One Night Count

On Friday morning I had the opportunity to participate in the One Night Count to identify the number of people who are homeless in King County. It was a humbling experience and probably the most reflective time I've ever had between the hours of 2 and 4am.

To prepare for the chilly night outing, I got out my box marked “winter clothes”. After brushing the dust off the lid I retrieved my long underwear and quickly noted how seldom I use the contents. Here I am storing clothes that I might use one day when my neighbors clearly need them today. Definitely not my best stewardship moment.

As my team strolled through our assigned neighborhood we looked among building entryways, hedges, parks, vacant lots, parked cars and other visible sheltered areas. I began thinking about how many times I pass by people in need in broad daylight, sinfully justifying my apathy in an attempt to appease my guilty conscience. Why is it that God makes it blatantly clear time and time again that we are to love/serve/help our neighbors and yet I find myself turning away from them without a second thought.

Perhaps you've shared in some of my excuses: I don’t know how to help. Are they really homeless? Are they going to use money to buy drugs? I don’t have the correct change to give. The stoplight will be changing soon. I’ll say a prayer and that will be enough. I already gave to someone a few weeks ago. They can go to a shelter if they want help.

And herein lies the root of the problem: it is when I view “the homeless” as an objectified group that I fail to act. It is when I have stopped seeing that these are individual people with individual stories and individual needs that my heart is hardened and I fail to reach out. It is when I selfishly place my own comfort above that of others that I am immobilized. It is when I forget how to be a good neighbor (Luke 10:25-37) that I fail to let God work through me.

So what’s next? I am trying to follow God’s direction on how I can have a greater Kingdom impact in my local community. My participation in the One Night Count is just one of the many recent opportunities God has provided for me to learn more about homelessness and showing mercy. I've added winnowing down my clothes supply to this week’s to do list. And, I'm getting volunteer information from Vision House, a Christian organization in Renton which serves homeless single mothers and their children. I'm also getting ready to help launch a new outreach ministry within our congregation called CARE Pax. When I stop to think about it, I am marveled by how God has unbeknownst to me been meticulously working in my life to craft this passion within me. God is so good!