I went to the Nova Scotia Prayer Breakfast this morning. This was the 29th year of Christians and business coming together to pray for our city and businesses and leaders. The main speaker was Tim Huff. Tim is an advocate for social justice. He wrote a book called Bent Hope. He works full time among the poor and marginalized youth and pioneered the Youth Unlimited Light Patrol street outreach in Toronto. He said some things today that really resonated with me and I'll try to share them with you:
- The three biggest issues on the street are trust, hope and dignity.
- What is the difference between houselessness and homelessness. People can be homeless way before they are houseless!
- Websters definition of justice is: Moral uprightness of the soul enlivened by grace. Sweet.
- In order to make a difference you need to have a HEART for it. Amen it's all about HEART.
- Nine out of ten street kids feel that they are safer on the streets than at home.
- We need to have a plan of compassion in our lives. Not just compassion because we know someones story but a RADICAL compassion which means that you act even though you don't know their particular story.
- Working with marginalized children is difficult because it takes much work to build relationships when their trust has been so severely broken. Why would street kids go with other adults if adults they trusted abused them?
- He told the story of a suitcase that he walked by on the street. It was open and in it were some things but lying beside it were a pair of pink flannel pj's with teddy bears on them. The girl who left home thought she was going somewhere where she would be safe enough to wear those pj's yet there they were left behind as she found out that what she hoped for and dreamed for wasn't going to be. A suitcase emptied of it's contents like the life that was emptied of it's dreams.
- Finally celebrating small victories. The marginalized have so far to go that if you don't celebrate the small victories then you will fail every day. This needs to be applied to everyone not just the marginalized because he is absolutely correct...you will fail every day without small victories!
I am becoming more aware of the Bent hope that surrounds us here in our own city as well as other parts of the world. One life at a time, one heart at a time.
'...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:40
Dear Julie,
I am more a silent reader of your blog...
and this morning I was so thrilled about your post... because Novia Scotia is the town my husband would love to see in person... Somehow he found it and it is a dream for him to travel one day to N. S.
God is so good to us and shows us every day how he is so present...
Have a great day.
warmest regards from Germany
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea | April 17, 2009 at 02:43 AM