Each month we will offer a list of action ideas so you can defend, honor, and celebrate Life in your churches and communities on our Take Action page. This month, we are looking at homelessness.
All of us have our struggles—financial, physical, or spiritual. But most of us could honestly say, no matter how terrible the day was, no matter what problems are in our lives, that we at least have a roof over our heads. But the reality is that hundreds of thousands of people do not have that certainty. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in January of 2015 there were 564,708 people who were homeless on a given night in the United States. About 8 percent of homeless people (47,725) are veterans. For most of us homelessness is unfathomable. How could these people not have family to care for them? How could this have happened to them? But homelessness is a real problem faced by real people, and they need godly people to reach out to them. In James’s epistle he wrote, “If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:16) We as the Church need to reach out to the homeless to meet their physical needs as well as their spiritual ones. Because being pro-life doesn’t just mean we just care about the unborn, but rather all lives—young, old, and everyone in between.
Action Ideas:
- Hold a collection of non-perishable and canned goods at your church and donate to a local food pantry or homeless shelter.
- Contact a local homeless shelter and learn about volunteer activities.
- Host a soup kitchen or breakfast at your church specifically for homeless people and have your priest or deacon share a gospel message.
- Carry information about local shelters or churches who will house the homeless in your wallet to share with people in need.
Resources:
Written by AFL Administrator Robin Ferguson
