Under the Overpass - Denver

I began reading Under the Overpass (2005, Multnomah Press) today. The author, Mike Yankoski, went on the streets for five months as a homeless person, even though he is from an upper-middle-class background. He started in Denver, then moved through Washington, D.C., Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix and San Diego.

Commenting on his decision to go, he writes the following:

"The hypocrisy in my life troubled me. No, I wasn't in the grip of rampant sin, but at the same time, for the life of me I couldn't find a connecting thread of radical, living obedience between what I said about my world and how I lived in it. Sure, I claimed that Christ was my stronghold, my peace, my sustenance, my joy. But I did all that from the saftey of my comfortable upper-middle-class life. I never really had to put my claims to the test (15)."

Here is an unbelievable and sobering statistic Mike found during his research phase:

"According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, in the United States, more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness during any given year. That means that more than one percent of our population this year will be eating out of trash cans and sleeping under bridges" (17).

*I had no idea there were so many homeless people. I mean, I have lived in places like Long Beach, CA, where there are many homeless people, and now in D.C., but to think that more than 1 out of every 100 Americans are homeless! Let that sink in...

Mike surrounded himself with an advisory board and set off with a partner, Sam. His advisers helped him fine-tune his overall purpose:
1. To better understand the life of the homeless in America, and to see firsthand how the church is responding to their needs.
2. To encourage others to "live out loud" for Christ in whatever ways God is asking them to.
3. To learn personally what it means to depend on Christ for my daily physical needs, and to experience contentment and confidence in Him. (19)

The words of an addict named Peter: "I've been on the streets too long, been addicted too long, been dying too long. Do you think it'll (the mission recovery process) work?" (35)

* Something about his phrase dying too long really struck me. What a powerful way to talk about life apart from Christ, for anyone. It's just that those who are homeless and destitute have a clearer picture of their condition than do those whose wealth and comfort buffer such feelings/insights.

"Something critical is missing in places that care for the broken and needy if the only pepole there are also broken and needy. Without the presence of people in the rescue missions whose lives are not defined by addiction, alcoholism, crime, and mental illness, there is little positive influence. Chaplains and pastors can only spread themselves so far" (46).

"If we are the body of Christ--and Christ came not for the healthy but for the sick--we need to be fully present in the places where people are most broken" (46).

*Oh, I feel the stirrings. I have been thinking about volunteering some of my time at a shelter on R street. Perhaps it is time to start doing. I have taken myself out of ministry-type situations because of my own shortcomings in life. Time to start living. I've been dying too long.

"Changes for an addict takes a lot of work, a lot of prayer, a lot of God - and usually more than one restart. Almost every day I'd seen setbacks. Watching men destroy a year's worth of rehabilitation with a single bad decision had been frustrating and painful. But even though the path to recovery was winding or interrupted, I had seen lives change" (51).

*Amen. Let it be true!