Monday, January 9, 2012

   This is not It!!!!!!!!


I was lost but now I'm found
we have all heard those words from Amazing grace


"Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." ( Luke 15:8-10)
Being homeless is nothing to rejoice over, being addicted to drugs or alcohol, being beaten raped or robed, there is no joy in any of those things. And if you think there is you got another set of issues that need to be addressed.

I want lie to you or say  I understand what your going through, I have no clue nor will I pretend to.  I'm not here tonight to get a pat on the back but to let you know that, yes the world may see you as the forgotten, and outcast, or lessor.  But Christ did not die for the rich he died for those that had nothing and no hope to hold onto. He suffered  greatly at the hands of the same people that today would not even look at you or I.  Because we did not attend the right college or live in the right part of town or our Fathers did not give us a trust fund or name a hospital after our family.

If Christ were to return today I would tell people not to look in the churches for him but go among the poor and those that are look down upon, which would be you guys. He would come and sit here and eat with you if you would have him. He would sleep here if you would let him. Simply because he told the people when he ate at Matthew house that those that are well have no need of physician but those that are sick have a need of Doctor.  There is a great need for Christ here. Someone here might be wonder where is Jesus cause I've never seen him?  I've prayed preacher man and look at me I'm still here, so save you word for Sunday past the collection plate sermon.

I'm not God so why he hasn't answered your prayer is as much a mystery to me as why he has not answered all of my prayers. I know that I must trust in God. There was a man name Job whom was a very rich man within the blink of his eye he found himself homeless and living in the city dump with no real family or friends to help him. His own wife wanted him dead because of the shame and embarrassment she felt. To loose all that he had and to them find that he was now in poor health. You think this guy had a reason to be angry and bitter at God??? Yea he did but he replied naked did I come into this world and naked shall I leave it. For all that I had  or will ever have is God's anyway.

I wish I could tell you tonight that if you accept Christ as your savior he will take away your addiction to drugs or alcohol, or give you a new home or bring back your lost love one's.  I can't tell you that because I don't know what God's plain is for your life, but I do know this is not it!!!!!

Did you hear me when I say this is not !!!!! God words says he has plains to prosper you, no that does not mean he going to make you rich, but it does means that he loves you and wants better for you. Each of us has free will, you decide not God. For he tells me in Revelations I stand at the door and knock if you will hear me and open up the door I will come in and sup with you.

Is there anyone here tonight that is tired?  Tired of waking up out here, Tired of going to sleep out here?  Just tired of life in general, tired of trying to see the sunshine when everyday is just another rainy day in your life.  Find it hard to believe in God?  That is okay he still believes in you, its time to make a change tonight is that night.   Tell Christ that you no longer want to live like this.  You no longer want to make Alcohol or drugs your master.  Tired of life just not going your way. Then what do you have to loose by coming to Christ. You got no job to be fired from, No home to loose.  If anyone  ever who need to take a chance and let Christ into your life its here and now.. What do you have to loose by accepting Christ into your life. Let see how about lose the addiction to drugs, and alcohol, how about getting up off the ground and standing up straight and walking out of the woods into a better life.

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Saturday, January 7, 2012


‘Real people, real stories’: homeless people speak out

Published:
Fri, 2010-07-30 16:59
Related Campaign:
Stereotypical views of homelessness are shaken by four very different stories shared this week by people who have experienced homelessness.
The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service*(HPLS) is helping people who have experienced homelessness tell their own stories as part of National Homeless Persons’ Week, 2 – 8 August 2010. Kevin’s story is one example of the homeless experience:
‘I first became homeless at the age of fourteen after my parents separated and my father threw me out of home.
‘I spent 20 of the next 30 years of my life living on the street. During that time, I saw many unprovoked attacks on the homeless. On one occasion I witnessed two men throw concrete blocks and beer bottles at a group of homeless people whose only crime was trying to get some sleep.
‘What many people don’t realise is that homelessness does not discriminate. Anyone regardless of age, race, sex or social status can have something happen to them that might cause them to end up on the streets. I have seen barristers, police officers and public servants becoming homeless after something like a family breakdown has occurred and sent their lives out of control.’
HPLS and Homelessness NSW host a forum in Sydney today to explore human rights and homelessness. Speakers at the Human Rights or Homeless Nightsforum include representatives of Sydney’s homeless community. 
‘Giving homeless people a voice challenges the community’s stereotypes about homelessness. It also encourages governments and service providers to take account of homeless peoples’ experiences when deciding policy and delivering services,’ said the HPLS Co-ordinator, Ms Julie Hourigan Ruse.
Media are welcome to attend the Human Rights or Homeless Nights forum. It starts at 9am on Monday 2 August 2010 at Minter Ellison, Level 19, Aurora Place, 88 Phillip Street, Sydney.
* The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service (HPLS) is a joint initiative of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH)NSW. PIAC receives funding from the NSW Attorney General, the Hon John Hatzistergos MLC, through the NSW Public Purpose Fund to operate the Service.


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Ex-Homeless Speak Out To Change Perceptions

John Harrison (right) says his homelessness is in "remission."
EnlargePam Fessler/NPR
John Harrison (right) says his homelessness is in "remission."
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July 4, 2011
The typical speakers bureau can get a celebrity, a politician or a media pundit to address your group for a few thousand, or maybe tens of thousands of dollars. But one speakers bureau made up of men and women who have been homeless will provide someone for only $40.
And the speech could be just as compelling as one given by high-priced talent.
John Harrison is one of those speakers. With his ruddy good looks, salt-and-pepper hair, khakis and white button-down shirt, he looks like someone who might spend a lot of time relaxing on a sailboat. Instead, he's still struggling to get back on his feet after years of homelessness.
He's addressing a Jewish youth group, part of a program organized by the PANIM Institute in Washington, D.C. The teens came into the room laughing and joking, but are soon mesmerized.
Harrison's message is clear: Almost anyone can become homeless, and people should be nice to those who are homeless.
Steve Thomas (left) and George Siletti are members of the National Coalition for the Homeless' speakers bureau.
EnlargePam Fessler/NPR
Steve Thomas (left) and George Siletti are members of the National Coalition for the Homeless' speakers bureau.
"Seemed like all of a sudden, people walked by me like I wasn't even there," Harrison tells the group.
"I remember going into a restaurant to get what I called a 'two for one.' And the 'two for one' for the person experiencing homelessness is the warmth and the food for the price of the food. And so, I was optimistic. They took my order. But when they brought me my food, it was to go. Because that was the message. Go," he says.
Harrison, now in his mid-50s, says homelessness snuck up on him. He came from a good family and had a good job. But then came a series of unfortunate events, and some bad decisions, that set off his downward spiral.
He lost his job in a merger. He didn't have a college degree, so he had trouble finding another job. Then, his house burned down. He didn't have insurance, so he lived in a shed behind a friend's house for awhile. Then he lived in his car, until that broke down. Suddenly, he found himself without a home.

Steve Thomas' Story

Steve Thomas tells his story as part of the homeless speakers bureau. He says, like many homeless people, he had a job. He washed dishes at a nearby restaurant.
"I'd bring out food in the evening. I'd pass it out to my homeless brothers and sisters," he says, adding that government workers in the area would compliment him. "They'd say, 'Steve, you're doing an excellent job with those people.' "
When he was laid off six months later, he started looking "a little shabby," he says.
"And those same people that used to walk by and say, 'Hey, Steve' everyday stopped speaking, just stopped even looking in my direction. And that kinda hurt," he says, his voice shaking.
Thomas eventually got help from a volunteer group. He's been off the streets for more than three years.
Harrison says it was the kindness of others that helped him survive.
"People ... reached out to me with genuine concern and said, 'Hey, how are you doing?' and meant it," he says. "You know, we don't have to empty our pockets every time we see a homeless person. But to offer a word of cheerful encouragement, instead of a hurtful comment — how hard is that?"
Harrison is one of 350 members of a speakers bureau run by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The coalition is an advocacy group, but the speakers' agenda is mostly educational. They address religious groups, universities, government agencies, and even medical schools to help new doctors learn how to treat the homeless, who frequent emergency rooms.
George Siletti is another speaker. He's one of three formerly homeless people who recently addressed a group of human rights fellows from Europe, who were in Washington, D.C., to work on Capitol Hill.
"I grew up in foster care. You know what foster care is?" he asks the group.
Siletti, 54, tells them he became homeless at age 16, when he was allowed to leave the boys' home where he lived. He had no money or food. Two weeks later, he was still sleeping in the woods behind the home.
"I had literally nothing. No life skills, no job skills, no nothing. So my life was just to survive on the streets," he says. "Well, this happened for 30 years of my life."
Siletti spent the time hitchhiking from job to job and state to state. He says he's been homeless in every state except Alaska. He eventually got help from a nonprofit, which gave him medicine to treat his mental illness and epilepsy, and finally a place to live.
Today, Siletti says, his name is in the phone book. He even gets junk mail. And he feels like part of the community.
"I am no longer [an] isolated homeless person. I am no longer called weird names—'crazy,' 'psycho' and all that. I'm called 'George,' and I feel well accepted," he says.
"This was fantastic," says Natalie Chwalisz, from Germany. She had tears in her eyes as she listened to the speakers tell their stories. "You're not used to seeing it in Europe," she says. "So it's hard to learn this and see how people just walk by."
The teenagers listening to Harrison also have questions about what life on the street is like.
"What were you thinking about as you were trying to fall asleep on the concrete?" asks one young man.
"Boy, that's easy," replies Harrison. "Nothing. Because I was so exhausted just getting through whatever day it was."
Harrison now has a place to live and two part-time jobs. He says his homelessness is in "remission."
He'll get $40 for this talk, but says what he really wants is for people to change how they see the homeless.
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