Here at Walla Walla University, we are constantly reminded of the University's mission as well as ours by default: Excellence in thought, generosity in service, beauty in expression, and faith in God.
This week, a group set out to achieve one of those goals: generosity in service. The group event was called InTents and their mission was to get college students to take a week and live in tents and hopefully experience what it might be like to be homeless.
Homelessness is a problem around the world and our local area is affected by it as well. InTents hoped to raise awareness about this issue and start a conversation about it. While I don't doubt the group's motivation and idea behind this event, I do doubt the effectiveness and execution.
There was a large storm that blew through Wednesday night, and as the wind and rain began to pound the lawn where the tents were set up, I noticed people taking their tents down.
This saddened me deeply.
How can we dare say we are experiencing homelessness when we give up and go inside of our warm houses and dorm rooms when the weather gets rough? Truly homeless people don't have that luxury. Again, I don't want to make this sound like a personal attack. I trust that everyone participating in this event had the best of intentions and wanted to see some good done towards this issue.
Additionally, I probably would've been tempted to take my tent down in such a bad storm as well. Instead of criticizing this event, I would rather talk about what we can do for the homeless that would be more effective.
It is reasonable to assume that the majority of us don't know what it is truly like to be homeless. The majority of us don't know the shame of not being able to find a job, or of losing your house to foreclosure, or what it feels like to spend your first night on the streets. Beyond the physical issues that people who are homeless face, we can't imagine the emotional and mental stresses that these people have to manage every day. If we really want to make a difference with this issue a new tactic should be used.
Instead of staying in our new, good conditioned tents on the lawn of an expensive university, let's spend a night on the streets with these people and talk with them. Let's go out on a day, sacrificing our own time for fun and/or relaxation and bring food to people in need and have honest conversations with them, expressing our desire to help and simply treating them as humans. Instead of talking with each other about our desire and calling to help others, let's put it these things into action as caring, serving members of society.
Christ didn't tell the disciples to organize themselves, come up with a game plan, and then go out to the poor and needy; instead, he sent them out by themselves armed only with God and the clothes on their back and told them simply to love on people, heal and take care of them, and show God's great compassion for them.
I believe that Christ is calling us to do the same today. We like to talk about action and the ideal of generosity in service, but how much do we actually act this out and go serve people in need; perhaps humbling ourselves and sacrificing our well-being where necessary?
In the end, my main concern is that we put actions behind our talk and use our resources for helping people directly and not getting caught up in the talk, feel, and organization of it all.
There is nothing wrong with trying to experience and understand what homelessness really is, but let's do it by helping, talking with, and spending time with those people themselves.
