Homeless: Pastor Dan’s Modesto Ministry of Food and Prayer

Years ago, Dan Lempenau was attending church when he had an epiphany. “This isn’t what Jesus is about,” he thought. “Jesus is about caring for the poor.” Since that time, some fifteen years now, “Pastor Dan” has been feeding homeless people in local Modesto Parks three days a week, day after day, week after week, rain or shine. His ministry features Bible lessons for those who wish to listen, but there are no requirements and there is no judgment. ed

A nation’s goodness is not revealed by its foreign policies, scientific and technological achievements, or economic superiority, but by its citizens’ treatment of each other. Pastor Dan Lempenau

Today, so much land has been bought up by the highest bidder that there are few places anymore for the poorest among us. Homeless, they have become like body odor to our cities and neighborhoods.  “They are dirty” is the complaint, but the stench is not their lifestyles but the lifestyles that have stolen their land, their homes, their ability to survive, and their rights.

Sheltering the homeless isn’t that complicated, but it does require the nation to realize that even the best intentions of foreign policies, scientific and technological achievements, and economic prowess, inevitably leave some behind who are still equal  and have rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

The homeless use drugs illegally, are drunk in public, are disorganized, unkempt, or disobey city ordinances. But listen to this: If law enforcement can’t keep the drugs from coming into the city, out of high schools, and out of homes, it is simply unjust to pick on the easiest prey who just happen to live in a “glass house.”

All the police have to do is park a pickup truck in view of the homeless and sooner or later they are going to see somebody do something illegal.  That is not equal law enforcement.  If a person doesn’t have private property, they can’t hide their illegal activity like the rest of the population.  And believe it, far more illegal activity occurs in the privacy of homes than in the parks or on the street. The point is, homelessness does not itself identify a dangerous person, a criminal, or even a drug addict.  There are more dangerous people, criminals, and drug addicts in homes.

Remember, if we remove all the homeless from the USA, we still have a massive illegal drug problem in the USA.  And don’t forget, that’s not counting the massive legal drug problem.  I’m tired of preachers and politicians and scientists blowing hot air, spending lots of money, and failing to understand the real problems facing the nation.

You can’t understand homelessness by watching it.  You can’t even understand homelessness by having a ten minute conversation with a homeless person.  You can’t understand any person’s motivations and instincts unless you can gain their trust.

Most homeless people have trust issues that are based on their real experiences. Some never acquired trust in their parents; good luck to them trusting their society. And society hasn’t done anything to establish that trust. Our society has a rule of law and that is the source of trust when equally enforced. But that rule of law is not fair to all and therefore homelessness and poverty are increasing. Trust of society is almost completely non-existent among the poor and homeless.

And because there is no trust, there is no basis of reconciliation. Without reconciliation, society literally doesn’t have even a prayer to understand homelessness or solve it.

Pastor Dan Lempenau feeds Modesto’s Homeless and Poor

The only way to fix homelessness is to give homeless people a legal place where they are approved to dwell that they will accept. Of course, that’s easier said than done.  But what society is currently demanding and the cities are attempting hasn’t worked and won’t work. And keep in mind, the homeless aren’t asking for much — just a place to sleep and store their belongings without fear of bodily harm or harassment. They understand private property and will honor most laws and just need a place to be left alone.

A third of the homeless have mental problems even when they are drug free, but many use drugs to self-medicate. It’s almost impossible to be on the street and not use drugs or alcohol because drugs and alcohol suppress the effects of the cold, heat, hunger, thirst, filth, rejection, slander, drama, sleep deprivation, trauma, fear, and other ills that afflict homeless people day after day.

Many homeless people receive an SSI check, which isn’t enough to provide a place to live and food to eat. Another large segment of the homeless population is disabled; this group also receives incomes too low to afford housing of any kind, not even a room. I am always amazed that they are not full of rage against society, but they’re not. And they are not jealous either. They are totally willing to be left alone – society just refuses to do so.

The lack of low-income housing appears to be an intentional attempt by prosperous citizens and government officials to use economics to force the poor and homeless out of the cities and into a kind of “economic concentration encampment” somewhere in thin air.

When civil authorities want to control and manipulate the homeless, what do they do?  Oh yes, of course, they use physical force. Police means guns and bodily force. Jail is forced punishment. Forcing them to move from here to there is physical force.

However, authoritarian policies are not going to solve homelessness because authoritarian policies don’t solve anything. They incarcerate those who are dangerous to society — that is, if they can catch them. But the homeless aren’t dangerous to society, they’re only threatening to lifestyles of excess, indifference, and intolerance.

I’m not a police basher. However, it’s time to stop giving the homeless tasks that are impossible, waste taxpayers’ money, and use Gestapo tactics that degrade the liberty we claim as a basic right. Homelessness is not a police problem. The illegal activity of a homeless person is a crime, just like the crime of any other person, and must be enforced according to equal justice applied fairly for all.

But homelessness itself is not a crime of the homeless. It is a crime when we fail to provide for those who can’t provide for themselves, including the sick, the disabled, the elderly and destitute. We have principles of liberty and equality and no one is enforcing these principles on the cities. Everyone has a right to public safety and that right is denied to homeless people daily.

When this nation was confronted in the last century with two dreadful enemies, we didn’t lose faith in ourselves, our nation, or the world.  Instead, we used foreign policies, scientific and technological achievements, and economic superiority to bring freedom to billions around the world in the hope all people would treat each other with integrity, belonging, and dignity without regard for their economic status.

After all is said, you and I still have to make an individual decision about who and what we hear.  There comes a time when the least ones among us need to be heard the most.