Homemade sleeping bags...

Elspeth forwarded this to me, about how to make sleeping bags for the homeless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPxT_lNx60c

Here is the group's page, with the instructions...

http://www.reese.org/sharon/uglyinst.htm

Is anyone interested in getting together and giving this a try?  Let me know...

Christmas Presence, December 11th.

We are gearing up for the next Christmas Presence event (see previous events in Rice Park listed below). Socks, underwear, mitts and hats are particularly needed.  The event is on Saturday December 11th. Let me know if you are interested in helping out, and meeting some great people!

Getting ready for cold weather

Friends,
We've been blessed with wonderful weather this autumn, but we know what's coming!

(some Praxis folks from 3 winters ago...)

Simple things like new socks (either full-length athletic, or workman/thermal), knit hats and mitts make a huge difference to our friends on the street...
Also, new underwear is always appreciated (mens and womens, all sizes...).

If you remember, can you drop off items at either CrossRoads (Praxis bins across from the children's ministry check-in area), or at The Gallery...

Shalom,
Matt

Changes...

Changes have a funny nature of happening in clusters... 

• One of our leaders over that last couple of years (Kim) is moving away to be with her sons. Thanks so much Kim for your energy and enthusiasm!
• Terry and Matt are looking to move to a ministry that works more towards getting people off of the street. This is grea, and I hope you plug in with one of the great ministries in the Twin Cities.
• For a year we've been part of the CrossRoads Church Live-out-Love Saturdays, and in this time we've had the opportunity to take many people downtown and let them meet our friends. My desire has been that people come to see our friends as people made in the image of God, and to start to feel God's love for them (as well as for all of us). Thank you Lisa and Cyndi for facilitating our involvement in Live-out-Love!
• Bill, one of the originals, is now a leader in BSF, and so his Saturday mornings are spoken for. I've appreciated your companionship through the many cold winter mornings when we've searched the streets and skyways for people needing gloves, hats and prayers!

One the plus side, the young folks (ok, to me mid-20s is young!) at the Gallery Church are getting involved in homeless and urban issues in a way that inspires me!  Tony and friends have worship services and just hang out and talk, play music and pray with people Sunday nights (rotating through each of the parks).
I enjoyed hanging out with Tony and others a few Saturdays ago (chatting with people, singing, even painting!). 

So, the faces of Praxis (except mine...) have changed, but the mission is the same (Dignity and Respect for all the Image-Bearers of God), and the approach is the same (learning by doing...)

Shalom,
Matt

Dignity and Respect for all the image-bearers of God

We were was sitting with some ladies in the green space across the road from Dorothy Day. We'd been talking for a while, and had offered them some water, snacks and hygiene kits. I asked what other sorts of things they'd appreciate receiving. One answer surprised me, and I've passed it on several times since. The lady said, "Dignity, underwear, respect, socks, moisturizer, and, did I mention dignity?" She went on to list the local churches that treated people well, and then other churches that made her feel degraded even while they served her.

I tell this to every group that we take downtown with us: "Dignity and respect." It doesn't matter what a person's housing and employment status is; everyone needs love, and to know that they are not forgotten, by God or by us.

We don't just hand out items (although that's part of it); we try to connect with people, we ask their names and we offer to pray with them, and we catch-up with them in subsequent weeks. We offer them a safe place to unburden themselves, and perhaps talk through some things.

Some people accept this readily, others reject us. When we first met one gentlemen he tried to punch us. Over the next year and a half, we kept gently serving his friends, and eventually we got to know him and pray with him. A few months later we learned that he had died. When I think that I'm too tired to go downtown, or it's too cold out, I think of him, and how time is short, and we head out again.

Thank you for your donations to Praxis (at CrossRoads, Gallery, and my workplace), and thank you for your prayers. If you would like to join us sometime, please let me know.

Shalom,
Matt

In the park with Gallery Church

We got together with The Gallery Church (St. Paul) in December (just a couple of days after a huge snow storm...fortunately part of the park was cleared...).

As usual, we set up with some tables (with with food, coffee and hot chocolate) and bins of clothes in the park, and then sent out groups (with bags of hygiene kits and mitts and gloves) to the shelters and bus stops. After an hour, people started coming by.  It was a really cold day, but the team from Gallery were really energetic and enthused!

We had a lot of conversations with the people that came by. (One funny time: when we were setting up, a couple came by and asked, in a pointed tone, if we were setting up to "sell our wares to the tourists". When I explained what we were doing, they kept saying, "Oh, that's so nice...".)

We got some donations through an event at The Peach art gallery, and the excess clothes then went to one of the East Side schools that a couple of the Gallery people teach at.  It worked really well, and I look forward to the next time we take part in a Love: St. Paul event with The Gallery.

November in the park

We had a great morning last Saturday with the CrossRoads Church/Live Out Love group! We started with 3 assembly lines for lunches and snacks.

We then headed downtown to Rice Park, set up some tables with coffee and hot chocolate, lunches and snacks, and hygiene kits.

We had several benches with men's items (socks, underwear, shaving kits and coats), and benches with women's items (socks, underwear and feminine hygiene packs).

Groups of three or four headed through the other parks, the bus shelters and Dorothy Day Center, taking water and food, letting people know we were in the park.

We met a lot of people, and many of our group got to sit down and talk our friends. It was a great day, and our friends really appreciated the chance to talk (and get new socks, underwear and hygiene items).

Thanks so much to the CrossRoads Women's Ministry for enough donations to make 500 feminine hygiene packs! Our friends really appreciated that!!! Thanks to the Children's Ministry for the donations of socks and underwear! Thanks to the ladies who have been faithfully making mitts, scarves and hats!

If you would like to contribute to either our monthly events, or our weekly smaller walks through downtown, please use the donation bin at CrossRoads Church (near the Children's Ministry check-in desk), or find me at Gallery Church. Our friends are very appreciative for all the items you donate!

Peace,

Matt

It's time to break out the mitts!

This past weekend, we had a couple of people ask us if we had mitts and gloves with us. It was 50F that morning. Now that the cold front has moved in, and there is a frost warning for tonight, we're now gearing up for the cold weather. If you have hats, scarves and mitts/gloves (for adults and children), let me know, or drop the items in the bins at CrossRoads (or hand them to me at CrossRoads Sunday morning, or The Gallery Sunday evening).

The photo is from last winter; I'm showing it to remind us (me), that now is the time for the cold-weather gear...

Tomorrow night, some of the ladies of CrossRoads are getting together to make some mitts and hats. Thank you ladies! (The men on the street prefer dark, solid colors, while the ladies prefer colorful items.)

Peace,

Matt

Autumn Updates...

Long time, no typing...
We've been going downtown most weekends through the spring and summer. Usually it's been our group of 4-5, but four times we've host a group from Live Out Love from CrossRoads Church. On those days we've set up a station in Rice Park, then sent out groups of 4-5 to the parks and bus stops. It's been great to see the participants' enthusiasm, and better to hear them say their eyes have been opened to the people they'd normally walk by.
Thanks to CrossRoads for promoting the events, and supplying the water and the bananas (and vacuum pots of coffee!).

One thing we've seen is that the number of people on the street and in the parks have been increasing (numbers were down last year before and after the RNC: the Excel Center is next to Rice Park and across the road from Dorothy Day, Listening House and Mary Hall). I'm expecting that we are going to be seeing more people through the winter as well.

If you'd like to help out, come to one of the Live Out Love events, or send me a note... We have a group of ladies that knit mitts, hats and scarves for the winter (thank you so much!). Our friends also need new socks (athletic socks are best...), and underwear (mens and ladies, S,M,L,XL), as well as hygiene items. Drop me a note if you'd like to help, or you can drop items for the homeless in the donation bins at CrossRoads and The Gallery churches (CrossRoads in Woodbury: bins are near the entrance to CrossWalk, The Gallery @ Stepping Stone Theater: bins are in the lobby).

And, please pray! If you think it is cold and miserable out (and you know it's coming!), please stop and pray for the people finding shelter.

Thanks and blessings,
Matt

A cold day in February...

On Valentine's Day this year we put on a little event in Rice Park. We set up a table with a cooler of orange drink (thanks, McDonalds in Cottage Grove), bagged lunches and hygiene packs. We put out bins of mens and womens clothes, hats, socks, scarves and mitts, and spread coats (thanks Stone Soup) and blankets across the benches. A couple of us manned the food table, and the other four helped people find the clothes they needed. A special "thanks!" to the ladies at CrossRoads who have been knitting scarves and sewing the mitts! People really appreciated that these were hand made.

We had a great day! The sun shine helped counter the cold wind (yes, it was cold!). We got to talk to a lot of people, and share some laughs and some hugs.

We will be looking at repeating this maybe every six or eight weeks; in the meantime we will be doing our regular walks through downtown.

Christmas 2008 - Thank you ladies!

Thanks to very generous donations from the ladies that attended the CrossRoads Church Women's Christmas Brunch, we have been able to purchase supplies to put together Christmas gift bags to give to those in shelters today. The bags have new socks, cookies, candies and candy canes, and breakfast bars. We are also handing out Christmas cards that a local Girl Scout troop wrote, some baked goods donated by Rainbow, stuffed animals some friends donated, and handwarmers.

Thanks all for your generosity and compassion for people in the shelters and on the streets this cold and snowy Christmas. Blessings to you all!

Memories of warm weather

Gang,

With the weather turning cold, I'm posting pictures of when it used to be warm...

The first picture is from Rice Park (we did a goofy thing, and had a sign for free smiles along with our usual food and water), and on the other is from when we helped with Hearts on Fire for God homeless outreach in Minneapolis (we arranged the clothing give away, and then several bands performed and a couple of pastors spoke in the Musicbox Theatre).

God bless,

Matt

Updates

Gang,

We still head downtown St. Paul most Saturday afternoons. Lately we've learned that warm dark socks are very appreciated (white socks are ok, but dark socks are a treat!). Hygiene items (and especially hygiene packs that meal groups at CrossRoads have put together) are really appreciated. Now that the weather is turning cold, it's also hats and gloves time. We had a great group of ladies that made lined fleece mitts for us last year (the people LOVED the mitts!), and some other ladies that make scarves. Let me know if you would like to join these ladies in serving the homeless in these ways.

What we hear over and over is that people like to be treated with dignity. That's why we always approach someone saying "Excuse sir" or "Excuse me ma'am", or "Good afternoon...". The hats and water and snack bars and hygiene items are a bonus.

Let me know if you have questions. You can usually find me every service at CrossRoads Church (Woodbury campus) at the CrossWalk Kids check-in desk. Or you can send me a note through this blog and I'll contact you.

God bless,
Matt Atkinson

A sad day

It's a sad day .... one of our cohort, JoynJesus, is heading to another state as result of a job relocation. She was our key person working with Family Life Services (on the pregnancy crisis line, and coordinating donations), and always a truly joyous person. I'm happy for her family's new opportunities, and glad that I can call her a sister, and sad that she won't be around.
JnJ, I pray for God's blessing on you and your family, and I pray that you will be led to a place you can serve with as much joy as you served with us.

Ideas for the Whole Community: Should we give money to street people?

I found this post on another blog... interesting thoughts....
Matt


Ideas for the Whole Community: Should we give money to street people?

More sewing

Can you sew? If not, can you cut fabric? We are also going to be getting together to sew mitts and hats for our homeless friends. Interested in helping? Let me know... Matt

A little Help

Do you know how to sew? We have a winter coat thats in good condition but needs a zipper. Would you be willing to supply what's needed and fix it?

If yes, please leave your name and phone number with someone in the office.

Thanks
Praxis

Socks and underwear

Over the past while, we've learned that our friends living on the street, living in shelters or camping along the Mississippi really appreciate new clean underwear and socks. Our desire is to be able to give a couple of changes of socks and underwear to every person we find on the street over the summer.
If you or your meal group would like to help, we would like:
-New, clean underwear (both men's and women's)
-New, clean socks (white athletic socks are great), either ankle socks for women, or full length socks for men and women.

You can drop the socks and underwear off in either the office during the week, or at the Welcome Table/Info Booth on the weekend. It would be best if you could put them in a grocery back labeled "PRAXIS"

As well, we can always use hygiene items.

If you would like to join us some Saturday, leave a message for me at the church office, and I'll give you a call.

Blessings all!

Matt

Some of what I've learned while walking

I've been walking downtown now for 6 months helping the homeless and those who just seem to be in need. When I first started I thought it might be interesting to check it out and see what happens. I didn't know that God had much more in store for me.

Some day's can be tough. So many people are hurting and lonely. For a long time I didn't know how to handle it. I would pray to God and ask him WHY WHY WHY! and then I'd feel like giving up and not going out. But then, Saturday would come and I couldn't help but go out again. This kept happening to me, I'd get depressed and angry and Saturday would come and I'd go out. One of the people on the streets that we meet sometimes is Freda. One particular Saturday I found out that she had been on the Streets for 16 years. The sadness she had in her eyes was just to much for me to bear. I went home that day from my walk and cried for at least an hour. I prayed constantly to God asking why he would let this happen to this elderly woman. I also prayed to find a way to help if not cure homelessness. I was so distraught about it. After about two continuous weeks of praying God gave me my answer. He told me that it wasn't my job to cure homelessness and I can' t help everyone. My job is to bring joy to those I come in contact with. He also let me know that there is no cure for homelessness and that there will always be "haves and have nots". He also let me know that it's OK for me to go home to my family and be thankful for my blessings. Not only did he give me answers but he lifted the burden I was carrying. I'm no longer depressed or sad but am grateful to be able to help those I meet and am now able to enjoy the time I share with them.

I don't want to end this post with it sounding like we are out there not having any fun. We have some really great days. Like when me met Boomer. Boomer is a parrot. His owner has him trained to do tricks to a ringing bell. That was a fun day! We also get to meet lots of interesting people who like to share where they've been and where they are going. Some people are just passing through on the way to new jobs and it's fun to hear about their travels on the road. We have a few friends that we see often and it's just nice to chit chat. Not only is it fun to see our friends on the streets but it's fun just hanging out with our group talking and laughing. When we are walking, I sometimes envision if that's what Jesus and the disciples where doing. Walking, talking and laughing.

God Bless
Little Dawn

Scraps and loose ends...

"The only constant is change..."
When I started this blog, I was hoping that people would use it to share their experiences helping others. Through the spring and summer it worked that way. We had a fairly regular stream of comments. It was good.
We had a bit of a end-of-summer blogging slump, and we lost our readership.
While we currently have a link from the Sanctuary website, soon we may be posting announcements directly on the Sanctuary blog. Keep your eyes open there also.
We'll be handing out lists of items that can be donated for the homeless after the Sanctuary service this Sunday. We collect these items before and after the Sanctuary service. Alternately you can drop things off in the church office.
We are still going downtown most every Saturday, and if you want to join our expanding group give me a call. If you want to learn more about helping New Life Family Services, given Reagen a call. If you want to help with Bill's Pantry, give Mary B. or Jim L. a call (call the church office for numbers).
If you want to know about Care Kits for community nurses in Swaziland, send me a note.
Blessings as you get out into the community and care for the forgotten...
Matt