monkinabus: blog of derek dominguez

Drum Circle Pics

On Wednesdays I've been going down to hang out and support Ronee Curry who leads an outreach ministry to homeless street youth and others. She has been serving the homeless and the street youth for six years now. We are in the process of working with a number of churches in Santa Cruz, CA to pull together a sleeping bag drive for those in need to be distributed through her ministry. Below are a couple of pictures from today.

The 3000 and 143 million: Part 2

(Part 1 Here.)

So as I think about it, it's more about the condition of our hearts as we come into contact with those in need and hear about the issues in the world. Is God forming our hearts where we can be attentive to how He longs for us to respond to the drunk middle aged guy at the end of River St. panhandling, who most ignore and may think, "Why can't that guy just get a job?" Is God transforming our inward being where we are in anguish over the fact that In the past hour…

• 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets by the death or abuse of an adult
• 1,667 children under the age of five died from malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases 
• 115 children became prostitutes 
• 66 children under 15 were infected with HIV 
• 257 children were orphaned because of HIV/AID.......

.....and most without knowing Christ.

God is asking us to extend his compassion and embody His love to a world in need, in both word and deed. He's asking us to respond to the "3,000" living all around you and to the "143 million" you don't yet know. They both are in need of compassion and His love.

Do you know an orphan? Up until 2001, the answer for me to that question was no. In the US it takes intentionality to put ourselves in a space where we come into contact with those living in extreme poverty. It's not easy for anyone and for many it takes substantial money to travel. But, do you know the name of one homeless person in your neighborhood, a child in need, a street kid sleeping on a sidewalk tonight, the single mom parked in the dark recesses of the parking lot behind Target? I bet you can find one and hear their story. I bet your life will be changed by it.

My Calcutta

I've found it easy over the years to isolate and shelter myself from those in need. It's easy in our culture in North America. We have garages we drive into and then shut, walk out of our cars and then into our homes. We have fences to protect us from our neighbors and to keep us insulated. We have city planners who make sure our particular neighborhoods we pay top dollar for are kept safe by not developing low income housing near us. We know where to go shopping where we don't have to hopefully run into a human being pan handling for change and asking us to help them make it through the night. I've been continually challenged to find my "Calcutta" to serve. Mother Theresa once said,

You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by the society - completely forgotten, completely left alone. That is the greatest poverty of the rich countries.

Last week our tutoring team of college students had an opportunity to prayer walk the block around the shelter. There were no kids to tutor so we decided to walk the area with "eyes wide open" and ask God to bring individuals across our path who needed to be prayed over. We prayed for individuals. We prayed against the systemic evils keeping some in bondage. We prayed against the growing pile of broken beer bottles and hard alcohol, holding some in bondage to a numbing addiction to help them forget the cold in the mid of night. Some of the students for the first time were beginning to find their first "Calcutta" to serve. One of them mentioned as they were walking how the common and potent smell of urine caused them to reflect how blessed they were to be able to pee when they chose to in private. A simple pleasure.

They're all around us. Those who are "unwanted, uncared for, rejected, forgotten and left alone." There are the obvious "Calcuttas" all over the world. It's sometime hard to see the Calcutta in our backyard. I see it in their eyes when we walk the railroad tracks surrounding the area of the Homeless Services Center to pray for those who don't have a home in Santa Cruz. It's a loss of hope. It's expressed in the words of a single dad who states, "It's pretty depressing when your doing your best to make things work and it doesn't seem to matter" as he tries his best to get a job to support his baby daughter.

In the midst of every Calcutta, among the piles of broken glass, a seed of redemption exists waiting to take sprout. May we pray the kingdom comes to the Calcuttas in the world. I pray these college students find the Calcuttas in their backyards and in "front of their noses" so they'll propelled into the rest of the Calcuttas around the world. I pray God continues to teach me how to do the same.