curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Whenever I see homeless people on the street it always comes to mind what Christ said about not tending to him when not tending to the hungry, thirsty etc. And I always feel bad about not doing anything. I mean we all do community service and we all go work at the dorthy day center or shelter now and again but what about that homeless dude that you pass on the street or the guy begging on a street corner? I've always been brought up in, just pass them by, ignore them kinda thing. But if you were to stop and ask them if they want something to eat- would they be hostile? or what if you thinnk the person is homeless and isnt and they take it as an afront? what do u guys do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well, you're in NYC so that's probably an issue that you run into just walking down the street. It's not so much for me... it's more driving down town kind of thing. And I always mean to keep some lunch bags with some kind of pull top food in it and a plastic spoon... but I always seem to forget. But yeah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 [quote name='curtins' post='1080863' date='Oct 1 2006, 01:37 PM'] Whenever I see homeless people on the street it always comes to mind what Christ said about not tending to him when not tending to the hungry, thirsty etc. And I always feel bad about not doing anything. I mean we all do community service and we all go work at the dorthy day center or shelter now and again but what about that homeless dude that you pass on the street or the guy begging on a street corner? I've always been brought up in, just pass them by, ignore them kinda thing. But if you were to stop and ask them if they want something to eat- would they be hostile? or what if you thinnk the person is homeless and isnt and they take it as an afront? what do u guys do? [/quote] I don't run into homeless people very often where I live right now, but one fun thing that I've done is throwing a homeless party. You basically get some bread and various things to make sandwiches or something and you go to a park or some place where there is a concentration of homeless peeps and you have a little party and kick it with everyone. It can be cool to bring smokes or a pouch of tobacco and some papers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 well im not in nyc- im close but I do live in a small city that has a homeless population but im not talking about organized events- those are great im talking ur walking down the street and u see that guy with a shopping cart and u know uve got 5 bucks in ur pocket or some food in the car and u dont know how to approach him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 [quote name='curtins' post='1080882' date='Oct 1 2006, 01:54 PM'] well im not in nyc- im close but I do live in a small city that has a homeless population but im not talking about organized events- those are great im talking ur walking down the street and u see that guy with a shopping cart and u know uve got 5 bucks in ur pocket or some food in the car and u dont know how to approach him [/quote] oh, that's easy, just walk up and kind of show a little bit of the bill (be kind of discrete though), as a homeless person he or she will know the drill. then you just say something cool as you hand them the loot and if it seems like they want to talk you have a conversation. some cool ice breakers: "maybe I'm wrong, but you look like you could use a forty." "how're you doin?" "I've got a couple bucks for ya man" "its payday my friend" "keep this on the D.L." but its best to just be casual and spontaneous. every situation is different and you just kind of enter into the moment and meet the person on an individual basis, as opposed to approaching it as some kind of abstract and generic "encounter with a homeless person". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 do you think homeless people are equal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 [quote name='curtins' post='1080886' date='Oct 1 2006, 01:59 PM'] do you think homeless people are equal? [/quote] Equal in dignity no doubt, but they are individuals so I wouldn't say that there is some set script for approaching a homeless person. You might meet a homeless family from another country, an old military veteran with 101 stories, or perhaps a battered crack addicted prostitute. The variety is endless and you can't lump all homeless people into one category. I met a filthy dude face down in an alley once who had actually been a very successful executive before he became addicted to cocaine and heroine. You will also meet people who claim to have had great lives but after a while you will realize that they are pathological liars; it really depends. Eventually you will be able to look at a person's face and sense whether they are an alcoholic, a crack addict, heroine junkie, mentally ill, etc.. But in my opinion these types of considerations are of secondary importance. What is most important is to respect whoever it may be as a person. I think some tend to have this attitude that they are somehow so different from homeless people and that this clouds things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 they are surely equal in that they are human beings and brothers and sisters in Christ. However I don't think they are equal to us who have the basic things they lack. Thats why they lack them- there is an inequality so you can't treat a homeless person the same way you would ur peer who makes the same 5 or 6 figure salary that you do. That is not to say they're less but they're just not equal- they are a special group of people who have special needs and need to be ministered to. Also I don't think its for us to judge why they are homeless. We simple need to see that they are homeless and that is enough for us to know that we are supposed to help them. Not all homeless people are druggies or drunks, so if you start categorizing homeless people as to why they are homeless does it end up that those people who wasted their lives away shooting up should not be fed and housed and clothed where as those who simply lost their job or found themselves in some other bad situation that was beyond their control should be helped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Church Punk Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well when I see them down town Toronto, sitting in garbage and beggin for change and then stopping to anwser their cell phone, it makes me sick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 I was thinking of more of someone you could almost surely identify as homeless, but you bring up a good point. What if someone begging on the side of the road is a fake- or they're just gonna use the money to buy drugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old_Joe Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 [quote name='Church Punk' post='1080937' date='Oct 1 2006, 04:21 PM'] Well when I see them down town Toronto, sitting in garbage and beggin for change and then stopping to anwser their cell phone, it makes me sick! [/quote] I've never seen that before. When I was in Seattle, I saw a guy with a sign that said, "Need Cash for Weed." I admire his honesty, but that's about where it ends. I've been told the best thing to do is give them food if at all possible. That way you'll know that they are least getting something to eat. I've also been told that if you give them money and they use that money to buy drugs, alcohol, etc. you are not at fault, because it was their decision on how use the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkwright Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I'm glad you posted this thread, I have a personal story on this... I was also raised to look the other way or just avoid the homeless person that approaches you. When I was in highschool and in Germany some guy came up to me outside a Church asking if I had any spare change. I told I didn't have any money on me (kinda my natrual, taught response). He yelled something back at me when he heard the jingle in my pockets of the few DM's I had. I felt so bad, and always wondered, if this was my test in life have I just failed? Ever since that day I made a promise to myself that if I was ever approached or saw someone like that I would give what I had. And it has worked... Twice this summer in the New Orleans area actually. I figure its just maybe $20 here or $40 there. Thats nothing in the grand scheme of things, and you may have just turned their day around. What they end up doing with the money is their choice, I just know that I'll have to answer for that poor soul in Germany someday, and I don't want to add any more to the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtins Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 thats great how about if ur not approached but u see them like walking down the street Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateri05 Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 the DH and i were raised not to give money really to homeless people because it would pry not be spent on food, but like drugs or whatever else. now that we live in LA, we see them ALL the time, esp next to your car at off ramps, when you're waiting for the light to turn and we were really struggling because, we could see Christ in these people and didn't know the most responsible way to handle it. i wanted to try the always having food in my car bit, but could never remember so.... we came up with the seriously best idea ever: we buy about $50 worth of McDonalds gift cards at a time in increments of $5 (so 10 $5 cards at once) and keep them in our car and wallets. then when we get asked for change, we just say, i dont have any change but i do have this, would you like one? out of the 10 that we've given away, one person complained, one person turned us down straight out and the other 9 were ectastically happy. it really makes yours day. : so mcdonalds gift cards! easy, convenient and serving your brothers and sisters in christ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkwright Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 [quote name='curtins' post='1081025' date='Oct 1 2006, 05:56 PM'] thats great how about if ur not approached but u see them like walking down the street [/quote] One of those I saw in New Orleans was at an off ramp where my exit was... I pulled into a gas station there and just happened to have 1/4 of pie (the dealer I was at had bring desert to work day or soemthing). So I parked and walked over to him and gave him the pie. The really sad thing about that was that while he walked over to get the pie, somenoe else tried to steal his stuff.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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