Tips For Dealing With The Homeless

   Homeless people, and those who live in poverty, are generally easy to minister the Gospel to. But there are situations we need to understand in order to better serve these people.
  I have been reading (although not finished yet) a book called, 'When Helping Hurts' and it teaches some good principles of dealing with those who are disadvantaged. One principle that is basically throughout the book is, their recommendation to help the homeless by not doing for them what they can do for themselves! In other words, whenever there is a responsibility involved, and they are capable of doing their part, they need to be the ones taking action.
   The book gave an example of homes that were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, and how people went over to help. In one situation, a group of guys went over to help rebuild a house. The whole time they were working on the house, several young men (the ones whose houses were destroyed) who would have been able to join in, sat on the side-lines and watched while the guys worked away. Now I am totally for donating help in emergency situations, but this was a situation where those in need could have been part of the resolution.
  In dealing with the homeless, there are those who are thankful for our offerings of help. But many are skilled, even while being thankful, to try to take advantage of people. One time, we went downtown and served the homeless people and when the time ended, one young man noticed his wallet gone. Not only that, but his checking account got wiped out.
   I am not saying all this to turn us away from helping the helpless. What we need to do is to determine the immediate needs and go with those. The goal is to preach the Gospel to them, provide a meal for them, and help them get back on their feet. Getting them back on their feet could be the hardest part, for they may not even realize that they need to learn to take responsibility for themselves. This is all part of the package though. We work with them, yet we give them things to do, as well as serve them.