the open house

I wanted to pass on a post my wife Anna posted to our churches email list this weekend after our church met at the salvation army due to little nest being occupied. I was really encouraged by it and I hope that we this might become more of a regular occurrence at the open house.

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Hi TOH,

Tonight, a fellow named George joined us at our meeting at the Salvation Army Church. Myself and others were able to listen to his story and I was very moved. His story didn’t include the drugs and the mental illness that affects so many in the downtown Eastside (I’m prepared of course to acknowledge that he could have lied but frankly I don’t care. I listened and my heart went out to him). George’s was noticeably shaken up from having no place to stay and had no desire to remain on the street. His youthfulness and shame for being in this situation stood out to me.

With Derek, Christine, Jem, Andrea and Kyle’s help, we booked him a stay at a hostel for two nights. I went into the hostel to pay for the accommodation. The hostel manager looked over George’s ID and said he couldn’t stay there because he was from Vancouver. The hostel was for international visitors only. He also felt it necessary to mention that people were having their stuff stolen while staying at the hostel. George’s native status, tall stature, and gay mannerism were all of sudden very hard to miss.

I spoke to the man and said that George was someone I trusted. The man didn’t budge. I asked George if he was OK with going elsewhere and he said he was fine with anywhere warm. Meanwhile, the phone rang and distracted the hostel manage. When he finally hung up, he saw us still standing there. Something made him change his mind and he said George could stay. The hostel was so cozy and warm, the thought of going to a downtown Eastside hotel felt scary and overwhelming (not to mention Kyle was on the street in our car that was about to breakdown with a baby that needed to get to bed).

George was given a towel and immediately treated like a normal guest. It was so touching to see George treated like all the other back-packers. You could immediately see that all he wanted to do was dive into a safe warm bed. I hugged him goodbye and gave him a number to call if he needs further help. I know he has family in Edmonton, so I said if you want to go see them, we could find a way to get him a bus ticket. He started to cry and didn’t know what to say. He will let me know what he decides to do on Wednesday of this week.

As I write this, I can feel myself getting pulled all over the place. I want to believe George, I want to forget about him, I want to protect myself from getting burned, and yet I want Christmas to be about the George’s of the world this year. So I can empathize with you if you have some similar emotions as you consider what you’ve just read.

YET, I noticed something different this time after I got home. I didn’t feel alone. I didn’t feel used or beat up. I didn’t feel jaded by “another downtown Eastside episode”. I knew that somehow all of the open house was behind me. I knew that the money spent for George’s hostel was all payed for by all of us – by project 51. I knew that offering him a bus ticket was something our church would consider using project 51 money for. So in a very profound way, we all payed for George to have a warm bed tonight, we all carried the load, and we all acted. To know and trust that as our lives intersect with real needs, we can confidently be generous and shower people with help and love (knowing project 51 is behind us) makes us a very powerful little church indeed.

love,

Anna
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UPDATE: George would like to go back home, so the open house is going to buy him a bus pass back to Edmonton this Wednesday. I hope he can reconnect with his family there and let’s pray for him as he enters this old familiar place.