Eye Opening...

I will have more updates on Bend,OR tomorrow...

...but today I want to tell you about what I experienced this morning right here in my backyard, downtown Atlanta. It was eye opening and in some spots, jaw dropping. Thirteen of us met with Drew Benton down at Safehouse Outreach where we began. What did we begin? Well, we begin a walk...one that lead us on a educational path to learning that homelessness is more than we imagined.

I had all these thoughts going in to this City Walk. I thought about the people I would come across, the money they might ask for, the language they may have used and honestly I thought about my safety. Then all questions came to mind. What is going to be like walking through where they sleep? Will they be offended when I stare or angry when I step close to their belongings? If I have no money to give, will they believe me or keeping begging?

All these things kept popping up in my mind last night and this morning before our journey. And now as I sit here and type this all out, all those questions and thoughts I had were completely dumb and stereotypical because of my ignorance to the life these people live.

You want to know what I saw this morning... A lot of people who need to be loved on. A lot of opportunities to get to know so awesome individuals who for reason have been dealt a bad hand of cards. A lot of people who need someone to invest in them, someone to help them ad someone to believe in them.

Like David! We met David at one of the local shelters. He is a resident volunteer which means he works at shelter so that he will have a place to live. The shelter provides him a bed, food and a chance, while he provides the shelter with volunteer hours and dedication to his work. David was really the only person we had a chance to truly hang out with and engage in conversation with. He took us on a tour of the shelter and then told us a little bit about his story...how he came to live here instead of the streets...how he was helping others...how he was putting his life back together one day at a time. It was amazing! He shared with us some things that he battled and the things that he's still struggling with today. The good thing about meeting David was for me to feel sorry for him, but for me to feel glad he is getting his life back on track.

There were several stops on this journey through the city. We stop and saw where people slept in cool grass areas. We went to 'Chicken Run' which is a dumpster area where homeless people can find food and a faucet for clean water. We saw an abandoned building where 30+ Homeless people live. But I think the place that hit me the most wasn't a shelter or a park where people laid all covered up with cardboard and rags. It was a church! A big church that sits on a corner of Peachtree Street. The name... Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Now I know you're thinking to yourself 'What does a church have to do with learning about the homeless people in ATL. Well, the true is this church holds a story that broke my heart and fired me up. There is man named Johnny that sleeps on the stoup of this church every evening. In a sense, this is his home. He doesn't bother anyone and he is very respectful of the church. One Sunday morning Johnny woke up and decided to attend the service. He grew in a Catholic background and felt comfortable with what this service provided. He sat near the back and listened while the preacher man gave his sermon. Like in most Catholic churches, the preacher man stands at the back at the end of the service and shakes people's hands as they leave. Johnny stood in that line and as the preacher went from hand to hand, he skipped Johnny.

Breaks my heart! It angers me to think that a man can stand in a pulpit and preach about Jesus, his sacrifice and how we should love our neighbors as He loved us, but when it actually comes down to loving, he skips over a man just because he's different from all his other attendees! Ughhhh that disgusts me!

What an eye opening experience! What I learned today was never judge, always look someone in the eyes when you are talking to them, homeless people are people just like you and I, always give a hand up not a hand out and lastly...Learn to Live Love! ALWAYS!