Ministry to the poverty stricken be they homeless or simply below the poverty line is very challenging. These are people with hopes and dreams, passion and love but we find it hard to treat them as humans. Over the last few years I have become more and more exposed to this reality through relationships with brothers and sisters on the streets and the local community. While praying this morning I realized that we as a compassionate community see the need to help those in homelessness as a no brainer. You see someone without shoes, find them shoes! But we then find it harder to give time and resources to those on the fringe of homelessness. The people I am thinking of are the single mothers working three jobs trying to make ends meet so that she does not get herself evicted. I know that we have a large portion of the poverty stricken community in Atlanta that is on the brink of homelessness and need hope just as much as those already on the streets. This thought will propel me into seeking out groups that are coming alongside those in the depths of poverty that are being overlooked. These people maybe forgotten about because we lose compassion for their life circumstances. It is easy to talk to a man who lost everything when his house burned and now he is living on the streets just to survive. We lose compassion when a story of someone's struggle is rife with poor decisions and bad circumstances. Everyone from the rich to the poor need support and love that inspires dreaming and a true hope for the future. From my point of view this is hope is fueled by the love of Christ that forces me to stop being selfish! Teaching over time what true family looks like and are transformed by the love of our Good Good Father. I cling to a hope that the future will be sweeter, more joy filled, and overflowing with the love of a family! This is the first time in a while that I rambled on this blog so enjoy the scatters of my mind.
All is great in the Joy of life!
Paul Shackelford