Discovering Jesus in the Least - Chris Ramsey

Discovering Jesus in the Least (eBook)

Inspirational Reflections from my 25 years of front line service to Chicago's homeless community

Chris Ramsey (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
304 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-7335-1 (ISBN)

'Discovering Jesus in the Least' is a must-read book of inspirational reflections that were inspired by serving and getting to know the poor and homeless in urban American settings.

"e;Discovering Jesus in the Least"e; is a must-read book of inspirational reflections that were inspired by serving and getting to know the poor and homeless in urban American settings. Throughout the book, the author reveals how serving the urban homeless population is demanding, but incredibly gratifying. This book provides readers an opportunity to learn and grow from these experiences through the lens of a socially conscious Christian.

Preface

It was January 6, 1975 when I got off the Greyhound bus in Chicago. I had just graduated from college in upstate New York with a BA in English, and now I was coming to the big city to join Jesus People U.S.A. (JPUSA), a radical evangelical Christian community.

Just a few months earlier I had had a deep personal conversion to Jesus Christ. But the story I want to share is not so much about me and where he’s led me all these years (although it is that!) as it is about the call and work of JPUSA amongst the poor and homeless in Uptown, Chicago.

JPUSA serves the urban poor—the homeless, the mentally-ill, the alcoholic, bag-ladies, gang members, and so on. There are a few half-way houses in the area and a low rent transient hotel within a block.

Uptown has been deemed one of the most racially and ethnically diverse wards in Chicago. Over the past 25 years, I’ve come across homeless and low-income folks from every segment of society. And they’ve come in all sizes, shapes, and colors—white, black, brown, elderly, young, middle-aged, male, female, children, educated, and not-so-educated.

You’ll observe me from all angles of my personal self—the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ll share brief glimpses into the lives of a few of the folks I’ve met. Some of these vignettes are simply my impressions of any given encounter. Some reveal insights into my own heart and how I’ve been taught by them.

You’ll also discover how serving the poor can be a very real and deep struggle for me. But through them all you’ll see me being challenged, loved and blessed. I’ve also included a variety of devotional reflections and abstract musings relating to our work with the poor.

Hopefully, you’ll discern some growth throughout these years. But I can assure you that I do not have any simple, easy-to-follow steps for working with the inner-city poor. Still, we at JPUSA have been involved in so many ministries to the poor and homeless over all these years that you’d think we would have learned a little something—even I may have learned a little.

It was back in 1979 that JPUSA began opening the doors of our newly acquired four-story apartment building to a few homeless and poor neighbors, sharing our daily dinner meal with them. It started off with a few people eating alongside us (hence the label “dinner guests”), then steadily grew. When the number reached about 20, one of our guests suggested that we serve them in the afternoon, before our community’s dinner hour, so that there would be more room for each group.

We took his advice and the program quickly grew to the point where we were serving over 200 people six days a week. We ran the program out of the bottom floor of our apartment building for several years. Then the winter months would bring a few homeless to our doorsteps each night. There were a number of shelters in our Uptown area, but they were often full.

This started our “sheltering” single men on our lobby floor. And on the coldest nights during Chicago’s winter months, we could have upwards of 30-40 men sprawled out across our entire lobby area.

And this led to our doing “Night Patrol,” which involved cruising the streets and alleys of Uptown in winter in search of anyone who wanted shelter for the night. We had a small team of men who would sign-up for a night or two each week. The burden, then, became a “shared” responsibility.

By 1986, an even more daunting challenge confronted us. We were soon flooded with nightly calls from the Chicago Dept. of Human Services (CDHS) looking for assistance in providing temporary housing for women with children. These included families facing eviction and women escaping abusive relationships.

So we opened up our dining room floor, and the CDHS began supplying us with a large number of thin mats and blankets. We would spread out these mats each night, turning our dining room into a refugee camp. This is how we got our start in working with the inner-city poor and homeless. But it certainly did not end there. No, this was just the beginning.

In 1989, the CDHS provided us with funds to purchase an old, forsaken factory building only a few blocks from our home. It was situated on Clifton Avenue, a small curving street that looked more like a rundown, scary alley.

In fact, we were soon informed by folks from the streets that this one-block stretch of concrete, largely hidden from the main thoroughfare, was infamously nicknamed “Blood Alley.” This was due to the history of fights, stabbings, and murders that took place in the 1940s and 50s.

This marked the birth of Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO), an independent, non-profit social service organization. We immediately opened our doors and were soon providing basic shelter for women with children and single women.

The building had a large open bottom-floor that was perfect to continue our “Dinner Guest” program three days a week. We also started operating a weekly food pantry for our poor and homeless neighbors in Uptown.

In 1995, we were awarded special funding by the CDHS to renovate these new facilities. It was truly a miracle.

We obtained a large kitchen, with a walk-in freezer and refrigerator, stoves and ovens, a dishwasher and sinks. We also acquired caseworker offices, a huge open dining room, remodeled bathrooms, and a large open dorm area for up to 65 (total persons) women with children. We were thrilled.

But we weren’t done yet. In 2001, we were able to purchase another old factory building (55,000 square feet) on the other side of the street from our first building. Before we knew it we were soon operating a single women’s shelter, an intact family shelter, and a single men’s shelter in addition to our shelter for women with children. And we continue to do so until this day.

We at JPUSA and CCO would be remiss if we led you to believe that we have performed this work primarily on our own. We have had so much support, guidance and accountability from Chicago’s Department of Human Services over the years. We couldn’t have accomplished what we have without them. We have been visited by former Mayor Richard M. Daley, as well as Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.

But the woman who deserves so much praise and gratitude for her tireless fight for the rights and the dignity of Uptown’s poor and homeless is former Alderman Helen Shiller. Shiller stood with us as we were confronted by many opposing groups and individuals attempts to disparage and threaten our work. She was and is one “tough cookie,” and we were so fortunate to have her on our side.

In 1989 JPUSA became members of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), a large, mid-western denomination of the Christian faith. This joining together, we believe, was an act of God—and it was beautiful in his sight!

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that without the ECC’s support throughout these many years we would be a mere shadow of what are today. The ECC has faithfully supported us financially and prayerfully, as well as offering their warm, welcome counsel over these many years. We have been honored to have deep, caring friendships with so many ECC members including former Presidents’ Paul Larsen and Glenn Palmberg.

And then there’s our incredible relationship with the Greater Chicago Food Depository. From them we receive all kinds of food, including fresh produce, meats, breads, and a wide variety of canned goods. We purchase these items at ridiculously low prices or receive them at no cost. On a typical week, we will receive between 6,000—8,000 lbs. of food.

This food provides three meals a day for our shelter residents, as well as providing food for distribution at our weekly food pantry and soup kitchen. If we didn’t have them as our partner and primary food source, we would not be able to do what we do.

We’ve also been blessed to have hundreds of church groups, high school groups, college groups and others come through our doors and volunteer their time and energy. Without their frequent and on-going contributions we would not be able to do what we do. In particular, North Park College, Moody Bible Institute, a suburban Calvary Chapel church, and mega-church Willow Creek deserve special recognition. They have all sent volunteers faithfully on a regular basis for numerous years. They, too, are an integral part of what Cornerstone is all about, and we are humbled to call them friends and co-laborers.

And throughout CCO’s many years of growth and service, we have been enormously indebted to our staff employees. The overwhelming majority of these employees have not only been faithful, but dedicated, hard-working individuals who have served the least admirably. A number have climbed out of the homeless ranks, themselves. To be sure, without the collaboration of these team-players CCO would not have been able to carry out its mission.

Finally, all of us Jesus People, who have been privileged to work at CCO for so many years, owe a big “shout out” and heartfelt thanks to all our fellow brothers and sisters who have served as members of JPUSA. Without all their hard work and dedication to supporting our community—through our businesses and other ministries—we would not have been free to serve in this way. We wholeheartedly share all the accolades we’ve ever received with them.

So you get the...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	9.6.2021
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
ISBN-10	1-0983-7335-9 / 1098373359
ISBN-13	978-1-0983-7335-1 / 9781098373351

Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?

EPUB (Ohne DRM)
Größe: 1,1 MB

Digital Rights Management: ohne DRM
Dieses eBook enthält kein DRM oder Kopierschutz. Eine Weitergabe an Dritte ist jedoch rechtlich nicht zulässig, weil Sie beim Kauf nur die Rechte an der persönlichen Nutzung erwerben.

Dateiformat: EPUB (Electronic Publication)
EPUB ist ein offener Standard für eBooks und eignet sich besonders zur Darstellung von Belletristik und Sachbüchern. Der Fließtext wird dynamisch an die Display- und Schriftgröße angepasst. Auch für mobile Lesegeräte ist EPUB daher gut geeignet.

Systemvoraussetzungen:
PC/Mac: Mit einem PC oder Mac können Sie dieses eBook lesen. Sie benötigen dafür die kostenlose Software Adobe Digital Editions.
eReader: Dieses eBook kann mit (fast) allen eBook-Readern gelesen werden. Mit dem amazon-Kindle ist es aber nicht kompatibel.
Smartphone/Tablet: Egal ob Apple oder Android, dieses eBook können Sie lesen. Sie benötigen dafür eine kostenlose App.
Geräteliste und zusätzliche Hinweise

Buying eBooks from abroad
For tax law reasons we can sell eBooks just within Germany and Switzerland. Regrettably we cannot fulfill eBook-orders from other countries.