Last Tuesday evening I attended an event sponsored by HRDC at the Emerson Center. The event was centered around the screening of a documentary produced by HBO called "American Winter."
The documentary follows eight families in the Portland, OR area who find themselves homeless because of unemployment, health issues with loved ones, low pay, and lack of available social services.
Frankly, it was easy to lose heart watching the families lose their homes, their jobs, and their sanity.
It didn't seem fair to see honest, hardworking people like you and me end up suddenly without shelter, food, electricity, water, and security.
Our gospel reading for this coming Sunday, October 20th is Luke 18:1-8
18" Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. Luke 18:1
After feeling helpless halfway through the film, I began to feel hope and not lose heart. Up on the big screen in the Emerson Center were churches in the greater Portland area, including First Immanuel Lutheran Church, opening their doors and their hearts to families in need. I saw church members staff food pantries and overnight shelters. I saw church members display compassion to the families depicted in the documentary with mercy and tenderness. I saw church members living out their calling as disciples of Jesus Christ, loving God and loving the neighbor in need. And then it dawned on me, we do the same for the homeless here in Bozeman.
Christ the King, in its Rooted in Faith, Growing in Giving capital campaign over the past two years, has given over $1000 to the HRDC to address homelessness and hunger in Bozeman. Our dollars support the warming center and the transitional housing unit. Our dollars and volunteer hours help keep the doors of the Bozeman Community Café open 365 days a year, to feed hungry neighbors in need.
Christ the King participates as a partner church in Family Promise of the Gallatin Valley. Four weeks out of the year we house homeless families on campus with safe and comfortable shelter, so families can concentrate on the hard task of finding work and permanent housing.
Losing heart and despairing are common themes in the Bible. All you have to do is read some of the psalms to hear deep songs of lament. But you will also find in the Bible stories of hope and compassion, rooted in the love of God as expressed by God's Son Jesus Christ.
"American Winter" does not have to be the predominate season in Bozeman, or the world for that matter.
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