Oliver and Osoyoos warming centres organized by the Seventh Day Adventists
Thomas is the pastor of Park Drive Church
(Other churches have been criticized on social media for not doing enough)
If anyone would like to discuss the matter I’d happily take a call. Our church in Oliver helps the homeless and advocates for their needs often. Just this week we assisted someone who was sleeping in their car find a place to stay. Unfortunately the pink elephant being avoided in this discussion is our complete disregard for mental illness. Opening up your building to a handful or less because of Covid restrictions is no simple task. And many homeless people choose to live outside for various reasons. And I’m sure everyone is aware of what becomes of these tent cities that prop up on our lawns without the necessary support and resources.
Thinking that churches are here to pick up what everyone else wants to ignore is unreasonable and ignorant for a society that prides itself in defending human rights and living unselfish lives of compassion. Let’s be real here, this is both a regional and a community crisis. Most individuals who are homeless require specific solutions and social work. The problem is much more than a roof over their heads. It might help to stop and acknowledge these people because they are visible if you want to meet them. I think if anyone’s really concerned the best response is to sign up and volunteer to supervise those nights shifts at the Adventist church cause after a couple of days the few and the faithful are going to be worn out. Homeless people don’t walk out the front door in the morning to go freeze outside all day until you let them back in at night. They need food, showers, clothing, counseling, and a whole range of services including health care.
Hang our heads in shame? Yeah maybe only because we wait ever year to push this problem off on someone else when it becomes too large for us to ignore.
Rebekah Thomas says
It is difficult in a comfortable society to go beyond our comfort zone into the brokenness of others; we have our own brokenness to deal with, our own trauma, our own hidden self destruction that we’re all fighting in very secretive but “acceptable” ways. Homelessness and addiction are some of those pieces of brokenness that many experience, and as individual people of society – it can be really difficult to go beyond our own prejudices, our trauma, and our fears to contribute whatever we can to people who like us have thorns of their own, however public.
I think that your article is an essential conviction to breathe because of its truth, and the experience that comes with being the point man for all of the brokenness of others. An honourable task, but not a glorious one. When the individual makes it his or her mission to eliminate the hurts, the weakness, and that brokenness that others face in such monumental ways, they discredit their own; and so the sacrifice of compassion comes full circle. You see, homelessness isn’t an individual problem that falls on the shoulders of one or two faithful – it is a societal and cultural commonality that convicts each of its members in different ways.
To what you’re saying, I agree, and I pray on the mountaintops that generations past would see through their destructive fears and vices of the mentally ill, that generations current would speak up through the gut wrenching apathy that bleeds through us all, and that generations to come would grow to see that brokenness is a human commonality – to deal with it alone is to deny the existence of the world.
So, together we challenge ourselves. We look to one another with our hands up wonduring how. We walk forward, masked and unsure, with sleeping bags and coffee and kind words of encouragement. Together we meet as a family to nurture and show compassion to what we both know and are terrified of.
Homelessness is a mission of convoluted stories and much loneliness. Regardless of individual worthiness, we step up as a community lest our leaders become weary in their mercy.
Oliver missions society says
Well said we are community.Church non church we step up to assist. It takes community to come together and support each other when it is this cold
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