An early morning in Samaria

"You can observe a lot, just by watching."
-- attr. to Yogi Berra

Thanks to my having left my set of keys to the Mission at home, I had a unique opportunity I might not have had if I'd just barged in as I'd intended to: a chance to just sit in Pigeon Park and watch the early morning world unfold. The Downtown East Side can be easily compared to Biblical Samaria, and Pigeon Park to Jacob's Well -- a place where, if you sit there long enough, someone is bound to come up and talk to you.

Actually, no one did come and talk to me, but watching people going back and forth and hearing the sing of the trolley wires as the early buses went by reminded one of the job at hand. MLA Jagrup Brar has just completed a one-month trial of living on a welfare income -- $610 -- and the stark reality that came home to him was the fact that the biggest need in the area is housing. I haven't spoken with him -- all that I've learned from his experience has been what the media have reported -- but it strikes me that he has not become an "activist" in the sense of someone who demands that someone else fix things; rather, that he has a better grasp of the problem and a determination to find a solution.

Finding homes for people is only part of the equation, and I must sometimes seem unwilling to admit that it's any part of the equation at all, when I point out that the real problem is hopelessness. But when you see people wandering through Pigeon Park and up and down Hastings Street and realize that they haven't slept, you realize how important it is and can't help wondering why it's become acceptable to so many people in positions to do something about it.

But -- as MLA Brar would be the first to admit, I'm sure -- there are no pat solutions. The solution is not x-number of housing spaces; and Heaven knows the answer is not in barracks-like shelters and cockroach-ridden "hotels". And at what point do hand-ups become hand-outs?

John and Danilo arrived with the keys, and we set about the Saturday morning opening of The Lord's Rain with a somewhat renewed sense of purpose. Our job is to instill hope in people, keep loving them and through that, drawing them closer to a new life. Give enough people hope and encouragement to reach up instead of reach out, and pretty soon, the question of housing on the Downtown East Side becomes moot.

***
Every so often, we get reminded of what we're up against in The World. A bus shelter in downtown Vancouver (I don't know the exact location) has an advert with the simple but arresting statement, "You sniff markers just to feel alive".

Some sophomoronic cave-dwelling marketing major apparently thought that was a "grabber" and that, in a city where so many lives are destroyed by substance abuse, would be an appropriate advertising statement. It's one of those "watch this space and see what comes next"-style ads, so the name of the advertiser is not displayed. It is, in fact, "The Holiday Initiative" on Facebook, and I'd encourage a boycott.

***

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but our little two-story walkup has received a unique, if somewhat off-beat, honor. It has been included in the list of "125 Places That Matter", compiled by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. It's a project the VHF started to mark the 125th anniversary of the founding of the City of Vancouver last year, and they announced that the time that they would lean towards buildings that didn't get much notice elsewhere. Certainly, while 331 Carrall Street has a history, you wouldn't find it on a tourism walking map.

At any rate, the VHF and its selection panel -- which includes blogger Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) and SFU Urban Studies Prof. Gordon Price -- agreed about the significance of our brick pile, and a plaque will soon adorn the building. Jessica Quan did the research, and you can find it online. Scroll down the list on the left of the other buildings (and you'll find we're in some pretty cool company) to "Gospel Mission/The Louvre Hotel" and click on that link to find Jessica's piece.

There'll be a plaque installed soon; it would be fair to note that the VHF has been offering sponsorships on these plaques, something we weren't able to do; but all the 125 "places" are getting plaques with or without the sponsorship (and we're not the only un-sponsored place). They're a non-profit organization that does some important work, bringing to mind the heritage and history of a city that is still just a toddler by world standards; with so many people moving here from other parts of the world, it's important that they know where the city has come from as they help take it to wherever it's going. If you can manage it, donations to the VHF would be welcome.

I also pray that people who read that will come and look at this historic building for themselves, and in so doing, see how it's still very much alive and lighting up the neighbourhood.

Of course, people in the Downtown East Side have known Gospel Mission as a "place that matters" since the 1940s, and that makes for an interesting back-story. We have outlasted every other tenant in the immediate area, including some that have been boarded up and one where the entire back wall literally collapsed one night (while we were having a prayer meeting, in fact). Truly, God has had His hand on our building, protecting it and providing for it, so His people can be encouraged, given hope, and gradually drawn closer to Him. At the end of the day, that's what Ministry in this area is all about.