A drunk street person created a stir on the bus when he kept taunting another passenger. Everybody kept their cool until he got off. The man sitting in front of us then said, "I felt like popping him one!"
He identified himself as a retired firefighter. "Now they call them 'homeless,'" he said. "Thirty years ago we called them what they really are: 'Bums'. My solution for the problem of homelessness? If they want to work, great. If not ...." He pulled an imaginary trigger and said, "Pow!" Then he also got off.
His angry rant left us no opportunity to say that we had spent the previous night helping New Hope Church serve supper to 225 street people at the River of Life Mission in Chinatown. Or that we had spent the previous weekend helping the same volunteers serve a meal at the Next Step Shelter, a warehouse where housing, job training and medical services are provided to 20 families, 15 couples, and 100 singles. Probably just as well. He might have aimed his finger at us!
In Hawaii there are homeless people everywhere, sleeping on sidewalks or living in parks. It's hard to feel sympathy for those who beg with signs that say, "Alcohol Research." But you can only feel compassion for those who have fallen on hard times because of Hawaii's low wages and high rent.
That is the case for Daniel and Gia, a couple with five children who occupy two of the 6 x 8 plywood cubicles in the Next Step Shelter. "Everybody here is happy because they have hope," Daniel told us. "We get to live here for three years and, with God's help, we think we can build a legacy for our kids." We held hands and prayed with them, thankful for the opportunity to meet a courageous family that is trying to get back on its feet.
As for the incident on the bus, there was something else that we didn't get to tell the angry firefighter. We recognized the "bum" from the night before when we had served him iced tea.
- Pastor Peter
He identified himself as a retired firefighter. "Now they call them 'homeless,'" he said. "Thirty years ago we called them what they really are: 'Bums'. My solution for the problem of homelessness? If they want to work, great. If not ...." He pulled an imaginary trigger and said, "Pow!" Then he also got off.
His angry rant left us no opportunity to say that we had spent the previous night helping New Hope Church serve supper to 225 street people at the River of Life Mission in Chinatown. Or that we had spent the previous weekend helping the same volunteers serve a meal at the Next Step Shelter, a warehouse where housing, job training and medical services are provided to 20 families, 15 couples, and 100 singles. Probably just as well. He might have aimed his finger at us!
In Hawaii there are homeless people everywhere, sleeping on sidewalks or living in parks. It's hard to feel sympathy for those who beg with signs that say, "Alcohol Research." But you can only feel compassion for those who have fallen on hard times because of Hawaii's low wages and high rent.
That is the case for Daniel and Gia, a couple with five children who occupy two of the 6 x 8 plywood cubicles in the Next Step Shelter. "Everybody here is happy because they have hope," Daniel told us. "We get to live here for three years and, with God's help, we think we can build a legacy for our kids." We held hands and prayed with them, thankful for the opportunity to meet a courageous family that is trying to get back on its feet.
As for the incident on the bus, there was something else that we didn't get to tell the angry firefighter. We recognized the "bum" from the night before when we had served him iced tea.
- Pastor Peter
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