Calling the Church

by Jess Luoma

We believe God makes it very clear in the Bible that it is our job to care for the poor. He calls believers to not just pray for the poor, but to be His hands and feet to a hurting world and to do something about what we see.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard." (Isaiah 58:6-8)

So often the things we seek in our personal spiritual journey find their fulfillment when we obey these words. Jesus is on our streets waiting for His children to feed Him, clothe Him and bring Him in. So, what does this look like practically in Redding?

As we gain momentum in providing transitional and long-term solutions for our homeless friends, we have begun to go into churches to inspire believers to rise up to respond to the heart of God towards our downtrodden and needy neighbors.

Our goal is to help you and your church befriend, mentor and disciple the homeless toward stable and purposeful living. Our team of advocates stand-by to journey with your volunteer team as they connect with and befriend our homeless neighbors. We will provide training to equip you as you face the complexities of homelessness. Most relationships will begin as folks exit rehab programs. This could be a sober living home, a group home, church-hosted Micro-Shelter Community(MSCs) or another community housing venue. The end goal is a home and a community where they experience belonging, identity, discipleship and purpose provided by your church. We suggest that this be through home groups that rally together to adopt a homeless friend.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

The church in Acts provides us with a beautiful example of what living in a healthy community looks like. Our homeless friends are desperate for this and we believe this is a vital key to homelessness in our city. As we do this, we are seeing many lives beautifully transformed.

If you would like us to come to your church/home group or receive more information please leave a comment below or email shastathrive@gmail.com. Or you can read more about how to become an advocate here. We can't promise it will be mess-free, but we can promise it will be eternally rewarding.