Dolly Mama Strikes Again!

So when you suddenly have 400,000 people who need a new place to live, how does that work? It's not live every state has 2500 low-income housing opportunities just vacant, is it? (I know that not all the people need low income housing, but it seems like a lot of them do)

I am having trouble imagining where all of these people will end up. I guess they will end up scattered all over the country. Yesterday I was thinking that it will be interesting to see how this event shapes our country, historically speaking. So many people from Louisiana's Gulf Coast, now moving to so many other locales...

I thought about churches that are willing to open up their entire buildings for people to stay, and it made me wonder about the people whose lives will be radically changed in a spiritual way because of their displacement. For some, this tragedy will end up being the best thing that ever happened to them.

What an opportunity for ordinary citizens to reach out to people. What an opportunity to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring hope to the hopeless.

I'm thinking about the web sites where you can volunteer to open your home to people who are displaced because of Katrina. On the one hand, I think it's a great idea. On the other hand, I don't know that I have the guts (or appropriate situation) to do it. My husband isn't home every night. I have 6 children to care for. Do I really have any business having strangers come live in my house? If they were ideal, then it would be fine. But, if they aren't (and how would you know in advance?), then what? If I think I have trouble sleeping now, I can only imagine how poorly I would sleep wondering if the boogeyman had moved into my family room!

This is one of those rubber-meets-the-road things that I think about sometimes. The Bible tells Christians to open their homes to strangers, to feed them at their table. I know of some people who live this out radically despite having children. There is a group of Christians in central KY that purposely moved into the inner city simply to put themselves where the needs are greatest, in order to be a compassionate witness for God's love, by living it out daily. (you can check out their blogs here, and here, for starters.) They do open their homes to strangers. They set an extra place at their table and pray for God to send someone to them to eat with them. They look for practical needs and ways to meet them. I admire these people very much and sometimes I wonder if my own family shouldn't consider doing something more radical in order to actually be where the needs are. It's so easy when we have our nice, safe homes and our nice, safe neighborhoods, and our clean, fancy grocery stores, and all of our bills getting paid, and a car to take us where we want to go, health insurance, and so on, to never even come into contact with the hurting and needy in our society. (For the record, I think that there are lots of needs in the suburbs as well, but they aren't usually the kind you can easily spot) We can easily get into the mindset that we would like to avoid these people. And so we do, and our life revolves around comfort and beauty and convenience, and those that are going down the tubes just keep on going, because a lot of Christians don't want to get their hands, or their lives, dirty by getting involved with them.

My husband and I have some very dear friends who gave up their normal, nice life in a small, quaint little town, in order to go to a poor central Asian country to do just this. The husband works at a non-gov't organization working toward educating the people about business practices, helping them start and maintain their own businesses, brings in relief to those that are suffering and to refugees that sometimes cross into that country when war and unrest across their borders drives them away. They are dedicated Christians who live each day as examples of God's love. They are regularly asked for medical help or financial help. They get involved in community work and community life. They have opportunities to share God's love with these people, and they develop relationships with their neighbors. Our friends have a life that is totally given over to loving people that have needs, and of not only helping them in the practical ways, but also sharing with them the hope my friends have in Jesus Christ. It's awesome. And it's a prickling reminder of how little we are doing right here in our own town.

I think that the New Orleans situation is going to be a good example of what people really expect in our country. Some would think that the country expects the government to somehow pop up and meet every need. But I don't think that's what we're seeing. We're seeing that regular people are giving their money, brainstorming on ways to meet needs, volunteering their homes, giving their time, giving up their conveniences, in order to help their fellow citizens. That's good news, methinks.

I received an email yesterday via an egroup I am a member of. The author of the email stated that she is in Houston and has a friend who is an ER doc who had been working at the Astrodome as the buses were arriving, who shared with her that children were arriving from the Superdome wrapped in blankets, or with only a large tshirt on, with feces running down their legs, sick, and hungry. This woman is now trying to set up a children's area within the Astrodome. She is taking donations of items for children (everything from baby equipment, to formula and diapers, to toys and educational items, teddy bears and blankies to give for immediate comfort, and so on). If you are interested in donating via paypal, let me know in comments and leave me your contact info and I can send you her paypal addy. (I'm not going to publish it here and let the spammers bother this woman)

Apparently, the plan is that the Astrodome will be used to house people for MONTHS. wow.