The Reason We Do What We Do

Many people ask us: Why do you help the homeless? How can you be around those people? We hear statements like: They smell bad. They drink, take drugs and live on the street. They need to solve their own problems. They are ruining the neighborhood. They are in trouble with the law.

I thought I would share why we are working with the homeless and why it does not bother us to be around them. Yes most of them smell bad. Yes some of them are alcoholics, drug addicts, even prostitutes. Yes they have issues in their lives. And some of them are in trouble with the law. The truth is God created all of them in the same image as you and I. He loves them the same as He loves you and me. Jesus hung on the cross for them as much as He did for you and me.

We all have problems in our lives. No one is perfect or has it all together. The poor lifestyle these people are living is a result of bad decisions and unforeseen events. The problems they are dealing with are out in the open and more evident than many other people. But they are still loved by God!

As a Christian it is our responsibility to reach out to whomever God places in our life. For this moment God has given us the street people in Portsmouth. As Pastor Eric’s sermon on Jonah demonstrated that it is not about us, it is about God’s plan for someone else. God wants to involve us in His plan to reach out to people and bring God’s love, peace and mercy to them. I look at them as wounded, broken and in need of repair. I cannot fix all of their problems. I can tell them about God. I can allow God’s love in my life to overflow into their lives. How can I look down at them when God looks at them in the same way he looks at me?

There is no magic formula or credentials required to reach out to people. The only thing required is our willingness to ask God to use us and allow Him to direct us. We must be obedient when God gives us a direction to go, even if we feel uncomfortable or unprepared. God already knows our strengths and weaknesses so when He asks us to do something He will take care of the details. So for this time in our life God has given us the street people in Portsmouth. This is our Nineveh. What is your Nineveh?

(Email excerpt from Living It small group member – Tina Jones)

Most Recent Posts by Pastor Curtis

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• Men’s Retreat 2011 @ YMCA Silver Beach - March 15th, 2011
• Global Mission Trips 2011 - February 20th, 2011