One of my favorite movies is Tommy Boy with Chris Farley. On numerous occasions through out the movie he would bump his head and then say, " Oh that's going to leave a mark!" I would hope a book like "Under the Overpass" would have been like that for me, that it would have left a mark but it really did not for me. Now I have to say this, the book was delivered to my house mid-afternoon on a Friday and I finished the book late morning Saturday, so it was a good read and very interesting. Just did not leave a mark, if you get my drift.
When I ordered the book from WaterBrook Multnomah my first thought had been back to a book I read decades ago titled " Black Like Me", by author John Howard Griffin and I was pleased to find a quote from the book in the first chapter. " The best way to find out if we had second-class citizens and what their plight was , would be to become one of them." That really is the thought process of this book, Mike Yankoski and his friend Sam enter into the world of the homeless. The difficult part of this process and Mike is very open about this, is that he was coming out in five months or less if he needed to...Most homeless do not have that option in their back pocket and many realize the streets are their home, forever...
So anyway I think my big disappointment and why it did not leave a mark is there did not seem to be any real relationships with the homeless made just kind of drive by acknowledgements.. The idea was Mike and Sam would move to another location after one month in a city so they did five cities to see the difference. I wonder what would have happened if they stayed in one place or at least one place longer. Would they have actually been accepted into that homeless community and made long time friends over acquaintances? Don't know.
Have the usual mixed bag of church experiences which I would have expected without going to the streets... In some, the guys were extremely blessed and cared for in others more rejection, which again I would have expected that. Nothing real new there.
Great story about a church in the Phoenix area where they were chased off the property one Saturday morning as a church breakfast was being served. A little aggravated they decided to visit the church the next morning and at the end of the service the same guy who chased them off the property the day before came rushing up to them. Bracing for the worst they were taken by surprise as the guy greeted them with a big hug and tears running down his face. He apologized over and over for the disrespect he had shown them and told them how the Lord had really convicted him after they had left. Then the kicker....he was the church homeless outreach director...after a moment of awkward silence they all busted out laughing...
Another character worth noting was a street person in San Diego, named Doug. Doug was a believer who struggled with alcoholism and the brief look at his struggle to be a good Christian but he cannot get over alcohol and it tears him up. They are together when one of Doug's friends is confronted by the police and handcuffed. The guy breaks free and heads to the water...he wades in deeper and deeper with his hands tied behind his back. It looks like he is going to drown for sure and Doug is in tears on the shore..Finally he runs into the surf going further and further until all you can see is two heads bobbing on the serf. Finally they turn towards the shore and the two walk in together and the friend is taken by the police.. Doug the homeless alcoholic just saved his friends life. He weeps on shore and says, “It’s so hard for me to live like a Christian. I've been drunk all day." You know I am not overlooking the drinking problem but I have to look at this guy and think he may get it better than many of us. He risked his life to save a friend.
At the end of the book Mike has a list of 4 things we could do to get involved with the homeless around us and again I have to say nothing real new here. 1. Volunteer at the homeless shelter near you. 2. Go downtown with friends (not alone) and buy coffee or take out food to share with a homeless person and maybe even sit down and talk. 3. Cold out? Gather coats, hats and gloves and hand them out. 4. Become a spokes person for your church body on behalf of the homeless...
So I would recommend the book as a good, easy read... But do not think you will be moved to do much more than you are already doing. I have read other books and I won't mention them here but maybe on my blog that rocked my world in how I see the homeless. I would also encourage you to read Isaiah 58 for a week or two and then Matthew 25:31-46 and hope we all would realize that we are called to get involved and that really is all Mike is saying here, get involved..
Also on Mike's behalf I really do believe this experience has changed him forever and that is the glimpse we get, how God get his attention... Good stuff,
Bill
Disclaimer: I was given this book by WaterBrook Multnomah to read and to review..
