Chaplain T. M. Babcock - Helping the Homeless: A Service Guide

Helping the Homeless

A Service Guide

CHAPLAIN T. M. BABCOCK

A typical Saturday in Skid Row (Los Angeles 2014)

Photo by
Tina Babcock

Copyright 2017 Chaplain T. M. Babcock.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 (866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

Scripture quotes marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8014-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8016-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8015-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017903980

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/13/2017

Contents

We live in a society where what was once called normal in America has ceased to exist. Our definition of family, marriage, and even Christianity is at risk of being squeezed into a little bucket that we call politically correct. Unfortunately, the tear in the safety net for our social programs, charitable choices, and benevolence collections is getting wider, and our well-meaning efforts do not even come close to addressing the very real problem in our country called homeless ness.

Chaplain Tina Babcock, affectionately called Pastor Tina , has penned this great work, Homelessness: A Workers Guide , to assist those who have been called to help the multitudes who have slipped into this new lifestyle category and to serve our brothers and sisters more efficiently. This work also displays a practical guide for learning from a tried and proven ground-level leader from the heart of Skid Row in Los Angeles, California. From a Christian worldview, supported by her education in psychology, this guide will help provide the wisdom and the heart needed to cause no further damage when working with this expanding and vulnerable population.

The apostle Paul warned the newly formed church in Rome that a good heart and good intentions are not enough. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). We need a practical guide from a seasoned worker to minimize the pitfalls that will come and maximize the results that will store up treasures in heaven for us and help our neighbors in their journey back home , while we are here on earth.

If your calling to ministry includes reaching out to the homeless population, I strongly suggest that you prayerfully read this material. This book will help give you a real look at this growing problem while providing you with tools to make a positive difference in the lives of many.

Rev. Dr. Wade A. Kyle

CHAPTER
An Introduction to Homelessness: The Rising Tide in America

Thank you for your interest and concern for helping those who are homeless in the United States. We are the solution, one person at a time, making a difference in one persons or one familys lives. I have been working with this population for about two decades and know the immense joy of helping just one individual come out from a place of despair and social isolation.

Let me tell you of just one of the many individuals I met in my travels through the United States, working with rescue missions in the urban centers of several cities. My initial impression of Sheba (a pseudonym to protect her real identity) was that she had been on the streets a long time. She had the look of someone most of us would cross the street to avoid. But when I looked past the grunge and the tattered clothes and really looked at her, I realized she was beautiful. Her hair was cropped close to her head, and her clothes were dirty, the kind of dirt that has been there long enough to become part of the fabric. When she spoke, you could see she had no teeth. She probably had them all pulled due to the destruction from drug use and neglect. But even with all of that, it was clear she had once been an incredibly beautiful woman. She was still beautiful. The cropped hair revealed stunning dark-brown eyes, high cheekbones, and perfect features reminiscent of Ethiopian royalty. Her long neck and graceful, long arms and legs made it impossible for her to be less than poetry in motion.

As she spoke, her language seemed at first unintelligible. Then slowly I began to realize she was making sense, but her speech was so rapid it was difficult to distinguish one word from another. As her story unfolded, I learned that she had been on the streets of the inner city for more than a decade. Everyone on the streets thought she was crazy, and that worked to her advantage. She would stand in the middle of the street and talk loudly to what observers thought were her hallucinations. She explained that she was really talking to herself out loud. She would have full conversations with herself, and it made people think she was crazy. That made her less desirable and therefore, safer from those who prey on our most vulnerable citizens. Youd never know what this loud, crazy woman might do!

She had been doing this for years, and her speech had gotten faster and faster because she knew what she was saying; there was no need to slow down or articulate each word properly. Staying dirty was also safer than cleaning up and smelling good. Rapes of women on the street were a daily occurrence in her world. The urban centers of our nation are dangerous places for any woman alone, but especially the marginalized homeless woman. One woman was kicked to death as she slept on the sidewalk. Another woman was set on fire while she slept in a car. Though badly burned, she survived.

Sheba had finally gotten sick and tired of the life on the street; she was ready for a change. Up until now, she couldnt imagine her life getting any better. She had had an encounter with God that had evoked new hope. One of her old friends from the streets had come into a Christian rescue mission and experienced real transformation. Her friend had shown her the possibility that her life could be different too.