Fall From Grace: The homeless are not always who we think they are

An ironic thing happened on the way to church. Pastor Bill became a homeless drunk.

Trouble is, it's a true story and doesn't have a happy ending.

You may remember that we wrote about Bill last year in our newsletter. He was a respected pastor and a loving family man. But conflict with his church's denominational leadership led to him stepping down from his pulpit, walking out on his family and turning away from his God.

He began drinking heavily and eventually ended up on the streets--drink, dirty, despondent.

We knew Bill because he slept near our doorway here at CityTeam. He came in most days for a meal and to use the restroom. Bitter, depressed and filled with self-doubt, he resisted our help, saying he wasn't ready to come back to God.

You may have noticed that we're talking about Bill in the past tense. That's because he's dead.

We're saddened to say Bill died recently. Still unwilling, or unable to help himself. Still alone.

Though CityTeam staffers reached out to Bill every chance we got, Bill found it hard to trust. He seemed to want someone to listen to him, but he wouldn't listen to the call of God. And, though we recently saw signs that Bill was ready to accept help, he couldn't, or wouldn't, take the necessary steps to turn his life around. It's sad to see the direction his life had taken.

If there's a lesson in this sad story, it's this: the face of poverty, hunger, and homelessness is different from what most of us think it is. The desperate people who call on CityTeam are not just people who refuse to work or panhandlers looking for money to buy their next drink. They're once-responsible family men, wives and mothers with young children and, unfortunately, even pastors.

And the harsh reality is, time is short. You don't know how long you have to reach out to someone like Bill. It's a hard life out on the streets, and many who are "down and out" die before they can get up again. We see it all the time: another nameless street person found dead under a bridge.

Someone has to remember their names. And here at CityTeam we believe God has called us to the task--to bring them recovery, renewal and redemption. But we can't help them unless you help us. Your partnership is absolutely essential --especially during the summer.

Thanks for helping family men, abused moms and maybe even a pastor or two get off the street, pull their lives together and come to Christ.