" Isaiah 58:10...Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless. Then your light will shine in the dark..."

Mission Update:  April, 2005 - Andy Coats

This is the online issue of StreetLife, written and edited by Andy Coats as a periodical update for Ekklesia Inner City Ministries - Project 417 ©2005

Real Stories:  The U.N. Decade for the Eradication of Poverty Time to Volunteer Letter of the Day Spring and Summer 2005 Poem: Blessing from the Street, by Ozz What's in a Name? Ekklesia - Project417 Mission Statement of Project417 Site Directory - Navigation and Links

This is CBC's webcam view of Toronto

" In December, 1995 the U.N. General Assembly proclaimed the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997 - 2006). They declared the theme for the decade as a whole to be: Eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind" 1

Canada was a participant in the above U.N. declaration to participate in the Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, as well as signatory to several international laws including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which for the first time enshrined the right to housing for the poor and disenfranchised homeless citizens of the world. These declarations are not meant to be just for the benefit of the struggling two-thirds world, but by Canada's participation are to be implemented and acted upon in Canadian law and policy. As we are approaching the end of the decade and the year 2006 I thought it would be appropriate to comment on our effort. As we can all plainly see, poverty has not been eradicated, even here in the GTA. What can we do as Canadians to participate? More importantly, as Christians, what has the church done? How can Ekklesia Inner City Ministries - Project417 contribute to the eradication of poverty and homelessness? As I have said before - Real change, not just small change.

What has the church done?

There have been rays of hope. Out-of-the-Cold, a faith community initiative, began in Toronto and has been adopted by many cities. The Salvation Army and World Vision remain inspiring examples of Christian organizations promoting social justice and making a real difference. On the government front there is a Canadian federal minister responsible for homelessness with a large fund for affordable housing of over a hundred million dollars. But this fund is mired in red tape and has many strings attached. Much of the fund sits untouched after several years! There are more emergency shelters but less affordable housing, more social programs but less funding. Actually the current Canadian model reflects our prevailing material worldview - it is all about budgets, funding, minimum wages, welfare benefit cuts, or workfare income. It is important to steward our tax dollars but not be fooled that throwing money at poverty will cure all of our ills. For example consider the German delegation's submission to U.N. Habitat:

"The German poverty alleviation strategy is based on a definition of poverty which does not just include material poverty. The ideas of participation and self-help are two of the guiding principles of poverty alleviation. Participation means that poor sections of the population share and take part in the decision-making processes that affect them at all levels. The German model provides that "besides income, other - nonmaterial - aspects are included in the definition of poverty. Welfare benefits and the other public benefit systems cannot compensate for every disadvantage suffered by individuals or households; nor is that their function."2

Similarily, Project417 programs stress inclusiveness in our strategy of people oriented development, which states: Our definition of development is - People in community engaging in a spiritual, social, physical, economic and political process of positive transformation towards a sustainable future. This development emphasizes the process of development and its essential focus on personal and institutional capacity. It also rejects the notion of experts, asserting instead that no one is outside of the process and that each person has something to contribute as well as something to learn. People oriented development seeks the active involvement of all stakeholders in every stage of the process. It affirms the
worth and contribution of every community member. 3

Each person has something to contribute

Our vision is to create a community which is accessible to all who are in need. One of our core values is that people have priority over money, structures, systems and other institutions. Often with many efforts of the church community, the legalistic objective is behavior modification. Consider the following:

"...Discussions on the issues of homelessness fail to separate the issue of homelessness from the identity of homeless people [like] the discussion of a disease. Homeless people, their lives, habits and behaviours become the major focus. It is within these people that homelessness is 'diagnosed' and acted upon. Successful strategies are seen to be those that result in changes in their lives, personalities and behaviour. That is what Cooper (1995) calls the "pathology of homelessness". He claims that despite its noble intentions, a pathological view of homelessness disempowers homeless people and limits the parameters of the debate by stripping people of their unique identity and replacing it with a negative stigma" 4

In their groundbreaking work, Urban Ministry , Manuel Ortiz and the late Harvie M. Conn, both of Westminster Theological Seminary, tell us that one of the greatest challenges to the church in the postmodern era is polarization - social justice vs. mission, evangelism vs. development. The bible tells us the two poles can not be separated (Is.58:10, Matt.5:16) and yet many churches (especially suburban congregations) have abandoned advocacy and social justice in favor of a self-serving approach to evangelism, proselytization and physical church expansion.

Matthew 5:16...your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and give praise to your Father in heaven.

Urban theologian Robert Linthicum says, "There are three distinctly different responses that any church or mission organization can make to its city. The response the church chooses to make decides whether that church will play a significant role in the poor's empowerment, will provide social services out of its largess or will simply ignore the needy around it" 5

It has always been Project417's approach to partake in the great comission by building bridges of trust through relational, "no strings attached" outreach. I was recently convicted by a passage in Urban Ministry,

"Although it has often been overstated, we must again repeat that ministry to the poor must begin with ministry among the poor...The most difficult step for many missionaries to take is to rearrange our lives. Jesus rearranged his life for us, and it is imperative that we rearrange our lives for the people he died for". 6

Since joining Ekklesia Inner City Ministries - Project417 in 2004, I have commuted to outreach in Toronto and Brampton. I realize now that method leaves a huge hole in any community development efforts by not being a full-time resident of the community. I need to be engaged in cooperative efforts with the street people and other marginalized residents on a daily
basis. This spring I will relocate to the inner city of Toronto to continue my work with Project417, to partake in what the bible has always taught is the ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind.

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Make the time to volunteer...

At Ekklesia -Project417 we are pleased to offer the opportunity to volunteer. Jesus said, "Whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me". I urge you to consider joining one of these programs soon - you'll have fun too! Check out some volunteer comments here

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Sources:

1. United Nations, General Assembly, 1996

2. Submission to the 5th. session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, by the government of Germany, April 1997

3. Rev. J. Elkerton, 2003, Vision Statement - Project417, Ekklesia Inner City Ministries

4. Cooper - Jarques, 1995, Shadow People: The Reality of Homelessness in the 90s, Sydney, Australia, Sydney City Mission.

5. Linthicum, 1991, Empowering the Poor: Community Organizing Among the City's Rag, Tag and Bobtail', Monrovia, CA. MARC

6 . Conn - Ortiz, 2001, Urban Ministry, The Kingdom, The City & the People of God, Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press

7. Submission to UN Habitat, by the government of the United States,1994 url - http://www.unchs.org/

8. Staff, TheStar.com, Aug. 14, 2003. (12:43 PM ) Voices: Panhandling and the Homeless, url- www.thestar.com

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest". Isaiah 32:17-18 NIV

From the Toronto Sun, Letters to the Editor,  Mon, Jan. 24, 2005. LETTER OF THE DAY THE LETTERS on homelessness (Jan. 21) raise valid concerns. But they ignore the real improvements that have taken place over the last 10 yrs, back when the homeless were actually dying on the street for lack of shelter. It is correct to deliver food and sleeping bags because it is a reasonable humanitarian response to those in need. And it doesn't cost taxpayers a penny. The food and clothing I personally deliver is all donated. No tax dollars spent, none wasted. City Hall is not being manipulated by special interest groups, rather the public is manipulated by the media who report only the sensational. They all claim that the homeless policies don't represent the voice of the public, but what then of all the volunteers and corporate donors who support programs like Out of the Cold? Volunteers by far outnumber city staff.They are citizens with a right to be heard too. And the large amount of money donated to help the homeless shows that they are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Andy Coats (Sun Ed. note - We're willing to bet that none of those donors want people to stay on the street -- yet that's the common result) (Andy's note - of course donors don't want people on the street, but they're human enough to let outreach workers show compassion and work at the street person's pace instead of jailing the homeless as vagrants.)

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Spring and Summer 2005 Looking forward to the 1,000+ volunteers who will come on sandwich runs this summer. Special thanks to Center for Student Missions and their City Director, Jenn Reimer. We also will have new volunteer groups from Ambassadors for Christ with Paula Chan. Knox Out-of- the-Cold will trial a Tuesday night food bank for street youth who have been attending OoTC and have been housed this winter. Discussions are underway with another inner city church to operate a lunch or evening meal program for the homeless. The Out on the Street Youth Cooperative will be a new program by Project417 this year. We will be out in the city on the streets and in parks that the youth frequent (Queen West area and providing craft materials and instruction to stay in touch with them, provide them with an activity they enjoy and to produce craft items for sale. Contact Andy Coats for more details.     >Back to the top		Gifts in Kind Help Project417 this spring by donating goods and receive a tax donation receipt for the value of the items. Currently required: Laptop & desktop PC, with Windows XP or MacOS X, for website development and desktop publishing. PalmPilot or similar organizer for volunteer coordination and scheduling. Digital camera or digital camcorder for advocacy, public relations and website content. send email to: donation at project417 dot com
		What's in a name? Ekklesia Inner City Ministries - Project417 - The Nehemiah Effect Ekklesia the word ( Ek-klay-zee-ya) comes from the Greek word used in the original New Testament translated as "church". But is was never used to describe a building or temple. Literally it meant "those called out from". It represents the assembly or the community of believers in Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean "called out" in the sense of being separate, but rather called by name amongst the community of all people. At Ekklesia Inner City Ministries we want Christians to be identified by their faith as they express it through their collective contribution to the community around them, to model unity, cooperative efforts and healthy living- physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is our desire to mobilize the faith community to model servanthood, specifically by helping those people who are most at risk in society; people who have been let down by the "system"; the ones most in need of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Our designation of Project417 comes from the Old Testament: Nehemiah chapter 4: verse 17, "...[the people of Judah], who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other". Nehemiah volunteered to organize the rebuilding of Jerusalem after its destruction. They faced strong local opposition and had to perform the work rebuilding walls literally ready to fight. Similarily, we as Christians can't separate our faith from our actions. We need to be "rebuilders" and work in readiness to defend our actions, to be advocates for justice and the welfare of the entire community. >Back to the top

 Blessing From the Streets
 
God bless us all each and everyone, 
even though we can't undo the things 
we've already done. 


We wake up each morning to the day 
you have made, knowing full well 
that our debts have yet to be paid. 


You gave us your son to take away all 
the sin, but without acknowledging
that and thanking him our lives will 
never truly begin. 


As we wake each morning and 
slumber every night, we may have 
done some wrong but your 
love can set us right. 


For this last line I would like to say, 
GOD BLESS US ALL EACH 
AND EVERY
DAY.
 

by Colin S.(Ozz) Osborne 
Copyright ©2005 Colin S.Osborne

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DearFriends,

Please consider supporting the work at Ekklesia Inner City Ministries - Project417 with a tax deductible financial gift. Ekklesia receives no government funding. Your individual support will continue to play a key role in supporting our work with the homeless. It is possible to arrange automated bank debit withdrawals for even small monthly pledges. Visit the website www.project417.com for this and other planned giving alternatives. - AC

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