Recently, I attended a more unusual Christian meeting - not a Bible Study, not a praise meeting, but a meeting to better serve the homeless. Participants at this meeting shared their experience of serving the homeless and discussed ways to further promote the ministry.
A brother who was born in the 1970s shared that he had many negative opinions about homeless people. First, they were liars and cheaters, and they never paid back the money they borrowed. Second, they were always drunk and were never grateful, because they would just forget about it immediately after having the food. Later, in the process of serving the homeless, he thought about himself when he served the homeless and remembered that he used to smoke, drink and indulge in games. After that, he became more tolerant and accepting of the homeless.
It does take a great deal of tolerance to serve homeless people, who can be capricious like children sometimes. Once, when some fellow workers went to deliver food, a tramp refused to receive it. One of the sisters went over and asked him why he didn't eat. He said that someone had stolen the internal part of his rice cooker, so he didn't feel like eating. The sister said, "I will buy you a rice cooker and bring it to you next time. What else do you want?" He answered, "I want onions, ginger, and garlic." She continued, "Okay, I'll get you that, too. What else do you want?" "I want another bottle of soy sauce," he added. She said, "Ok, what else do you want?" "Nothing more," he concluded. After that sister fulfilled all his wishes, he went to eat with the others.
Most homeless people also have an unacceptable problem - uncleanliness. A sister who was a barber wanted to help cut the hair of a homeless man, which was a big challenge for her. She had to wear two layers of a mask and vomited several times during the process. In response, the church staff provided homeless people with a place to bathe. A homeless man who had not had a hot bath in years said he felt very comfortable after taking one.
And that wasn't all. Some of them were foul-mouthed. A young sister who just joined the ministry said that once when they went to deliver food to the homeless, some of them were playing cards, and one of them was not only ungrateful but also cursed them. That young sister became frightened. At that moment, a sister who had served the homeless community for more than ten years peacefully and calmly communicated with the abuser, and the abuser gradually calmed down. Several other church staff at the meeting agreed that when we encounter such kinds of people, we should pray hard, and ask God to do his work, for this is a spiritual war.
There were worse cases. Once, when some church staff brought food to a group of homeless people, a drunk person, in a frenzy of drunkenness, knocked over some food and smashed the pan that held it. One of the couples in attendance was badly hurt spiritually, but they didn't say anything. This couple are still serving.
In addition to sharing the difficulties encountered, some of the church staff also shared the benefits of serving. A middle-aged sister met a 27-year-old homeless young man, who was the same age as her son, and that sister treated him like her child. The sister inquired about the homeless youth and gave him 100 yuan for a haircut and some clothes. Unexpectedly, the homeless youth was moved to tears. "He has feelings just like us, and sheds tears when he is touched!" exclaimed the sister. "The next time we met, the young man had his hair cut, had clean clothes, and looked just like a normal person."
Another middle-aged sister shared the story of helping a cobbler who moved there from other city. The cobbler's stall is near her house, and every time she cooked a meal, she would first give some of it to the cobbler, which moved him. Later, the sister had to move, so she told the cobbler that she could not bring him any more meals. The cobbler said he was so grateful for this sister's help that he had already believed in Jesus and had led five members of his family to do so. Hearing this story, a colleague at the meeting exclaimed, "A bowl of noodles with a sentence 'Jesus loves you' is far more effective than a Gospel leaflet!"
Regarding the ministry to the homeless, a sister who has served for many years stressed the importance of prayer. She often prayed and worshipped from 5 to 7 in the morning, asking God to give her the strength to serve. "This is a very easy but extremely important thing. If you don't get strength from God, you can never make things work!" This sister said that she wanted to repent because she had been too busy with her ministry recently and had not spent much time with God. She clearly felt that she lacked confidence in her heart and it was difficult to bring out God's power in her ministry.
After sharing, they arranged shifts to serve the homeless on the spot. Currently, they serve at four homeless centers, seven days a week, with people at each location at a set time.
Seeing that everyone was serving as one, a church worker said with emotion that many churches were acting independently, and the churches in China was just like a bunch of scattered sand. Unexpectedly, a group of homeless people brought them together.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
最近，我参加了一场较特别的基督徒的聚会——不是查经会，不是赞美会，而是为了更好地服侍流浪汉的聚会。与会者分享了服侍流浪汉的经历，共同探讨了进一步推动该事工的方法。
一位70后的弟兄分享说，他起初对流浪汉有不少负面的看法：撒谎、欺骗成性，借钱从来不会还的；酗酒；不懂得感恩，给了吃的，可能嘴一抹就忘了……后来在服侍的过程中，他从流浪汉身上看到了自己，想起自己曾经也是抽烟、喝酒、沉迷游戏，此后，他对流浪汉有了更多的包容和接纳。
服侍流浪汉确实需要有很强的包容心，他们有时会像孩子一样任性。有一次，同工们去送饭时，一位流浪汉坚决不吃。一位姊妹走过去询问他不吃的原因。他说自己的电饭锅内胆被人偷了，所以他就不吃饭。姊妹说：“我给你买个电饭锅，下次给你带过来。你还要什么？”“我还要葱姜蒜。”“好的，这个我也给你买。你还要什么？”“我还要一瓶酱油。”“好的，你还要什么？”“不要什么了。”姊妹满足了他的愿望后，他过去跟大家一起吃饭了。
流浪汉大多还有一个难以令人接纳的问题——脏。一位理发师姊妹想帮助流浪汉理发，这对她是个很大的挑战，她要戴着两层口罩，理发过程中还会忍不住地吐几次。针对这个情况，同工们给流浪汉们提供可以洗澡的地方。一位多年没洗过热水澡的流浪汉，洗完澡后说可舒服了。
流浪汉的问题还不止这些，他们中有人满口脏话。一位刚参与服侍的年轻姊妹说，有一次她们去给流浪汉送饭，有几位流浪汉在打牌，其中一位不但不领情，还骂着很难听的话。这位年轻的姊妹被吓到了。这时，一位服侍流浪汉群体十几年的姊妹态度平和、镇定地跟那位骂人者交流，骂人者的气焰消了。聚会现场的其他几位同工说，这个时候要努力祷告，求神来工作，这是属灵的争战。
还有更糟糕的情况。有一次，当服侍者把饭菜带到流浪汉群体中时，一位酗酒者逞着酒劲儿，把饭菜都打翻了，还把盛饭菜的锅给砸了。参与服侍的一对夫妻很受伤，但也没说什么。这对夫妻还在坚持服侍。
除了分享遇到的难处，也有同工分享了服侍中的收获。一位中年姊妹遇到了一位27岁的流浪青年，这位青年的年纪跟她孩子相仿，这位姊妹把他当孩子看待。姊妹询问了流浪青年的情况，给了100元让他去理发，还送了些衣服。没想到，流浪青年流泪了。“原来他跟我们一样，也是有感情，会流泪的啊！”这位姊妹感叹道。下次见面时，这个青年理了发，换了干净的衣服，看起来跟正常人一样。
另外一位中年姊妹分享了她曾经帮助一位外来修鞋匠的故事。那位修鞋匠的摊位就在她家附近，她每次做好饭，就先盛一碗送给修鞋匠。那位修鞋匠非常感动。后来，这位姊妹要搬家了，就告诉修鞋匠以后不能给他送饭了。那位修鞋匠说，他非常感谢姊妹的帮助，他已经信了耶稣，还带领了五位家人信主。听到这个故事，聚会现场有同工感叹：“一碗面加一句‘耶稣爱你’比一张福音单张更有效！”
对于流浪汉事工，一位服侍多年的姊妹强调，一定要重视祷告。她经常早晨5-7点祷告、赞美，求神加给自己服侍的力量。“别看门槛很低，但如果没有从神得到力量，你就是迈不出去！”这位姊妹说，她要悔改，因为最近太多的忙于事工，亲近神的时间少了，明显感觉到自己心里缺少力量，在服侍中也很难带出神的能力。
待分享结束后，大家现场安排了服侍流浪汉的班次。目前，他们已经在四个流浪汉聚集点服侍，一周七天，每天每个服侍点在固定的时间都有人去服侍。
看到大家合一的服侍，一位参与的同工感慨地说道，现在很多教会各自为政，国内的教会如同一盘散沙，没想到，因为一群流浪汉，把我们聚集到了一起。
一群基督徒因着服侍流浪汉而聚在了一起
Recently, I attended a more unusual Christian meeting - not a Bible Study, not a praise meeting, but a meeting to better serve the homeless. Participants at this meeting shared their experience of serving the homeless and discussed ways to further promote the ministry.
A brother who was born in the 1970s shared that he had many negative opinions about homeless people. First, they were liars and cheaters, and they never paid back the money they borrowed. Second, they were always drunk and were never grateful, because they would just forget about it immediately after having the food. Later, in the process of serving the homeless, he thought about himself when he served the homeless and remembered that he used to smoke, drink and indulge in games. After that, he became more tolerant and accepting of the homeless.
It does take a great deal of tolerance to serve homeless people, who can be capricious like children sometimes. Once, when some fellow workers went to deliver food, a tramp refused to receive it. One of the sisters went over and asked him why he didn't eat. He said that someone had stolen the internal part of his rice cooker, so he didn't feel like eating. The sister said, "I will buy you a rice cooker and bring it to you next time. What else do you want?" He answered, "I want onions, ginger, and garlic." She continued, "Okay, I'll get you that, too. What else do you want?" "I want another bottle of soy sauce," he added. She said, "Ok, what else do you want?" "Nothing more," he concluded. After that sister fulfilled all his wishes, he went to eat with the others.
Most homeless people also have an unacceptable problem - uncleanliness. A sister who was a barber wanted to help cut the hair of a homeless man, which was a big challenge for her. She had to wear two layers of a mask and vomited several times during the process. In response, the church staff provided homeless people with a place to bathe. A homeless man who had not had a hot bath in years said he felt very comfortable after taking one.
And that wasn't all. Some of them were foul-mouthed. A young sister who just joined the ministry said that once when they went to deliver food to the homeless, some of them were playing cards, and one of them was not only ungrateful but also cursed them. That young sister became frightened. At that moment, a sister who had served the homeless community for more than ten years peacefully and calmly communicated with the abuser, and the abuser gradually calmed down. Several other church staff at the meeting agreed that when we encounter such kinds of people, we should pray hard, and ask God to do his work, for this is a spiritual war.
There were worse cases. Once, when some church staff brought food to a group of homeless people, a drunk person, in a frenzy of drunkenness, knocked over some food and smashed the pan that held it. One of the couples in attendance was badly hurt spiritually, but they didn't say anything. This couple are still serving.
In addition to sharing the difficulties encountered, some of the church staff also shared the benefits of serving. A middle-aged sister met a 27-year-old homeless young man, who was the same age as her son, and that sister treated him like her child. The sister inquired about the homeless youth and gave him 100 yuan for a haircut and some clothes. Unexpectedly, the homeless youth was moved to tears. "He has feelings just like us, and sheds tears when he is touched!" exclaimed the sister. "The next time we met, the young man had his hair cut, had clean clothes, and looked just like a normal person."
Another middle-aged sister shared the story of helping a cobbler who moved there from other city. The cobbler's stall is near her house, and every time she cooked a meal, she would first give some of it to the cobbler, which moved him. Later, the sister had to move, so she told the cobbler that she could not bring him any more meals. The cobbler said he was so grateful for this sister's help that he had already believed in Jesus and had led five members of his family to do so. Hearing this story, a colleague at the meeting exclaimed, "A bowl of noodles with a sentence 'Jesus loves you' is far more effective than a Gospel leaflet!"
Regarding the ministry to the homeless, a sister who has served for many years stressed the importance of prayer. She often prayed and worshipped from 5 to 7 in the morning, asking God to give her the strength to serve. "This is a very easy but extremely important thing. If you don't get strength from God, you can never make things work!" This sister said that she wanted to repent because she had been too busy with her ministry recently and had not spent much time with God. She clearly felt that she lacked confidence in her heart and it was difficult to bring out God's power in her ministry.
After sharing, they arranged shifts to serve the homeless on the spot. Currently, they serve at four homeless centers, seven days a week, with people at each location at a set time.
Seeing that everyone was serving as one, a church worker said with emotion that many churches were acting independently, and the churches in China was just like a bunch of scattered sand. Unexpectedly, a group of homeless people brought them together.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
A Group of Christians Got Together to Serve the Homeless
