconds, then smiled. “The handwarmer guys!” We gave him the loaf of bread for the birds, and he laughed and thanked us, and wandered down to the south end of the park. We headed north out of the park
A little while later we were walking through the park back to the car, and we passed where George had taken the bread. Scattered on the path in a ten foot diameter circle were more bread crusts than I’d seen before. A couple of sparrows were eating some of the crusts. “Breadsplosion!” We laughed. Looking back, I wish I had watched George feed the birds. In fact, I wish we could have fed the birds with him. We sometimes forget that our friends on the street might want to have a conversation. In delivering the goods we forgot the people side. We’ve realized that we need to slow down and leave open the possibility for talking more to people.
The next weekend when we were packing to leave, Bill opened his knapsack and showed me a loaf of bread. “For George and Tony” he said. I laughed. Unfortunately, we didn’t see George or Tony that trip.
The following Saturday we headed out, again with a loaf of bread. This time walking through Rice Park we saw George. We called out to him as we walked over to him. He looked up, searched our faces for a couple of seconds, then smiled. “The handwarmer guys!” We gave him the loaf of bread for the birds, and he laughed and thanked us, and wandered down to the south end of the park. We headed north out of the park
A little while later we were walking through the park back to the car, and we passed where George had taken the bread. Scattered on the path in a ten foot diameter circle were more bread crusts than I’d seen before. A couple of sparrows were eating some of the crusts. “Breadsplosion!” We laughed. Looking back, I wish I had watched George feed the birds. In fact, I wish we could have fed the birds with him. We sometimes forget that our friends on the street might want to have a conversation. In delivering the goods we forgot the people side. We’ve realized that we need to slow down and leave open the possibility for talking more to people.
Welcome to Praxis
Praxis, now that’s a funny word! Google it and you’ll get results ranging from a math skills learning system to a planet that was destroyed in one of the Star Trek movies. It is a word that we are reclaiming for the church, because it perfectly fits what a group of us feel called to. Praxis means that we are putting our theories into practice. We love others, not just in word, but in deed.
Pastor Brad invited (or challenged) a couple of us to start some sort of ministry that would comfort those who are suffering. Specifically it would be directed towards people who are not part of our church (CrossRoads in Cottage Grove, MN). The form it would take would be up to us. We immediately thought of the homeless, of women’s shelters, crisis pregnancies, and about a dozen other teams. We very soon had too many ideas for the number of hands. What would we select? How were going to launch this?
During many coffees at the local shop, we realized that the current forms we were talking about, like the standard hierarchical ministry, were just not going to work. We decided to experiment with what could be called a node-and-hub ministry (my term for it, more on that later.)
We decided that a couple of us would get something going, something small, and people who were excited could join us. People who were interested but had different passions, well, we would support them and help them launch something.
With that, a couple of us started to walk through downtown St. Paul, talking with the homeless (“our friends”), and offering them water, cereal bars, coats, hats, gloves, blankets and hand-warmers. We’ve done this now every Saturday for five months. We’ve set up a table at our Sanctuary service to collect donations, and our friends downtown have been blessed by some very tender-hearted people at the church who have donated new and almost new clothing and blankets (I’ll talk about these beautiful blankets in another entry…)
Before going on, I want to talk about why I’m even writing any of this. A couple of us talked about this, and Pastor Brad pointed out that in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:16, specifically) Jesus said that we are to let our lights shine before men so that they would see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. Brad said that it’s also valuable to let people know the kind of things that could be done, to energize them to join in.
With that, future entries will be about the people that have touched us, made us laugh, and broken our hearts even while we’ve been serving them. As well, as we launch other teams in our network, others will join in with their stories of love, pain and redemption. What will hopefully emerge is the big story. I’m catching glimpses of how this is more than a ministry (in fact, I don’t call it a ministry at church anymore…), how it is a transforming spiritual practice that becomes a way of life, a way of walking humbly with our God (i.e. Micah 6:8).
Pastor Brad invited (or challenged) a couple of us to start some sort of ministry that would comfort those who are suffering. Specifically it would be directed towards people who are not part of our church (CrossRoads in Cottage Grove, MN). The form it would take would be up to us. We immediately thought of the homeless, of women’s shelters, crisis pregnancies, and about a dozen other teams. We very soon had too many ideas for the number of hands. What would we select? How were going to launch this?
During many coffees at the local shop, we realized that the current forms we were talking about, like the standard hierarchical ministry, were just not going to work. We decided to experiment with what could be called a node-and-hub ministry (my term for it, more on that later.)
We decided that a couple of us would get something going, something small, and people who were excited could join us. People who were interested but had different passions, well, we would support them and help them launch something.
With that, a couple of us started to walk through downtown St. Paul, talking with the homeless (“our friends”), and offering them water, cereal bars, coats, hats, gloves, blankets and hand-warmers. We’ve done this now every Saturday for five months. We’ve set up a table at our Sanctuary service to collect donations, and our friends downtown have been blessed by some very tender-hearted people at the church who have donated new and almost new clothing and blankets (I’ll talk about these beautiful blankets in another entry…)
Before going on, I want to talk about why I’m even writing any of this. A couple of us talked about this, and Pastor Brad pointed out that in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:16, specifically) Jesus said that we are to let our lights shine before men so that they would see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. Brad said that it’s also valuable to let people know the kind of things that could be done, to energize them to join in.
With that, future entries will be about the people that have touched us, made us laugh, and broken our hearts even while we’ve been serving them. As well, as we launch other teams in our network, others will join in with their stories of love, pain and redemption. What will hopefully emerge is the big story. I’m catching glimpses of how this is more than a ministry (in fact, I don’t call it a ministry at church anymore…), how it is a transforming spiritual practice that becomes a way of life, a way of walking humbly with our God (i.e. Micah 6:8).
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)