I am still getting my first impressions. One powerful impression is I did not know enough about the suffering of the homeless in our midst. If you are like me and know only of homelessness in the abstract being close to it can be disorientating. The problem, when you see it in a human being standing by your side, seems insurmountable. How shall this man or woman recover their dignity and purpose? It is hard to be optimistic.
But then I realized we are not optimistic people; we are hopeful people; the Star of Hope is our name.
I have been trying to find a word to describe our people. They are fierce and faithful. They are wise and compassionate. But maybe the best word was right under my nose, the people you support by prayers or donations, or volunteering are a hopeful people. We get that hope of course because we know how the story ends for us. Christ’s resurrection re-ordered the world and we who live as Christians are empowered by our hope to live differently and serve others. We measure our success in life by how we have followed Christ’s command to care for the weak and the marginalized. It is my privilege to report that the Star of Hope honors Christ’s command in all we do.
(Pictured above: June program graduate (center) with staff at the Men’s Development Center)
1 Comment
Dear Doug,
I felt the same way. When I moved to Houston in 1984 I had never been that close to the homeless. I had always lived in smaller towns, and had never seen such huge amounts of homeless people before. I spent the next 37 years in the Houston metroplex seeing some form or shape of homelessness every day.
I live in a more rural area now – far from Houston or any mega city in Texas. I have been gone from the metroplex since 2021. However, I still give what I can monthly to Star of Hope. I always tell myself that the Houston area is not my home anymore. Then I read the stories in The LIGHT or the emails from Star Of Hope and I can’t stop putting a little something into the coffers.
What Star Of Hope is doing is being the Hands and Feet of Jesus for those of us that can only give a small amount.
Your Brother in Christ,
Dave