Vision Quest (Part 6) “A Church for The Homeless”

PIN has never been about giving food, clothing, medical supplies, hygiene supplies, or housing to the homeless of Virginia Beach. Yes I know you probable think I’m confused, because PIN provides all of these things. Let me back up it was never my calling to feed and clothe homeless people, God specifically called me to love homeless people. Here is the thing when you love people you try to provide for them. So PIN provides for the needs of the homeless not because we have been called to provide for their needs, but because we want to love them.

So what does all this have to do with having a Church for the homeless, I’m glad you asked. I believe we are saved through Jesus (John 14:6). Believing that drives every decision I make and how I live. So when we started PIN I felt that the most important thing I could share with the homeless was Jesus. Here is the problem; homeless people are the most churched people in the city. They sleep in Churches, eat at churches, churches are constantly telling them about Jesus. Yet for some there is no life transformation. I’ve spent allot of time praying about how can this be. The next part of this post is completely Dallas’ opinion. When asked what the most important commandment was Jesus said love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. You notice that Jesus didn’t say the most important commandment was to tell the world about Him. I think the key is that if we love people in the name of Jesus we tell them about Jesus without words. Here is the problem Christians often come to serve the homeless as the Saved people with everything figured out and the homeless people are the lost sinners. So we kind of setup an invisible wall. I’m pointing a finger at myself, because when I first started helping the homeless I would invite them to church with me and they would come a couple times then stop coming. I thought I attend a cool church why don’t they want to come back. Here is the problem no matter how cool or relevant your church is everyone has had a shower that morning and probable has clean clothes on. The homeless don’t have access to those things so no matter how hard we try they will feel out of place. I prayed about it and God told me that I had to create a Church service specifically for homeless people.

I was like OK God I have no seminary degree and I’m not qualified to start a Church service for the homeless. I felt like God was telling me of course you’re not qualified, I’m going to use you to create this. “for my power is made perfect in weakness”. “2 Corinthians 12:9. We started our services called PINnacle in August of 2006 which 3 homeless people stayed for it. Over the last 2 years over 30 homeless people have accepted Jesus, we have had 2 volunteers accept Jesus, because of what God has done through our services. What we are doing with PINnacle isn’t preaching at homeless people; we are loving and building biblical community with them.

 

Vision Quest (Part 5) “Job Training and Placements”

As a kid my dad taught me allot about what it is to have a good work ethic. There were times that I remember thinking that my dad was mean making me work with him in the back yard or on his car during a hot summer day. What I now understand is how much I learned about working by spending those days with my dad. I wonder what my work ethic would have been, if my dad didn’t exist? What would my work ethic be like if the person that I called dad beat my mom and never was home? What would I learn about work if most of the people I know have never had a regular job? At this point in the post you are probable thinking one of two things. First, maybe you had good parents and your thinking how lucky you are that you had them. Secondly, maybe you’re thinking you had bad parents; it is possible that you lived in one of the scenarios that I listed above and you were able to rise above it without anyone’s help. If you did get out of one of these scenarios congratulations, you are in the minority. There are a large group of people that need someone to step in and help them get back on track.

PIN currently tries to determine who is really trying to get a job and we try to help them get a job. This is an important first step, but PIN’s long term goal is to offer job training for homeless people. If you are reading this blog you probable have skills and abilities that have value in the marketplace. If we could help to train a homeless person it would increase a homeless person’s opportunity to get and maintain a job. In the future PIN is going to create a training center that homeless people could go to, which would allow them to gain skills that would help them to get a job.

Can you imagine instead of a homeless person sitting on a park bench all day, they are learning how to fix a computer, a car, a plumbing problem, or an electrical issue. I think this will help in two ways. First, this person will have skills that have value in the marketplace, so now they will be more attractive to employers. Secondly, if you have skills that are sought after it raises yourself esteem. PIN believes maybe something as simple as learning a new job skill may help turn someone’s life around.

 

Vision Quest (Part 4) “Housing”

Before I started working with the homeless of Virginia Beach 6 years ago I thought the biggest need for the homeless was food. You know the sign “Will Work For Food”; I’ve never seen someone holding a sign that says “Will Work For Shelter”. In the time that I’ve been working with homeless people in Virginia Beach, allot of homeless people I’ve worked with have died, some of the causes relate to drugs, alcohol, aids, violence. I’ve not seen one person starve to death, actually there is so much access to food that I’ve actually seen people that became homeless and gained weight in Virginia Beach. So if I’m looking for a common denominator for all the reasons homeless people have died one of the major causes could be related to having a safe place to sleep. Let me break it down Virginia Beach has a lack of shelter not food!

In December of 2006, PIN had a mobile home donated to us. We then decided that we could use the mobile home to get a family off the street. As of today PIN owns three mobile homes that we use to get families off of the street. So where is PIN’s housing program headed in the future. First, we are talking to the city of Virginia Beach about the possibility of leasing city owned property. PIN is really excited about the possibility of working with the city to provide housing for homeless people.

PIN’s ultimate vision is an emergency shelter for the homeless of Virginia Beach. There are people living in the woods, under bridges, behind and underneath buildings all over Virginia Beach. PIN wants to provide a safe place for homeless people to sleep as they are beginning to get their lives back together. PIN believes that if we can give people a safe place away from all the drugs, alcohol, and violence on the street, it will give people that are homeless a place to begin a new beginning. PIN believes that the new beginning begins with a relationship with Jesus.

 

Vision Quest (Part 3) “Recovery Groups”

So if we give a homeless person a place to live then we have solved their problem. It sounds like a simple solution, but it is not that simple. Often time’s homelessness is a symptom of some deeper issue. Until those deeper issues can be uncovered and presented to God the person has no hope. So how is PIN helping homeless people with those deeper issues? Recovery Groups.

Once I realized that we were going to need recovery groups I was like wow, am I going to need to go to school to become a counselor. Maybe PIN was going to have to hire an expert in recovery groups. I went all over the country looking at recovery groups, and I got a good idea of what the homeless needed. Then I met Dr. Paul Hardy who runs a non-profit organization called Recovery for the City (www.recoveryforthecity.com). When I talked to him I realized his organization was exactly what I had been praying for. Dr. Paul loves God and serves Him with every muscle in his body. So I approached him about his organization starting recovery groups for the homeless at the oceanfront. My only fear was could we afford it, would we have enough money to pay Dr. Paul. When he told me how much it was going to cost I was shocked, it would be free. I was thinking Free?????? Then Dr. Paul explained that he had been praying that God would help him open a recovery group at the oceanfront of Virginia Beach. Are you kidding me this was a match made in heaven.

So on January 19, 2008 we started the first recovery groups for the homeless of Virginia Beach. These groups have been a great success and we are looking forward to expanding these groups for the homeless of Virginia Beach. PIN is so excited about our partnership with Recovery for the City. If you need a great place to deal with your addiction go to www.recoveryforthecity right now.

 

Vision Quest (Part 2) “Medical Clinic”

Have you seen the new Quiznos commercial for the $5 sub sandwiches where they have someone eat a $5 bill. Every time I see that I think about homeless people. You might wonder why that commercial reminds me of homeless people, let me explain. A homeless person goes to the Emergency Room with an ailment, because no one accepts their HMO (no insurance). The emergency room has to see them; then they give them minimal treatment and send them on their way with a prescription. Here is the issue unless they can eat that piece of paper to get well it’s useless, because most of them don’t have enough money to pay for the prescription.

Here is the problem, because of limited access to adequate showers, and being in close quarters with people who are already sick. It’s not a matter of if you will get sick but when. Since, I’ve started going full time with PIN I’ve had at least one really bad illness every year. So you have a choice to make you can do nothing or you can do something, I don’t see any other option. If you decide to do nothing that is a choice.

So maybe you’re thinking if you help with prescriptions you are enabling people, and you need to have them stand on their own so they can get it for themselves. I believe it is possible in some cases this could happen, but if you are a Christian you should go read Luke 10:25-37. Go ahead read it right now…. go ahead I’ll wait…….. I know you’ve probable read it a million and one times. Read it again but this time concentrate on the man that is beaten, what do we know about him, nothing… We know nothing. He could be a bad guy, he could be corrupt. He could have been doing something illegal we really don’t know. Maybe he was selling drugs and got caught in a bad drug deal. I think Jesus doesn’t tell us much about him because that really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we show mercy always in every circumstance. So I would argue that you have to disobey Jesus to do nothing. So then that leaves us with really only one choice.

PIN currently has 6 nurses and 4 doctors that rotate to provide health care for the homeless; PIN has provided prescriptions for every homeless person that has come through our ministry the last two years. So we have done enough, I don’t think so!!!!! PIN has a vision to have a fully functioning clinic for the homeless at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. So if you decided you want to help with the clinic, you can pray for this clinic. You can support us financially; it’s going to take a lot of money. You can also get the word out about the situation that homeless people live in to your friends.

 

Vision Quest (Part 1) “Emergency Shelter”

Over the next two weeks I will be posting a 6 part series dedicated to the vision that I believe God has given PIN. People often ask me where PIN is headed in the future, so here is the big answer….. Wherever God tells us. The reason I started this series with that is because I’m going to lay out the things I believe God is calling PIN to do; however, if PIN believes that God is telling us to change direction we will in a second. So this series is a framework for where God is leading us. I wanted to start this series with something that PIN believes is badly needed in Virginia Beach, an emergency shelter.

For a city the size of Virginia Beach it is sad how little shelter space is available for the homeless. Let me make one caveat, if you have to sign up and it takes months to get in then you are not an emergency shelter. You have to read that sentence again but in a Jeff Foxworthy voice. There are a couple shelters for women and families, but there are no emergency shelters in Virginia Beach for men. Ok let me throw some stats at you Indianapolis, IN which according to the 2000 census has close to the same number of population as Norfolk and Virginia Beach together has 3 huge shelters for men. I spent a week at one in the heart of Indianapolis that held over 100 people. Durham, NC which has 230,000 less people than Virginia Beach has two nice shelters that hold over 80 people each. Even Waco, TX which has a population of 1/4th of Virginia Beach has a shelter that can hold about 70 men. I wanted to first start by showing you how sad the situation is in Virginia Beach.

So why does Virginia Beach need an emergency shelter. The streets are a dangerous place, drugs, alcohol, and physical violence. Also think about the fact that you have to sleep on the ground. Every Sunday PIN shares Jesus with the homeless of Virginia Beach then during the week they have to avoid drugs and alcohol. Here’s a quick example, someone comes to PIN and stays for the service. Eventually accepts Jesus and want to change their life. Then on Monday night sleeping behind a building someone offers them some drugs, he says no, now on Tuesday sleeps behind some bushes where he’s offered beer, this person hesitates then says no. By the end of the week after not sleeping well, being harassed by the police, and ignored by people that walk by, that person might give up. Now imagine the same person comes to a shelter with PIN’s logo on the front. Now on Monday night he is sleeping on a bed and someone offers to sit down and talk to him about how his life is going then they pray together, then on Tuesday night someone is playing cards with him then at the end of the game they end up talking about a scripture that was talked about on Sunday. By the end of the week this person is going to have hope for the future.

Let me close with a question that I would like you to think about. Can you truly say you love your neighbor, when some of your neighbors are sleeping on the street in the conditions listed above? Next Post will be “Medical Clinic”.