Chapter 80
How Should We Respond To Others That Are Homeless?
Various churches across America have been called on to help find a solution for the homeless population, but few in America have considered that a mass exodus of families could become homeless overnight and be traveling across the country needing help. When this happens, the churches will have to open up their bowels of mercy, unloose their purse strings, and tithe into these people’s lives.
Let there be no mincing of words here; the Lord god of all creation will be watching the type of witness we portray. Empty words like, “we will pray for you,” or “god bless you,” or “we will pray about whether or not God would have us to help you”, will not be sufficient! 
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”1
Yahushua told a story in the Book of Luke that clearly defines how god expects us, His children, to handle a way-faring stranger. “… Behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, ‘Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read [it]?’ And he answering said, ‘You shall love the Lordyour God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered right: this do, and you shall live.’ But he, willing to justify himself, said to Yahushua, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ And Yahushua answering said, ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his clothing, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, ‘Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.’ Which now of these three, do you think, was neighbor to him that fell among the thieves?’ And he said, ‘He that showed mercy on him.’ Then said Yahushua to him, ‘Go, and do likewise!’”2
“‘You shall love the Lordyour God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”3 The Parable of the good samaritan is very clear concerning who our “neighbor” is, so go and do thou likewise.
Isaiah 58 also speaks to us of god’s commands: “is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?”4
not pray for them, but we should not use prayer as an excuse to avoid doing some benevolent act of kindness! Rather, when we pray for those who are poor or homeless, we should ask God how we may help them with genuine help. If something is obvious that we can easily do to help, we should not hesitate in doing what we know to do. Scripture says, “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.”5
Several times prior to leaving the coast, and before we even considered that the Lord might send us on such a journey, we were called on to open our home to strangers. This is how we met Pete, our friend from Wyoming who was instrumental in delaying our trip in order to get the trailer. Pete was a traveling evangelist with nowhere to stay. When we first met Pete, and after talking with him for a while about the Lord, we invited him to stay with us. It turned out that god had sent him on a similar journey across America visiting people and staying in their homes. There was no question that he came to our door by divine appointment. Had we turned him away we would have missed some very important keys to the future development of our Christian walk. The Lord brought him back to stay with us on numerous occasions, twice with his wife. We believe, by being willing to take people like Pete into our home, we planted seeds that caused us to have a place to stay when our need arose.
If god places someone on your doorstep, be willing to save a life. The act performed now may save you or your children in the future. You may ask, “How do I know who to allow in and who not to.”
Through daily prayer and Bible reading and a continual open and willing heart, God will teach you to discern His will concerning whom to help . The Bible says, “…to exercise yourself to discern good from evil”,6 and “to let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”7
A simple understanding of “letting the peace of God rule in your heart” 7 is what we call “our gut feelings.” When our stomach is turning flips, and we are not peaceful about a situation, then we can assume that we do not have the peace of god, and we should wait for another door or opportunity to present itself. But if our gut is okay, and we have no alarming feelings, we may assume that it is okay to proceed on. God knows each of us intimately and is able to guide us through His knowledge of us. He is also working ahead of us and has us in His tender care. if we are open to God and have voiced this affirmation to God, He will provide opportunities for us to help others. An excellent example here is how Bonnie had prayed years Earlier for the ability to help a missionary family, then years later she meets our family.
We should always be sensitive to our “spirit man” or gut feelings, because this is how we can know for certain. If it is a family looking to take in another family, the husband and wife should be in agreement. It is fully understood that sometimes a spouse may never be open to helping and in that case, the spouse that desires to help must find some other avenue to be of service to God.
This same topic was covered in a prior chapter, and because it is of such importance in discerning the leading of the Lord, I felt it necessary to share it again. Often times we are led or driven by a fleshly desire, deceived by our eyesight, and totally unaware of our gut feelings, which is the main reason for exercising ourself to discern Put the Lordto the test and start reaching out to help others. These are some of the basics of a walk in the spirit. It is time that we forge on with the Lord in all that He calls us to do. Peoples’ lives depend upon it; indeed our lives depend upon it!
A second example of our taking in a homeless person occurred following the return from our homeless excursion, a few years down the road. Because of our five children we wanted to take necessary precautions to insure the safety of our family. The woman was extremely closed and would not offer any information about herself either voluntarily or if questioned directly. She was very spooky, and we were quite concerned, to say the least. However, I did continually pray to ask the Lord what to do about her, and each time I would ask, the Lord would give me scriptures and impressions to be patient with her.
Time passed, and every time suspicions would arise, I would return again to pray, only to be instructed again and again to let things be. All I could assume was that she had been traumatized somewhere along the way and was totally untrusting of anyone. She was like a scared little cat, not willing to come out of her hiding place for anyone. Eventually, within a few months, she simply moved on one evening without a word to anyone.
Janie and I have invited numerous struggling and homeless individuals to stay in our home with many strange situations to come with them, so when we speak about taking in the homeless, we are not without experience in the subject. People must pray and ask for the Holy spirit to give them directions. In order to truly hear from the Lord we must be open-minded and not prejudgmental. Any of us can easily find a confirmation to what “we want” to believe, yet we have to allow God to lead us and be willing to lay down our self-will in order to obey God’s will. People’s lives depend upon our ability to respond correctly.