Tag: youth

Posted on

Images

by Steve Jennings

Thirty four years ago this November, we packed a few teens, me, and a trunk-load of coats and sweaters in my 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass and headed to the intersection of 15th Street and Constitution Avenue for the first of hundreds of “TOP Trips” that would follow.

Recently, as I reflected on that first night, my mind’s eye was flooded with images that have come from this ministry over the years. I was able to capture a few on-camera but most live only in my memory. I would like to share a few of them with you.

Ross

The old man pushed his grocery cart to a low wall in front of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC and sat down with a grunt and a sigh. I sat down next to him and started a conversation. For the first five minutes or so, it was a friendly conversation with a delightful old gentleman. Then things began to change.

Ross started telling me how his blood ran through the steam tunnels in the Federal Triangle of DC and that he gave life to all of the federal workers. He went on to say that he was the father of “all the Indian nations”.

As he told me these tall tales, the look in his eyes changed. It seemed as though he looked through me as he spoke. That was my first encounter with a delusional person. There would be many to follow. But, despite his delusions, Ross became my friend. He would call me “Stevie.” The last time I saw him before he passed away, we had a wonderful, delusion-free conversation that lasted over 30 minutes.

The Guy on the Grate

We were serving homeless people in a little plaza at 21st St and Virginia Avenue in DC. As we carried our stuff to the park, we walked by a man passed out on the sidewalk. When I saw him, I decided to bring some food and water out for him just as soon as we set our stuff down. I returned to the spot less than 2 minutes later only to discover he was gone. I didn’t see him anywhere. Maybe God’s reason for all of this was to show us far homeless life can pull you down.

homeless man on grate
A homeless man lies on a steam grate in Washington, DC

Beautiful Connections

Esther had just finished her first semester of college and was ready to head to DC to minister with the homeless the Sunday before Christmas. I told her how her homeless friend of 5 years, Bob, was able to walk away from the alcohol addiction that held him captive on the street, get a job and move into a rented room. She was literally jumping up and down for joy at the prospect of seeing him. I called him to make sure he would be there.

It was gray and rainy at the park when we arrived. Esther was serving food out of a van. Bob found her and ran to the van. The two of them embraced. Bob’s back was to me, but I could see the smile on Esther’s face. For 5 years she shared his pain and struggles. Now she got to share his victory (which was a miracle, by the way). I wish I had a camera, but that image will be forever etched in my memory. Sometimes prayer and friendship are the two most important things to change a life.

Another special connection took place in Lynchburg about 10 years ago. Caitlyn’s youth group was serving in Lee Park. She joined several of us as we prayed for a young mother whose children were in foster care because she allowed them to stay in the house too long with her now-ex-husband who abused her.

After a couple of adults prayed, Caitlyn began her prayer with “Hey God, it’s me again.” By the time Caitlyn had finished praying, the young mother was sobbing. Caitlyn reached across the prayer circle and hugged her. The two of them spent the next half hour crying, praying, talking and finally laughing together. Both young women were forever moved and impacted by that moment. You may recognize this image from our Facebook page.

Teen comforts distraught single Mom
Caitlyn comforts a distraught young, single Mom

These are but a few of the images I carry of my 30+ years in this ministry. It hasn’t always been easy, and there have been some painful, difficult moments, too. But they pale in comparison to the joy of serving and teaching others how to share in that joy.

Posted on

Heart, Mind and Soul Part 2: David’s Story – Believe

This is the second in a series of posts about where the solutions to homelessness truly begin.  They are not in the opportunities, training or services offered to homeless people.  They are in the hearts, minds and souls of the homeless themselves. The longer I spend in ministry with these amazing people, the more I learn of the importance of attitude and that nothing else we do to address their challenges will work if their hearts, minds and souls are not in the right place.

To read the first installment, click on the link: http://teensopposingpoverty.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/heart-mind-and-soul-part-1-jeffs-story/

The small group of middle-school girls laughed as they stood next to the imposing statue of Commodore John Barry in Franklin Square.  They had come to Washington, DC to serve homeless people, not expecting the entertaining encounter with David.  He was funny, engaging and held them in rapt attention.

Little did I know at the time that the forming friendship between this homeless man and group of girls would change his life.  David was trapped in the downward spiral of alcohol and crack cocaine addiction, but he was always straight on the Sundays we came to town.  I was glad he was there because he was so good with the young volunteers of Teens Opposing Poverty.

Over a dozen youth groups were involved in our DC ministry at the time, but David connected in a special way with this group of middle-school girls who served at the park every other month.  Over time, he began to see them as his “little sisters.”   In between the teasing and laughing, they built him up and made him feel special.   Just before he entered a rehab program, they encouraged him and told him that he could beat his addictions.

In other words, they believed in him.

David held tightly to their belief because he couldn’t yet believe in himself.  In late 2004 he entered a rehab program.  It wasn’t the first time, so he had little expectation of any lasting change.  After he completed the program, he got a job doing building maintenance.  I didn’t see him for several months.  The girls asked about him, and I told them that I assumed he was working.

When I saw David again in the spring I asked him how the job was going.

“I lost it,” he said. “I fell off the wagon and missed too much work.  But don’t tell the girls!  I’m clean again and I’m going to do my best to stay that way.”

Since then, David has experienced setbacks that would knock the most stalwart warrior off his horse, but he kept pushing.  He never gave up.  Although his self-confidence was shaky at times, he made a turn in his life.  Someone believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself.  His self-talk went from “why bother” to “it’s worth a shot” to “I can do this” all because he bought into the words of encouragement from some girls still too young to drive.

What they did for David cost nothing but their time, but it was one of the most precious gifts he ever received.

David Williams is now the Director of Teens Opposing Poverty’s Washington, DC homeless outreach.  He believes he can make a difference in this world because someone believed in him.

God’s grace to you,

Steve Jennings

Executive Director

www.TeensOpposingPoverty.org

Posted on

Immeasurable Outcomes

“Measurable Outcomes” has become a buzzword in the world of grant writing and securing support from major donors and corporations. They rightly want to know that their donations and grants are making a difference. So if you can say that your shelter was able to provide beds for 30 more homeless people, you would have a measurable outcome to report back to the donor.

But there is another side to outcomes that can’t be quantified so easily. How do you measure the hope you have given homeless people by helping them begin to believe that they don’t have to spend the rest of their lives on the street? How do you quantify the change in perceptions about poverty and homelessness that you plant in a volunteer? How can you place a concrete value on a new sense of justice and compassion aroused in a teenager?

In over 20 years of working with poor people and volunteers of all ages, these “immeasurable outcomes” are the ones that most clearly define Teens Opposing Poverty. They can’t be placed in charts or graphs, yet they bear witness to a very real impact on the hearts and minds of scores of people.

When teens decided to use money they had set aside for a fun outing to pay the security deposit so William Daniels could get into his first apartment, he returned their kindness by volunteering with the Washington, DC ministry. Now he is on staff and directs that ministry.

Reggie had given up trying to get off the street after suffering a seemingly unending series of setbacks. After two months of encouragement by young volunteers, he tried again and was finally able to “beat the street.”

Marcel was bitter after losing his job and home and not being able to find work for over a year and a half. A smiling, fifth-grade girl interrupted his epithet-laden rant about his situation. As she looked him in the eye, she handed him a simple hand-drawn picture. He looked down at it, returned her smile and said, “If I had a refrigerator, I’d put this on it.” As she walked away, Marcel turned from us to wipe away his tears. When he turned around, he was a different man. Gratitude and hope had found their way into his heart. In that one precious moment an 11-year-old girl changed his whole outlook on life.

I’ll admit that it’s more difficult for us to secure some financial support because we don’t have enough “measurable outcomes.” That’s OK. In my book, a few changed lives are worth the sacrifice.

God’s grace to you,

Steve Jennings

Posted on

When It’s All You Have Left

I never cease to be amazed.

Last Sunday a group of brave people ranging in age from 9 to, well, almost as old as I am, spent an afternoon in the cold to conduct Teens Opposing Poverty’s first homeless outreach in Lynchburg, Virginia. We wanted to be a blessing to people who could carry their life’s possessions on their backs and had no family to visit on Christmas day.

We took a little Christmas tree, some Christmas music, cookies, hot soup (it was delicious), hot drinks, water, gift bags with toiletries in them, clothes and wool blankets. Throughout the afternoon a steady stream of people came by. Some lived in tents. Others lived at the Salvation Army Shelter across the street. Still others rented a room or apartment, but the rent ate up almost all of their income. They were all grateful for the gifts we shared.

A lot of the people we served stayed out in the cold with us. We had great conversations and made new friends. It was a successful “TOP Trip”.

In two different conversations that day I heard something that I have heard on many TOP Trips over these last 23 years, and each time I hear it, I am moved and amazed. We were talking to people who had experienced tragedy. The obstacles they had to overcome to get off the street were daunting. They had lost almost everything.

But their faith was strong.

It was elemental.
It was powerful.
It was simple and pure.
God drew close to them.

Their relationship with Jesus had reached a depth that far too few of us experience in this life. When they were dealt the blows that put them on the street, they could have walked away from God. But they didn’t. They ran to Him. They were stripped of everything except Jesus and found out He was all they really needed. That was their message to me.

As I heard them proclaim their faith, I thought about Christmas. Not the Christmas of cathedrals, or silver bells or shopping malls. I thought about the Christmas in Bethlehem. I thought about God in the flesh lying in a manger.

It was elemental.
It was powerful.
It was simple and pure.
God drew close to us.

This Christmas I pray that each of us may experience the closeness to Christ that these precious souls have shown to me. May we all live our lives knowing in our hearts that Jesus is all we need. For that is the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas.

Steve Jennings

Posted on

Arms Flailing, Head Wagging

We saw him from two city blocks away.  The tall, gangly, slender man sat on a retaining wall that bordered a small plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.  His head wobbled.  He flailed his arms about so wildly they didn’t even appear to have bones in them.  His face was contorted, and his tongue darted in and out of his mouth like a snake. His eyes looked everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

 The youth who were with me bringing food to homeless people in the area were spellbound by him and were confused about what to do.  Should they approach him?  What would they say?  They talked nervously among themselves as we drew closer to him.

 Finally one of them asked me what they should do.

 “Give him a sandwich,” I said. “But show it to him first.”

 The man continued his gyrations, but his eyes showed a glimmer of lucidity as we crossed the side street and began walking in his direction.  Three brave teens broke from the group and approached him tentatively as they held out a sandwich.

 “Would… would you like a sandwich?” one of them asked.

 The man’s eyes locked on the sandwich.  With startling speed he dropped his arms, pulled his tongue back in his mouth, smiled and said, “Thank you.”

He looked at the group of youth, making eye contact with most of them.  They looked at him and drew closer.  I stood back as he ate his sandwich and spoke with the teens for 5 or 10 minutes.  I didn’t hear what they said and didn’t need to.  This was their moment of discovery.  Things aren’t always as they seem.

 They gave him another sandwich, said goodbye, and we headed down the street to serve other people.  On the way back we looked over at the retaining wall and there he was, arms flailing, head wagging, tongue jumping.

 Did he have a mental illness, or had he been hurt so often that he figured out how to keep people away from him?  I guess we’ll never know the answer to that. 

 But we do know this.  He responded to love. 

 He dropped his façade when somebody cared enough to break into his world, offering him something and asking nothing in return.  For at least that moment in his life he stepped out of the safe place he had created in his mind and took a chance on connecting with other people. 

That’s what the love of Jesus does.  It breaks down walls.  It pulls people outside of themselves and into a moment of discovery that maybe – just maybe – there is something better.  May God grant us the power to share that love with our world.

God’s grace to you,

Steve Jennings

Posted on

The Power of Friendship

The one aspect of TOP’s ministry that has the greatest impact on the poor and on our volunteers can’t be measured or quantified, but it truly changes lives. It’s friendship.

Homeless and poor people spend much of their lives dodging the boulders that the world throws at them. When this happens day after day, they feel tired and beaten.  Often they are ignored or herded like cattle in order to receive the goods and services that keep them alive. It’s dehumanizing to say the least. Just having somebody who will look them in the eye, smile, or give an affirming touch is enough to change their week or their lives.  This encouragement can happen at a first meeting.  But when young people and the poor develop deeper friendships, incredible things can happen.

The benefits of friendship with the poor and homeless go beyond being a bright spot and having warm, fuzzy feelings. For some homeless people, friendships with teens have created a positive accountability. They don’t want to let their young friends down. That sense of obligation has helped several men I know kick a drug or alcohol habit and stay clean.

Another benefit to homeless and poor people is having someone outside their peer group to cheer them on and encourage them when they are down. Here is where teens really shine in their ministry. They don’t judge. They don’t condemn. They listen, try to understand and offer hope. When a homeless man gives up after being knocked down for the fourth or fifth time in a year, that word of encouragement from a teen can be enough to get him to try again.

Through our friendships we earn the right to share the good news of Jesus.  Many nonbelieving homeless and poor people have heard the gospel or read a tract, but they haven’t seen Jesus at work in the people who serve them.  Once they see perfect agape love in action, many are more receptive to hearing about the source of that powerful love.

Never underestimate the power of friendship. It’s the key that opens the door to transformation and hope. 

God’s grace to you,

Steve Jennings, Executive Director

 Teens Opposing Poverty

Posted on

Be a Bright Spot

            Robert Massey stood in front of nearly 500 teens and adults from Virginia Methodist Churches.  He stopped in the middle of detailing homeless life and blurted out, “Homelessness sucks!”  The crowd erupted into applause.  He had their attention.

             Robert is still homeless and has been for 17 years.  He made a lot of mistakes and experienced a lot of emotional pain that, through the grace of a renewed relationship with Jesus Christ, is fading.  He shares his experience with churches and other groups through Teens Opposing Poverty’s Homelessness in the First Person program.

             After sharing the mind-numbing monotony and dehumanizing experiences of homeless life, Robert looked out over the crowd of young faces and told them they could be a bright spot for someone who is struggling in life.  He told them how much it meant for somebody to smile at him, listen to him, talk with him and just treat him like a human being.

             Be a bright spot.  It doesn’t have to be a big thing.  It can be as simple as looking somebody in the eye and saying hello, or buying a homeless person something to eat besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It can be listening to a lonely elderly person share how things used to be or tossing a football around with homeless people who have taken up residence in a park.  It can be getting to know someone who is very different from you well enough to call them your friend.

             These seemingly small things are huge to someone who struggles to hold onto the shreds of human dignity that are constantly being stripped away by a cold system.  Everything that is designed to help people defeat the monsters that hold them in poverty works better when love is added to it.

             Be a bright spot for somebody today.  Do small things with large love and make a big difference.

God’s grace to you,

Steve Jennings, Executive Director

Posted on

Lessons from the Street

Some “how-to’s” of homeless ministry.

Based on 20+ years of working with homeless people, here are some things I have learned. Your mileage may vary.

1. Freely give at first. Don’t worry about whether the person you are helping is “using the system”. Err on the side of grace, and use your giving to establish a relationship with that person.

2. Pray for discernment as you continue to work with a person. If it appears that they don’t want to take action to improve their lives, you must first determine two things:

a) Do they have a clue as to what they need to do for their part?
b) Do they have the capacity to do what is necessary?

In other words, do they have physical, mental or emotional challenges that make it difficult or humanly impossible to make the changes in their own lives?

3. If a person is able but unwilling to take action, don’t enable them to continue in their current lifestyle. They need to feel pain from their situation in order to move out of it. On the other hand, don’t abandon them. Be there. Be a friend. Be an encourager. Share the love of Christ with them. Help them to bring Jesus into their hearts so that the power of the Holy Spirit can strengthen them to overcome the forces that hold them down.

People trapped in poverty face a ton of obstacles to success: emotional, physical, mental, situational and spiritual. We MUST minister to the whole person. We MUST get involved in their lives and make ourselves vulnerable to the disappointment that often comes when they fall. When we do that, God can use us in incredible, life-changing ways.

Steve Jennings
Executive Director, Teens Opposing Poverty

Posted on

Step Off the Curb Please

I stood in the middle of Franklin Square in Washington, DC and watched three church groups in succession pull their vans up to the curb, dish out some food, say “God bless you” to the people they were serving, get back in their vans and leave for the next park.  I also watched the same guys we had given hot-stuffed baked potatoes to less than 20 minutes earlier go to each of those vans and get another loaded plate.

 

Now before you get your dander up over this, you need to understand an important point.  During the weekdays, most homeless people get by on one meal a day (68% according to a 2007 survey we conducted).  Some days they even have to miss that one meal. Weekends are the only time they get to eat until they actually feel full.

 

The problem with the “feed and leave” approach is that we are so intent on reaching the maximum number of people, we fail miserably in inspiring real change.  How many of those folks who came by knew that Marcell was 52 years old, had been out of work for three months, and for the first time in his life, was homeless?  How many of them knew that Kevin was having a hard time finding a job because of his criminal record?

 

I have to tell you, it’s a wonderful feeling to find a pair of shoes to fit a homeless man who had to cut the toes out of the shoes he was wearing because they were too small or to hand a plate of food to someone who hasn’t eaten in a day or two.  But it’s even more rewarding to see Reggie, who had given up on life after a series of major catastrophes, work up the moxie to try again because a group of teenagers believed in him, encouraged him and prayed with him.  By the way, he was off the street in less than three months.

 

Most poor people are not going to escape their plight through programs alone.  They need somebody in their corner.  Each of us, can impact the life of a poor person simply by being a friend.

 

To my dear sisters and brothers in Christ with the “van by the curb” ministry, please know that I applaud and rejoice in your work.  Don’t stop.  I ask of you only one thing.  Try making time in your busy feeding schedule to connect with the people you serve.  You’ll never regret it.

 

Steve Jennings

Executive Director, Teens Opposing Poverty