Struggles with the Homeless
When we were living in suburban America, we rarely saw anyone that looked homeless or was begging on the street. We went from one comfortable activity to another without any thought about where we were going to get our next meal. Though this could change if we still lived in the US with the economy the way it is. But we typically relied on God and he always provided. Now that we are in Indonesia that hasn’t changed-we still rely on God and He still provides. What has changed for us is that there are beggars here in great abundance! There are some that sit outside the grocery store that we frequent. Others come up to the car looking for a handout. One recent beggar that came up to the car was carrying a young sleeping child. I asked the woman her baby’s name. Though I don’t recall her name, that incident was a turning point in my thinking about the homeless and beggars.
Another sight has also left me thinking more about the homeless. There is a man that pops up every now and then around town that is literally dressed in nothing but rags around his waist. When we see him, he is digging through garbage cans looking for scraps of leftover food and drinking whatever liquid he can find. So my struggle is what can I do to help not only this man, but the other beggars that I see? There is a saying that goes like this, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” How do I feed them for a lifetime?
What makes this struggle even more difficult is the text that we read last week at church. It is the story of Jesus raising the widow’s son from the dead. In Luke 7:13, when Jesus saw the widow, his heart went out to her. Or in other translations, it says that Jesus had compassion on her. I ask myself, how can I look at these people and not have compassion on them?
Since I am still struggling with this, your comments are welcome.
