8,000 HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS

BY DN NG XINYUAN

My husband, Jason, and I have been in San Francisco (SF) for the past 1.5 months for his work assignment. For those who have not visited this city, the name may conjure up images of thriving tech start-ups and affluence. While this is true in part, a lesser known fact is that the State of California, where SF is located, has one of the highest proportions of people experiencing homelessness in the US. In SF alone, a city about one-sixth the size of Singapore, a 2019 count saw over 8,000 homeless individuals.1

Certain areas here are known to visitors as “places to avoid”, due to the homeless population, drug use, human faeces on the streets, cases of violent crimes, etc. I am inclined to view the areas in the same way, avoiding them and focusing my time, energy and resources in other “safer” areas. Even in other neighbourhoods, when I see people sitting on the streets, I find myself instinctively crossing the road to take a longer way around them, wishing to avoid conversation and awkward responses should there be requests for help - just like the priest and the Levite in Luke 10. It is difficult to articulate why I instinctively turn my face away - is it fear of how they may react or what they may ask of me, embarrassment at the difference in our circumstances, or at my inability to render meaningful assistance?

Being confronted with these questions, and hoping to better process my thoughts, I turned to observing how outreach is done to the homeless and other vulnerable communities in the city. One thing that struck me in particular was how, apart from meeting the physical and practical needs of the people experiencing homelessness (such as with food, showers, and shelter), some of the Christian ministries are committed to building relationships with the community, and to know each of them by name. They welcome the individuals to volunteer centres for coffee, cookies, conversations, games, and make the effort to befriend them. A volunteer shared with me about how living on the street can make one feel invisible, so these events provide opportunities for social interactions as well.

Interactions with individuals experiencing homelessness at the sessions also humanised them for me - I learnt about a man who left his family back in his home country as he came to the US in search for a better life for them; a homeless lady offered me a granola bar out of her backpack when she was packing her supplies; and I saw how their eyes lit up at an invitation for them to join in a round of pool, table tennis, or chess, as they remarked that they were familiar with or good at those games. These were brothers and sisters fearfully and wonderfully made by God, each seen and loved by Him.

Somewhat aptly, prior to coming to SF, I had started on a book titled "Extraordinary Hospitality (For Ordinary People)" by Carolyn Lacey. After re-reading certain parts through the lens of my new experiences, I was struck even more deeply than before. One such excerpt is below:

“I like the idea of being a compassionate person, but I don’t always find it easy to show genuine compassion to those around me - or even to feel it. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself more naturally drawn towards comfortable hospitality - that is, hospitality which focuses on people who are easy to spend time with, who don’t demand too much and whose circumstances you can relate to. We may like the idea of being part of a church family that welcomes people with messy lives, but we don’t always want to get involved in the mess ourselves. We want our churches to be places where the marginalised and vulnerable find a home, but we don’t necessarily want the responsibility of speaking or working on their behalf. But God’s hospitality isn’t comfortable and convenient. It is compassionate.” (p. 34)

Indeed, I often find it easier to help others from a distance - such as meeting financial needs - rather than going close and making contact, for that takes more out of me emotionally and mentally. Perhaps God is challenging me in this season to look towards Jesus’ transcending of social boundaries to groups of outcasts in the Bible - the poor, the unclean, the foreigners - and his healing touches and conversations with them, and reflect on how easy it is for me to compartmentalise what I read in His Word and how I act, especially in a foreign place far away from home.

Having received God’s generous and overflowing hospitality of eternal life and welcome in Him, can I, joyfully and with thanksgiving, extend that to the lives of others, particularly those who are often not welcomed on this earth?

Is this something you can relate to? May He grant us hearts that are generously compassionate towards our neighbours, as we continue to learn from and model His ways.

¹ Website of the city and county of San Francisco:

https://sfgov.org/scorecards/safety-net/homeless-population.

This figure may be outdated as it was taken prior to the pandemic, and an updated census is ongoing. In a 2019 study conducted in Singapore, around 1,000 people were estimated to be sleeping on the streets (Homeless in Singapore: Results from a Nationwide Street Count).