need Your, need Your love.

Testing the integrity of the pool cover in Portland

Homelessness is pretty obvious- no one is oblivious to it, but I suppose not everyone is sensitive to it.
Nick and I went on the Portland Mission Trip this weekend- three days of working with the Portland Rescue Mission and their extensions in the Portland area that feed and house people on the street. I have always thought of myself as sensitive to the needs of others, wanting to give myself fully to the task of caring for those less fortunate than me. And this trip reminded me of what that kind of life really looks like.

We woke up to drive to the Rescue Mission at 4:30 am, and in my sleepy stupor I promised myself that I would be 100% that day. Coffee helped a lot with that. We sat down at tables in the dining room as homeless folk filed in, were served pancakes and coffee, and we had conversations. What life! I learned a whole lot about fishing from a man "originally from Italy" (and who insisted that I season my coffee with coffee and handed me a Starbucks VIA pack) and spoke broken Spanish with Jose from Tijuana. Wherever there stood a conversation waiting, I'd toss a lasso over it and pull it towards me. 

The Mission offers a rehabilitation program for men who truly want to start their lives fresh- they apply to work at the Mission, are given room and board, offered bible studies and guaranteed meals. They serve their fellow man. You would not believe these guys- they are incredible! Full of faith and love and STORIES. Rob told me about traveling with his father, a diplomat, when he was growing up- spending years in exotic places and eventually ending up here, in a shelter. We spoke fast, of Spain and Asia and how much it would cost to fly to Singapore. I asked him to assign me a task, and he goes, "Just serve up those orange slices! And then let's all go to Bali!" 

Holly heads up the organization- she is committed! And her passion for it radiates through her face. She cannot talk fast enough telling us about the remodel and new programs and how they came to be. And I began to measure the integrity of my dreams to the way she lives her life. It is more than a job to her- taking care of people and constantly adapting- it is in her blood. I wonder how much she has given up to be there every morning, caring for the least of these. She exemplifies the words "When I am no longer the point of my life, my life begins to have a point."

She must be exhausted a lot of the time, we were exhausted just spending the weekend. Monday, we walked the streets and handed out blankets, snack packs and lunches, gloves, hats, and about a gazillion socks. On our way back, our group collided with a group of street people, and in the midst stood Jose. Our eyes locked and I burst out in laughter, shouting his name out loud. "Aaaaye chica!" he said as we wrapped up in a big hug like long lost friends. "Mi chaqueta es bonita no??" he showed me his "new" jacket given to him sometime between the morning we had coffee and then. 

Paddy, our campus chaplain, reminded us the night of our arrival that when we serve others, we are serving Jesus. As we do unto others, we do unto God. If anything makes a person give 100%, I hope it's that. I can't sum up all the joy I felt in the Mission or out on the streets, the value of their stories! You'll have to go there yourself. As much as they needed us, I needed them deeply- to remind me of the joy that comes from knowing a loving God.