just get a job.

written by Becky Vlaming

How many times have you passed by the man on the corner holding a cardboard sign and thought that thought? Sometimes it's not that easy. Especially if you are a 9 year old little girl. 

My church, Harvest Baptist Church, has found itself right next door to HALO. A ministry for the homeless. As the weather got colder this winter we noticed more and more new faces around the coffee pot. This created quite a buzz. We found ourselves smack in the middle of a pretty cool opportunity to reach some pretty needy souls. And I am not talking about coffee and donuts... I am talking about sharing real love with real people. I am being honest here when I say that it wasn't comfortable at first. Some of them needed a shower and they were hogging all the coffee creamers and making a mess at the coffee station. I found myself realizing that I needed an attitude adjustment... STAT.  The homeless problem in our community wasn't just on the street corner anymore, it was at my church, MY home away from home. Then one day, I realized that homeless people aren't just old men. They are also 2, 4, 8 and 9 year olds. That realization slapped me across the face.... hard and fast.  I  tucked my kids into bed that night, snuggled them in and said prayers with them all the while knowing that 4 other little kids were sleeping on cots in a dark shelter while their daddy slept in a van in 20 degree weather (HALO is a shelter for only women and children). How could I go about my life and not DO something. After all... we are commanded to."...go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me."(Matthew 19:21) I was done being a hearer and not a doer. Done.

God has placed these people in our lives for a reason. For His Glory to be shown. In the way we treat them, in the way we respond to the homeless situation in our community, in the way we love them and in the way we strive to form REAL relationships with people that we would otherwise never get to know or even look at. My prayer and desire is that my family (the Vlamings and my Harvest family) and I will take this task seriously, stop making much of ourselves and serve Jesus by serving the homeless in Salisbury, MD.

We want to support HALO because they not only offer practical help to those in need, they offer the life changing and soul redeeming love of Jesus Christ! The Concert of Hope is just one small way we are striving to do that. Please consider coming on June 11th to give generously to HALO!  If you can't do that.... next time you see a homeless person, take a step in faith and reach out. They have a name, a story and most likely a broken soul. Especially if that person is a 9 year old little girl.