be ready [compassion and christian ethics]

I recently posted some questions that seemed to hit a sensitive spot for lots of people.

See it here: can you give me a ride? [a question in christian ethics]

While I wanted to generate some discussion around this question, I never expected it to spark as much interest as it did. But that was awesome, and I really learned a lot from the conversation that this has generated for me both online and offline.

So here’s what I learned:

I think that everyone agrees that when in a situation where somebody needs help, the appropriate Christian response is to help them. Where people tend to differ is in how they help.

Through this conversation I’ve become much more aware of other ways that I could have helped this young lady without having her jump into my car with me (creating a potential accountability situation). Some of the possibilities include:

• Call (and pay for) a cab
• Call someone to or ride with us
• Call someone (female) to come pick her up
• Call my wife to let her know what I was doing

All of these scenarios only require one thing… making a simple phone call.

But I’ve also learned that my knee-jerk response closed the door to any of these possibilities happening at all. This is why it is important to be willing to talk before responding.

If I had taken the opportunity to ask her about what was going on and where she wanted to go, I would have been able to gather some important information on how I might be able to best help her out.

Engaging her in conversation may have given me the opportunity to even make suggestions. If she told me that her husband (or boyfriend) was beating her, then I may have been able to direct her to a safe house or shelter for battered women. Regardless of what her need was, I only would be able to discover it by actually talking to her.

Even if I did talk to her and found some ways to help her, I’ve since realized that I wasn’t prepared to really help her out anyway. So I’ve decided that I need to have some phone numbers programmed into my phone. Some of the places that I would need to be able to call might include:

• A reliable cab company (or two)
• Homeless shelters
• Food banks/kitchens
• Safe houses/shelters for battered women
• 24-hour medical centers/clinics

If she needed to get to a safe place to sleep for the night, having these phone numbers at my fingertips would have allowed me to call ahead to ensure that we wouldn’t end up running all over town to find what we need.

I would challenge you to also be ready in the same way.

So what numbers did I miss? What other resources do you think we should always have at the ready so that we can respond (appropriately) with compassion when the time comes?

[the idea camp] closing session

 

Who: Abandon Films, Greg Russinger (Just One), Jonathan Olinger (Discover the Journey), Nicky Yates (charity:water), Gregg Helvey (Kavi the movie), Larry Martin (IJM)

Greg Russinger: Just One was started by a group of people who were concerned about the needy and marginalized in Ventura. After asking the question, “what can we do?” one guy said, “I think that people might treat me differently if I had clean clothes.” This kicked off Laundry Love with laundromats so that people like this could get their clothes washed. Now they have things like wi-fi computer access so that the people can look for jobs (and other things) while waiting on their laundry. With things like this, there is now a movement happening with open source ideas through Just One. If we want to live a creative life, then we must sit in the middle of ‘it’ so that you can fully experience and understand it. You’ve got to open yourself up and allow yourself to be changed by what is going on around you. As we live in a stance of humility, God sets us up for some really good things.

bibledude: Time on the street baby… This challenged me to really consider how much I make outreach decisions from the comfort of my own living room as compared to being in the environment that I would like to affect. It seems to me the simple act of getting out there is something that will make a big difference in my ability to impact my world.

vimeo Video :: Discover the Journey NO MORE TEARS [teaser]

vimeo Video :: The story of charity:water - The 2009 September Campaign Trailer

Jonathan Olinger, Nicky Yates, Gregg Helvey: When storytelling you have to let the people themselves tell the story rather than trying to tell it for them (when possible). It is powerful when you get into the lives of the people who actually experience injustices. Connect people to the things in their lives that people can relate to. Storytelling doesn’t need fancy equipment and high-production values. There are lots of cheap/free ways to tell the story. If you have a good story, then other people may jump on board and help with higher production efforts.

bibledude: I know that in the church I attend we’ve been discussing how we need to get better at telling the story, so this is something that hits home for me as well. Social media seems to be a great tool to help share the story for low cost. Content is king!

Larry Martin: You need to have a BHAG… a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. Two things to leave us with: (1) Ideas that God blesses, and (2) What does it take? Stop asking to get involved with what we are doing, instead get involved with what God is already doing… it is already blessed! We have to be willing to work hard to accomplish things. The other thing that we need is to have faith. Jesus acts when we He sees that we believe Him that things can happen. Jesus takes responsibility for the miracles that we are trying to do. Finally, it takes a willingness to pay the price. You are going to see God do some incredible things!

bibledude: Amen!

 

More from ICDC: live blogging @theideacamp conference

[the idea camp] a conversation on home(less)

 

Who:Mark Horvath and Shannon Moriarty

Kids who are homeless experience post-traumatic stress disorder at twice the rate of veterans returning from war. Issues like this can be dealt with by providing stable housing for children. The results on kids are devastating, but it is easy to deal with. Before they need ‘the church’, they need stable housing.

One of the biggest problems is ‘family downsizing’. Due to economic reasons, families living in a three-bedroom house are now having to move into one-bedroom apartments. This often means that the oldest kid needs to move out…

When sharing the story, there are two elements to consider… One is getting the story, and the other is getting leadership to believe in it enough to play it in your church.

A video is not always what needs to be shared. Other mediums can be used, but what is important is sharing the personal side of the story. You’ve got to give people an emotional attachment or they are not going to be moved to action.

One place we need to go is in helping to get these people into homes. However, getting people into homes that they cannot afford can be dangerous. But the ability to live in a home provides a stability that cannot be achieved otherwise.

One homeless man in Atlanta once said, “the church won’t help me unless I’m standing next to Jesus.”

 The Housing First model… research shows that people are more successful with things like getting off of drugs and making other significant changes when they have a stable housing situation. The responsibility lies on us that we must put people first. People who just run shelters without doing something to break the cycle will eventually just burn out. We must do something to break the cycle of homelessness, rather than just putting a band-aid on it.

One of the greatest things that people/organizations can do is to just be there to help whatever needs the people have. Some people even work with the police departments to let them know that they’ll take the call if there are needs with homeless people in the area. People can go to the city meetings and other local/community events. You may get frustrated, but with consistency you’ll eventually build trust and make progress. No one person or church can do this alone, so it is important to work with others to figure out what works and accomplish the work.

 

More from ICDC: live blogging @theideacamp conference

[the idea camp] morning general session

 

Who:Leroy Barber (Mission Year), Deidox, Kevin Lum (Sojourners), Mark Horvath (InvisiblePeople.tv), Shannon Moriarity (Change.org), James Pearson (WikiChoice)

 
Leroy Barber: Many of the environmental problems in our country are in the poorer neighborhoods. This is why it is important to help ‘the hood’ go green! Projects doing things like cleaning up the neighborhood, wraping up water heaters, and running a ‘cool’ thrift shop are all making an impact. Programs involve community service, linking with the local church, and neighborhood outreach (hanging out with the neighbors, not passing out tracts and preaching the bible). Offering to babysit or baking a neighbor some cookies helps to build relationships. What makes being an intentional neighbor work? It means that you consider your neighbor before yourself. But consistency is one of the most important things. They need to know that you are going to stay…

bibledude: This is an important message no matter what neighborhood you live in. This idea of being intentional neighbors is important to implement whether you live in the ‘hood or in the burbs. But commitment is the key. Rushing out to the poor neighborhoods to share a big idea is meaningless unless you show them that you are going to be there for the long haul. It will be difficult, and there will be a hundred reasons to stop, but you need to be committed to being there in order to build the relationships and respect that you need to make real change happen.

It’s not the one that they showed at the conference, but you can never get enough Deidox…

vimeo Video :: Deidox | Lindsay

Kevin Lum: Many of the issues of dealing with injustice go much deeper than needing just a handout. Sojourners roots their efforts in an evangelical foundation and the Gospel of Christ. Faith must lead to social action. Advocacy is an important part of initiating the change that needs to happen. Politics can get so messy that often the church wants to pull back from it, but it is important for us to get involved. With an issue like health care it is important to have an honest debate, based on truth (get rid of the lies and misconceptions). 

bibledude: This seems to repeat a theme that I see recurring throughout many of the sessions. The church should be an influence on the government related to important social issues. But one of the things that I keep hearing is that we also need to have intelligent conversation. With things like health care, we need to recognize that the church plays a vital role in caring for those with a need, and government is a vehicle that can help us accomplish what needs to be done. Interesting conversation… (see related post here at bibledude.net: government health care? why christians shouldn’t be surprised)

Mark Horvath and Shannon Moriarity: There is no place in America where someone earning minimum wage can afford median housing. It is important to look at your own community and know what is happening. It is also important to know what services (i.e. shelters, food, etc.) are out there in your community. Know what is going on related to the ‘criminalization’ of homelessness. There are laws in communities that prevent people from laying around on the streets, or even being fed in public. We also need to stop evangelizing the homeless. They know the Word better than many pastors sometimes. We need to supply the other needs besides food (socks, underwear, phone cards, bus tokens, etc.).

bibledude: My community (Sarasota, FL) was featured as the worst place for the homeless a few years ago, so this is something that hits home big time for me right now. I hear the stories regularly of the people who just got out of jail simply because of conditions related to their homelessness. Another theme that I see running through much of this conference is that the relationship needs to be the key, and we must move more towards the development response as opposed to the easy (but less effective) charity response.

James Pearson: http://www.wikichoice.com/alpha is online now! Comsumers can mob companies whow suport social issues with business to reward for caring about these issues.

bibledude: Choice mobs look like they will be a great way to encourage companies to continue to support causes!

 

More from ICDC: live blogging @theideacamp conference

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