Under the Overpass.

So awhile ago I read this book called Under the Overpass by a guy named Mike Yankoski. He was a young college man who decided to join the homeless for so many months in order to explore how homeless people were treated by Christians and followers of Jesus Christ.


So I found this book review on the World Vision website, and I suppose I could take the time to put it into my own words, but when someone else describes it so well its kind of hard to NOT want to steal their words, thoughts, and descriptions...so here it is.


"This paperback is more than a first–person account of living as a homeless person — this book is for anyone who hungers to follow Jesus and asks: Do my words and actions match? Am I really living as a Christian? One Sunday morning, Mike Yankoski was extraordinarily challenged by his pastor’s sermon: Be the Christian you say you are.  Mike was living a comfortable upper–middle class life. He was attending a Christian college in California and spent much of his time reading and talking about God. "But we were created to be and to do, not merely to discuss," he writes. "The hypocrisy of my life troubled me."He felt he lacked a life of "radical, living obedience." He had claimed he depended on Christ, but never put his claims to the test. So he set out with a traveling companion, Sam Purvis, to live like the homeless in six American cities. Mike wanted "to put my faith to the test alongside those who live with nothing every day." He also set out to understand the life of the homeless and see how the Church responds. His book follows their five–month journey — hearing the stories of the homeless and constantly struggling to find food, a place to sleep, a bathroom and compassion."  Mike was living a comfortable upper–middle class life. He was attending a Christian college in California and spent much of his time reading and talking about God. "But we were created to be and to do, not merely to discuss," he writes. "The hypocrisy of my life troubled me."He felt he lacked a life of "radical, living obedience." He had claimed he depended on Christ, but never put his claims to the test. So he set out with a traveling companion, Sam Purvis, to live like the homeless in six American cities. Mike wanted "to put my faith to the test alongside those who live with nothing every day." He also set out to understand the life of the homeless and see how the Church responds. His book follows their five–month journey — hearing the stories of the homeless and constantly struggling to find food, a place to sleep, a bathroom and compassion."

And the review continues..."In reading this book, one gains empathy for what the homeless go through. But what is most striking in Mike’s story is how the Christians he met treated them. Every Sunday, Mike and Sam — these two dirty, smelly homeless men — would try to go to church. Mike often felt rejected by church members. He struggled with the hypocrisy. He writes, "If we respond to others based on their outward appearance, haven’t we entirely missed the point of the Gospel?" Yet he also met churches and individuals who reached out to bring him comfort. In San Diego, he was inspired by a woman named Carla who invited them to feast at the church potluck. She made sure they felt welcomed. Simple kindness meant so much, he discovered. Mike’s life on the road changed his view of Christian service — and his prayers. "I tried to recall prayers from the previous summer. Let’s see, probably: Lord, help me get my Land Cruiser fixed. Lord, help that professor see that I really do deserve an ‘A.’ Lord, help my plans come together. Lord, give me ..." Perhaps most interesting of all is his re–entry back to his old life and America’s culture of consumption. He writes how the "terrible dangers of lacking nothing came clear to us... It numbs and blinds the human spirit." He felt American Christians "knew how to enjoy God’s material blessings, but had forgotten — or didn’t care to know — how to use those blessings to help others in Jesus’ name."

So how can I too be the Christian I say I am??  Many mornings my faith has been put to the test.   I remember one morning on my way to work seeing a man bundled up in blankets sleeping right in front of the door of the salon (which is where I work).  To be fair at that moment I assumed it was a man just by the shape of him, but his face too was covered with a thin blanket. And I was forced to encounter this man and there was absolutely no way around it, and I just felt such a deep sense of compassion for this human being.  I just started crying becuase i just thought...Lord I cant do this right now - this is soo sad to me. I have to wake him up from his slumber and tell him to move on. But I really don't want to do this, and it was just so sad becuase this is this man's life.  He is probably always being kicked out of somewhere. So I walked to the door and touched him and tried to rouse him, but he didnt move a muscle. So then my heart started beating faster and i thought..what do i do?? anyhow, I go into the salon, but had to walk around him and it just seemed soo symbolic - stepping over the guy in a sense to get on with my own life. 


It would be so easy to just pretend it didnt phase me, but it did completely. It rocked my whole day and I waited a whole agonizing 5 minutes before someone else showed up at the salon to help me rouse and wake him. And we just said excuse me - good morning sir but you are going to have to move on and im soo sorry. So the man got up from the ground and folded up his blankets and was on his way.

My heart was truly breaking through it all and it was soo very humbling. I am soo blessed.  I have a roof over my head, heavy blankets, and the option of heat, hot drinks and warm clothes. 

So my thoughts...how do I respond to homeless people? How do I respond to people I see sleeping on the streets or begging for money? Am I kind, gentle, loving, compassionate, gracious? Do I stop and talk to them and allow them to know that I NOTICE them and know they are there or do I just walk on past them and go about my life without getting my hands dirty?  What do you do?