Why We Do What We Do

*** Slightly gross but too true dep't ... ***

Question: what does a TV have that a human on the Downtown East Side doesn't?
Answer: secure waste disposal.

I was about to throw a pile of styrofoam packaging into the dumpster in the alley next to Gospel Mission last week when I realized I was not alone. A man was relieving himself against the wall next to the dumpster.

I gave him some respectful distance, and when he had left, I then unlocked the dumpster and chucked the packaging in; replaced the padlock and got back in my car. As I drove down the alley, I couldn't help thinking that we were treating our garbage with more diligence than our brothers and sisters. The styrofoam got placed in a padlocked bin. This poor fellow had to go in the alley. (There are OT references to "those who pisseth against the wall", but I don't think that's what God was referring to.)

I also remembered something one of "the guys" told me: "the city is spending $12,000 to do a study, counting human waste in the alley". "What do they need a study for?" was my reply. "We know it's there: give us the $12,000 and we'll help fix it."

I looked online and couldn't find a reference to such a study, but I did find a whole bunch of other references to the problem of human waste in the alleys, going back almost 10 years. The latest study could be a myth -- like the cadborosaurus or intelligent talk radio -- but there's no question that this situation has been discussed for years, with appropriate wailing and gnashing of teeth, that "somebody" has to provide a washroom for these people.

Often, the discussion will stall (pardon me) when someone says, "TransLink should put public washrooms in its stations!" Then there'll be a long and patient explanation (usually from your agent) as to why that idea is a non-starter (and Arlene can tell you that even though New York has restrooms in 25% of the subway stations, you don't want to use those!), and then someone will say, "see? It's all about money!"

And that's where it ends. Can you say, "paralysis through analysis," boys and girls?

As part of the Pigeon Park makeover, the City installed a public restroom. That was before the Olympics. I ran into an acquaintance from the Engineering department a couple of weeks ago. "The washroom will be working soon," he told me.

And this is why we do what we do at The Lord's Rain. Now, people do have a place to relieve themselves that's clean, sanitary and lets them wash their hands afterwards. They also have a place to shower and hang out. Amelia talks about the times she's heard someone say, "I feel human again".


The difference, of course, is in the level of responsibility. City governments are responsible to taxpayers, and even though people may wring their hands over how bad something is, if they have other spending priorities, those bad things get shoved down the list. Or studied in order to create a business case with a fully-funded implementation strategy.

As a Mission, we answer to a different Commander, who has unlimited resources and for whom empirical observation is the only "study" required. He'll draw our attention to something and say, "Go. Do." And He provides. Which is how The Lord's Rain got built and is operated.

Last week, Gospel Mission held its board meeting in The Lord's Rain (the Tuesday night service was going on upstairs) when a young couple walked in the door, saying they'd been told at one of the shelters they could get a shower. "They told us this place was open from 7 till 8:30," the woman said. "AM," I pointed out gently, and they left. There was a slight double-take around the table, and Barry said, "any of you [the board] mind if we invite them back?" No objection. I raced out and caught them at the corner.

They were from the Ottawa area. "Gatineau, really," the young man said, "but no one out here knows where that is, so we just say 'Ottawa'." (I know! I know! My step-daughter lives in Ottawa!) They came in and showered and used the hair dryer and got into clean clothes. And the Board -- who come in from North Van and Surrey -- got to see first-hand what we do.

Evidently, we were supposed to be in The Lord's Rain that night for reasons other than the Board meeting. As often happens, I'm torn between hoping we'll see them again -- maybe for a service upstairs -- and hoping that we don't -- which will mean that they were just passing through the Downtown East Side. I think you know what I mean.

===

The styrofoam packaging I mentioned at the beginning was from the TV. In a previous email, you may recall, I mentioned that, when we were visiting The Oasis last month, Gerry and Brandon Wall stepped up and announced that they would cover the cost of a big-screen TV, so we could set up a closed circuit hookup and allow people with disabilities to take part in the service. Last week, we went to Best Buy and picked up a 50" plasma TV. On Tuesday, Barry mounted it on the wall, and now we just need to connect it and it will be in business.



I think we're already seeing signs that it will be appreciated. Debbie, one of our quasi-regulars at The Lord's Rain, noticeably perked up when we told her what we were doing. She's bent double from scoliosis, and has only been up to the Mission a couple of times in the 3-1/2 years I've been there. But she often brings a Bible into the Lord's Rain and reads it, or asks questions or shares things she's found, and being able to take part in the service will be a great comfort for her. Jim Ritchie, a brother who's paralyzed on one side after a stroke four years ago and who uses a walker to get around, is a faithful attendee at our services, but I can tell it's getting harder and harder for him to make it up the stairs now (he's 66 years old). I think he, too, will be happy to have an alternative.

===
Cheers, Waves, and thank you!

For the past year, we have tremendously blessed to receive coffee donated by Waves Coffee. Thanks to that -- and Danilo's "formula" for making it and using just the right amount of sugar and creamer (for a number of reasons, we pre-mix the coffee) -- we've developed a reputation for the best coffee on the Downtown East Side. Truly, there are few things that make friends like a good cup of coffee. However, Waves has told us that they can no longer support us. I understand there are other causes that need their help, so we pray continued blessing on Waves and are truly grateful for the help they've given us.

Is this a "setback"? Not at all: it's an opportunity for someone else to step up. Gospel Mission is a ministry built on faith, and for the past 81 years, the Lord has found nifty ways to provide all our needs: I'm looking forward to seeing how He does it this time!

The Lord's Rain, The Mission and The Family

If you're old enough to remember the 1979 World Series, you'll remember that Willie "Pops" Stargell dubbed his Pittsburgh Pirates "The Family". They wore ghastly yellow uniforms and pillbox-style caps, which someone apparently thought were evocative of old-time baseball (some turn-of-the-century teams did wear them, but let's be honest: there's a reason why they're styled the way they are today), and Wilver (as broadcaster Vin Scully would call him -- note the autograph on the old Topps baseball card) would hand out gold "Stargell Stars" for his teammates to put on their caps when they did something great.

As I recall, there were a lot of gold stars on the Pirates' caps; they were a great team.

A group really has to grow into a "family" -- common experiences, common goals, love-led tolerance of one another's faults, are all important conditions, and it's not something imposed from on-high. When a union made noises about organizing a TV station I worked at some years ago, management called an "emergency general meeting" to remind us that we were really a "family". The pep talk was greeted with mild skepticism by some and serious skepticism by the rest. On the other hand, the place where I work now has simply developed into a family. People truly care about one another, both professionally and personally: when my dad had a heart attack 3 weeks ago, pretty much everyone right up to the CEO would look in at my office and see how dad was doing and if I was OK. It's not something you can impose through some consultant's report or a mission statement from a corner office: it either happens, or it doesn't.

It happens at Gospel Mission and The Lord's Rain. People who come in are not "clients" or "the homeless" -- they're "the guys" (even if they're female): they're friends ... they're family.

When Richard Johnson's "ol' lady" died suddenly this summer, he knew he was welcome just to hang out and the others would just sit with him -- even if they didn't actually say anything. Others know that The Lord's Rain is a friendly light in the morning where they can go; little by little, we get to know them and they start to open up. It takes time, patience, love ... and absolutely no expectations.

On Saturday, Amelia stepped up and asked the guys to pray for me -- relating to dad's heart attack -- saying "you guys rely on Drew -- and he relies on you, too". Which was very true. And then, wondrously, Richard Cunningham (who told me earlier this year that his dad used to play in the Negro Leagues and that he remembers his mom making biscuits for Hank Aaron) spoke up and asked for prayer for himself, too, as his mother has Alzheimer's and is in the last stages of her life -- and he's having a tough time of it. (Richard testifies often about his faith and feeling of being welcomed back to the Lord when he slips -- he's battling a crack addiction -- and talks a lot about his mother. "My mama said, 'I didn't raise no fool', and I want to make sure she's right.")

The fact that Richard felt comfortable enough to speak up at that time is another indication of the "family" we've become. It also reminded me I'm not alone.

It's become hard to separate The Lord's Rain from Gospel Mission -- the soft evangelism downstairs from the overt preaching upstairs: one way or another, people are hearing the word, seeing the light and being reminded that they are God's workmanship, fearfully and wonderfully made.

====

Photo album: Another chapter in Extreme Makeover: Mission Edition. A paint job in the back of The Lord's Rain -- next to the shower stalls.

With bare drywall and splotches of filler, it wasn't exactly the nicest thing to look at. Functional, yes -- the wall holds up the ceiling very well and we've NEVER been able to look through it into Wing's Cafe next door -- but a little style would be nice.

Late last week, John -- husband of Teresa Mancia, who leads the services on Monday nights and runs The Lord's Rain during middays on Mondays and Fridays -- took brush in hand and went to work. Looks much nicer, dontcha think?

We've been praying for people to come forward to get The Lord's Rain open in the early mornings six days a week. One of our goals has been to give people a place to go once the shelters show them the door, and so far, we're only doing that twice a week. We still need to be open in the early AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

One of our guys, Randall, has stepped forward, saying he'd be willing to make sure the doors are open -- but now we need teams to run the place: so again, please pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send the workers we need to run The Lord's Rain on those days from 6:30 or 7am until about 9.

Actually, as you can see by the picture, Randall didn't exactly step forward so much as he hobbled. He wrenched his knee over a year ago, and has been getting around with his knee in a brace -- or sometimes not. Last week, he was helping in the kitchen (he's a cook by trade), despite doctor's orders to STAY OFF THE LEG.

Come the end of the service, he was getting ready to mop the floor, when Barry (standing) told him to sit down, put his leg up, and he'd mop the floor. So Randall did. Barry mopped. Randall got up to leave. And slipped on the wet floor. Now, doctors are talking about surgery. This means Randall will definitely need help with The Lord's Rain!

Earlier this month, I sent out a plea for financial support. I don't normally do that, but every year or so, it seems, I just need to send that gentle reminder to people. So far, there's been a good response and we're grateful for that. This Mission has been built on the many-members-one-body approach, where people bring what they can into the storehouse -- large or small -- and it all fits together. Remember: we are set up to take credit card donations now through www.gospelmission.net and you can support me in the Ride For Refuge coming up on Oct. 16.

What's a headline worth?

The media in Vancouver are all over the story of the seizure of opium buds at Vancouver International Airport. Prominent among the details is the estimated dollar-value of the drugs on the street.

Why must the media report that? (I'll get to the standard, defensive answer that you get from a newsroom shortly.) All that does is let people know that it's possible to make that amount of money dealing drugs, and increase the desirability of that occupation. "Hmm ..." one could say, "if I needed to make a quick twenty grand, that's the way to do it." The fact that the stuff was seized -- i.e. that police at least intercepted the cargo -- only increases the challenge to "do it right next time".

Newsrooms will defend their action by saying that "that's what the police told us in their news release", but does no one in the newsroom run the information that goes out through the "public interest" filter?

I remember, when I was starting out in broadcast journalism, the local RCMP seized a stash of marijuana. Big deal in 1981, but doesn't even merit a second glance on the cops' charge sheet now. Wanting to be cool and get an angle I thought would interest people, I asked what the street value was. "Oh, we don't give that information out," the police officer said. I asked my boss if I should call a friend of mine who was involved with drugs. He said -- to my surprise -- "you don't want to promote that -- it might give someone else the idea."

It made sense.

Now, we fast-forward almost 30 years to see the police giving out the dollar figure (maybe they get a charge out of telling the public how much "business" they've been able to shut down) and the media dutifully parrotting it. (And I know the media can be selective, as I've found in my own dealings with them as a public information officer, with the number of times certain extenuating details are ignored -- and others are misreported.)

Worse, just over a year ago, there was a high-profile trial of a drug gang member, and the daily fishwraps showed a front-page photo of the accused's brother -- not exactly an angel, in his own right -- arriving in court, looking like something off the cover of GQ. A stunning (unidentified) young woman was at his side.

And it's clear, watching from Gospel Mission, which is right in the teeth of the worst alley in Vancouver, that a lot of young men are buying into that image. Good-looking, clean-cut young men, wearing hoodies, talking on cell phones and not really doing much -- although they do tend to vanish just ahead of the police, rather like salmon when an orca comes through.

Aren't we supposed to be discouraging young people from going into lives of crime -- in particular, dealing drugs and muscling into gangs? Don't we shake our heads in disbelief and disgust at the scene on the Downtown East Side, which is the fruit of that labour? Why, then, do the media insist on glamorizing the industry by reporting on "value" of a seizure and material wealth acquired by dealers.

Don't reporters understand the impact? It may be a grabbing headline one day: but it could lead someone to a life-changing -- and life-destroying decision.