In June, I had the privilege to drive up to Washington DC with the youth group I worked with for one last trip before my time with the Surrender Youth Group came to a close. I knew that this experience was going to be vastly different from the trip we took to Costa Rica last year. It was a whole different group of students as well as a new place.
The focus on the week was to put our students in situations that would require them to step outside of their comfort zone, but at the same time not be uncomfortable. We were put to work serving food at various ministries around the city, and we were taken to assisted living homes and programs for individuals who could no longer take care of themselves.
We learned a lot about how the city of DC had a huge problem with gentrification and people had been forced out of their homes because of the rising costs of living, which created a huge population of neighbors on the streets. One lady in particular that we met stood out to me, her name was PK and she had two dogs.
She had recently moved to DC from San Francisco, and was put out on the streets when she couldn't afford to pay rent any longer. She had been looking for a place to live but everywhere that they found wouldn't allow dogs. I could sympathize with her not wanting to get rid of her dogs, it was the only thing she had left from her memories in San Francisco.
We got talking about her faith, and she mentioned that she couldn't go back to her hometown because that would mean she was disobeying what God called her to do, even though she had fallen into some hard times on the streets she was still faithful to God.
This got me thinking. How many of us would be able to do that? How many of us who have nice houses, fancy cars, three meals everyday, families who love us, would be able to survive a day on the streets?
This strong independent woman had followed God's call to DC, and even though the move didn't go as she thought, she was still faithful to what He was doing! That's crazy! She loved others so well, she had about three or four other neighbors that she watched over on the streets as well as her two dogs. She was a testament of was Jesus' love looks like. Please keep her in your prayers.
When I asked the students what the biggest thing they learned on this trip was, most of them said to "stay mindful". One of my students even wrote it on his wrist to remind himself! They talked about how this trip had given them a new reality of the world to be mindful of. To be kind to everyone they met, and to accept people for who they are and not the situation they are in.
I think that's so important to remember wherever we are at. Whether it be in the suburbs where homelessness isn't something that we see everyday, or whether you live in a city where you pass by those friends every single day saying "I'm glad that's not me."
One of the most impactful things to me was when our host said that their mission was to stop thinking of homeless people as the "others", we are no better than they are. We are all created in the Image of God and God loves us ALL equally.
They aren't homeless people, they are simply our neighbors, and we are called to love them. Whether that be through donations to a ministry that helps, by sitting with someone and just talking to them, or simply giving them a smile while you walk past.
Stay mindful of other people situations, and stop the judgment.
