A Walk in Their Shoes – Our Homeless Experience

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:14:57 +0000

So a couple of us guys went to “Experience Homelessness” in Waco this week. Let me just say, Thank God he does not have that in my plan. Being Homeless brings about many issues. We learned the first issue within 10 minutes of being on the street. Let me start by detailing a little of our preparation. First of all, I had not showered in 3 days, my hair was nappy, I haven’t had it cut in a couple of months, no shaving for a couple of weeks. Justin was pretty much the same except that he hadn’t shaved for a month. He was very hairy. We had walked less than a mile. It was through a pretty heavily populated area though. When the police roll up to “Check on us.” It started out not so great, but ended well. The officer turned out to be a really nice guy and he was just doing his job but the fact that he picked us out just for the way we looked was the first lesson that we learned. As we sat next to the Wendy’s drive thru window being gawked at by the customers and closely watched by the employees as we were questioned by the officers, yes, officers. Three in all showed up. We were humiliated. The embarrassment started to sink in. We knew we were good guys, doing nothing wrong, but no one else did. To the world, we were bums.

The officer dismissed us with a few kind, guiding words and told us a little about the neighborhood, some to keep us safe and some words to scare us. Justin and I then met up with a couple of my friends who were already there and had been on the streets for a couple of hours. They had been doing some scouting and found a “good” place to sleep. They were eager to show us their find. When we got there it did look promising. We walked around for a while longer and waited on one more guy who was coming to meet us. We ended up hanging out near the post office for about two hours waiting on Greg to come. When he did arrive we showed him our sleeping spot and we shortly thereafter settled in.

What we failed to notice when we found our sleeping spot was the noise made by the two large flag poles overhead. We had a decent spot. It was an empty parking lot near downtown. There was about a 3 foot tall rock wall on the front edge of the wall that would hide us from passer by’s. We also failed to realize just how busy 4th street would be all night long. Between the passing cars and the flag pole ratttling all night long sleep was a rare thing…. for me. By this point we had a total of 5 guys on the street. Since it was my idea I felt personally charged to make sure that everyone who went down, also went home safely. I stayed awake most of the night. I walked around our small parking lot, checking out the area and making sure that no one would mess with us. Finally around 2:00 am I laid my head down and drifted in and out of sleep until about 4:15 when one of our guys got up to use the dumpster (restroom). It startled me when I woke up and he was standing up, I had not heard him getting up and there he was standing. I couldn’t help but think that if he had gotten up with out my knowledge, someone else could have come up on us as well.

I spent the rest of the night hoping that one of our other guys would wake up and talk… that didn’t happen. I did lots of walking, tried to read my bible in the dark and did plenty of talking to God. It’s tough when you know you are supposed to trust in God with everything, including our safety. However I felt it would be my responsibility to keep us all safe. That was a huge personal battle in head for the night. Apparently, the rest of the guys had more faith in God keeping us safe… or me staying awake one. They seemed to sleep pretty well. The sunrise was a very welcome sight. See, we thought the Salvation Army would be serving breakfast and we were HUNGRY. However after walking to the SA we found out that they do not serve breakfast. The only breakfast available would cost $2 and we didn’t have any money. The officer the night before had informed us that panhandling was illegal so we chose not to.

The daybreak brought about a new set of issues… Mostly boredom. There was nothing to do and no where to do it. We didn’t want to attact any more attention to ourselves by local law enforcement. We walked down to a riverside park. We hung out there for a while and people would find different ways around where we were standing. We were being ignored and avoided. We talked to a guy who told us about a church about 2-3 miles away who fed the good food. Chicken and brisket. It was supposed to start at 11:30 so we headed out. Keep in mind, any time you went anywhere, you had to carry every belonging you had with you. It was starting to warm up and the walk was through one of the roughest neighborhoods in Waco. Buildings were boarded up, glass all over the sidewalk. We were hungry and the food sounded very promising. We arrived about 10:40 and set around for an hour only to find out that the food wouldn’t be served until 2:00 or later. We were starving. The Salvation army fed between 12:00-12:30 so we decided to hike back. It was approx 3 miles back in the other direction. We made it just before they started handing out the sack lunches.

I asked the worker if we could eat under the shade tree and he said no. We had to move along because he didn’t want to pick up the trash after us. We found a nice big spot of shade across the street. We sat down and were happily surprised to find what was in our bag. It was the best chicken salad sandwich I had ever eaten and jackpot, there was actually two of them, plus a bag of chips, some cookies, pudding and graham crackers. Life was good again. Shortly after lunch one of the guys with us decided he had enough. He left, I don’t blame him. It was boring, we had done alot of walking and not much of anything fun. He had family in town and he went to hang out with them. When he left the rest of the group fell apart. He had down what all of the rest of us wanted to do. Shortly after the other two guys decided to take off, this leaving only Justin and myself.

After the sleepless night before I decided that it would not be safe for Justin and I alone and we too left. I felt like a quitter. Luckily I have a way home, a way out. Many of the people on the street don’t have that option. They are stuck. I am so thankful that God has a different plan for my life. However we must remember those who don’t have a path that we want. Those who are stuck, addicted to the streets. The life style. The drugs or alcohol that has landed them on the streets in the first place. My 24 hours on the streets was by no means fun. I don’t want to do it again. It did open my eyes.

So what do I do with the knowledge that I have now? Try to make the lives of those on the streets better. Bring them food, clothing and blankets. Try to help them blend in with the rest of society so others will look them in the eye and say hello just like they would everyone else. If you see someone, anyone and you are not sure if they live on the streets or in a mansion, speak to them. Something small and simple, just a hello, or hi, how are you? It doesn’t take much to lift someone up, but NOTHING makes them feel just like that, NOTHING. Buy someone some lunch, anything. When you are hungry and alone on the streets any food is good.

Danny Knight

Warm Sunday Donations Exceed Expectations

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:42:10 +0000

Thank you to everyone who made donations of hats, blankets, coats, thermals and all the other winter clothing items. We took them to our friends who live on the streets of Dallas and they greatly appreciated them. Most of these things are taken for granted by you and me, but they desperately need them for survival.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2: 14 -17 NIV

Lorenzo Beacon Jr.

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:53:29 +0000

We are deeply saddened by the recent passing of one of our dear friends, Lorenzo. He suffered massive head trauma when he was hit by two hit and run drivers. After a week in the Parkland ICU Lorenzo passed away. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.

Thanksgiving Meal Update

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:28:10 +0000

Thanksgiving was a HUGE success. Thank you to all of the people who took the time to help prepare food. We had plenty of food and were even able to let our friends have seconds. We had a very large turn out for our early Thanksgiving morning departure. We had 30 people come and many were new to our ministry. We were able to feed around 100 people on the streets. Many who would not have had anything to eat if we hadn’t come down to see them. Thank you to everyone who participated. Thank you for sacrificing your family Holiday to make someones Holiday a little better.

Warm Sunday

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:24:47 +0000

December 7th, we will be collecting blankets, coats, scarves, and gloves for the T-Shirt & Tennis Shoes Ministry. Please bring a new or gently used adult sized items, such as gloves, hats, scarves, and coats. We would also like to donate blankets to help keep them warm during these cold months.

Prayer Requests

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:23:53 +0000

Requests from October 19, 2008

Rashad – Accepted Christ as his personal savior.

Dwight – Pray that he can get a copy of his birth certificate and a new ID.

Kevin – Pray for his salvation. Pray that he finds a new job.

Kenneth – Pray for his continuing struggle with alcoholism.

Lisa – Her father has Cancer.

Pray for the safety of our friends who we missed this week.

Hollis

Callie

Clarence

Ernest

Kevin

Shoe Sunday was a Success

tshirtsandtennisshoes — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:13:47 +0000

Over 250 pairs of shoes were donated this past Sunday. Thank you so much for supporting the TShirts and Tennis Shoes ministry with your donations.