A UGM Story

Being a detail person, I wish I could share this story more in-depth with you. But the need to respect the confidentiality of our UGM guests necessitates me keeping this pretty general.

It started a week ago Thursday.

No, actually it started earlier than that. I don’t remember when the first time was that I came out from behind the table…but I definitely felt the difference when I did.

What do I mean, “out from behind the table”?

Well, when I first showed up to work at UGM nine weeks ago, the crew chief encouraged me to start off serving food to the guests, until I got to feeling comfortable in the environment. When serving food, a table separated me from the line of hungry people. Interactions were brief, focused mainly on what food item they wanted. Even when I helped the resource guru, the table we sat behind still created a type of barrier.

My typical view when serving...though this was on a very lightly attended morning!

Eventually, I felt ready to move out and try “working the floor” – clearing trash, wiping down tables, scooting in chairs, sweeping crumbs, etc. Being out from behind the table seems to even the playing field in a way. It opens one up to the possibility of longer conversations. Honestly, I’m not great at capitalizing on that opportunity, but I have had people stand and talk with me for a couple minutes at a time—one lady asked me to pray for her situation. But that’s her story…

The vast majority of our guests are conscientious about throwing away their own trash and letting us know if they accidentally spilled something. So oftentimes those of us working the floor are not constantly busy.

Well, a week ago Thursday I was working floor again – and I noticed some trash (cup/napkin/etc.) at an empty spot. So I cleared it away. A few minutes later, I noticed a man sitting there. And he was glaring at me, hardcore. The only thing I could conclude was that he wasn’t happy with me for throwing his empty things away while he was back in line for more food.

The glaring continued, so that I finally moved from my normal standing spot to the other side of the room to avoid his gaze. Eventually, he left the building. When I was going around with the broom and dustpan later, I realized that there was a bag of plastic bottles/aluminum cans at the chair where he had been sitting. Thinking he might possibly come back for them, I set them near the front door.

And I was right—he came back. I happened to be near the door when I saw him coming in, so I plucked up some courage and went up to him with the bag. “I think you left these,” I said…and he thanked me. A simple enough interaction, but I feel that I was able to show him a taste of Christ’s love even in that brief interchange…especially in light of the angry way he had been staring at me earlier.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning. I was sitting at the resource table near the front door and saw this same man come in. And when he saw me, he actually waved at me. Later I saw him talking to one of our crew members—and then the next thing I knew, this guest was sitting down in the chair across from mine, asking what type of resources I had to offer.

At the resource table!

To say that I initially felt intimidated because of the ‘evil eye’ he had given me the time before might be an understatement. But neither of us referred to that previous interaction—and while it was definitely prominent in my mind, part of me wonders if he remembered it at all. If he hadn’t waved at me when he came in, I would be more inclined to say that he didn’t. But the wave seemed to indicate recognition….so who knows.

Anyway, what followed was an interesting conversation full of several tangents. Like I said, I would love to tell you all the details…but that would be broaching his right to confidentiality. Suffice it to say, he seems to be a widely-read, well-educated person. Although I don’t know the veracity of some of the things he was telling me about, he made me think of someone who would love to be a history lecturer.

Basically, he told me that he wants to get into a recovery program for the sake of his family. That’s the generic version of what he said.

He must have sat and talked with me for…I don’t know, 15-30 minutes. Which was mostly him talking and me listening. It had been a slow morning at the resource table, so it’s not like there were others waiting. The crew guys were familiar with this guest, and at least three of them stopped at the table to check in and make sure I was comfortable with how the conversation was going—they’re so fantastic!

Well, it came time for the dayroom to close for the morning…and as we concluded filling out the informational form so my supervisor could follow up with him, I told the guest that I would be praying for him. And I told him, “I believe Jesus loves you.” According to what he was telling me, he knew he was making some poor life choices—and he wanted to change. But from one of his earlier comments, I could tell he wasn’t a believer.

Other than a bit at kids’ VBS/CEF events, I think that’s the closest I’ve ever come to sharing the gospel with anyone, especially an adult. Evangelism is definitely not one of my strong points….

He commented that I must be a liberal Christian because I wasn’t a Bible-thumping, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” type of Christian. He would have started off on another whole tangent about theology…something about how there was the Word before there was God. Which tried to push my “belief” button, but it really was closing time and I was not in the mood to get in an argument with someone I knew I didn’t agree with. So we parted ways.

But he keeps on coming back to my mind…and I have been praying for him. And I would ask that you pray for him too. I saw him in the dayroom again yesterday morning. But he didn’t come sit at the resource table with me again, so I didn’t have any personal interaction with him.

God knows this guest’s heart. God knows where he is at on the journey that He has planned for him. I may never know the rest of his story. But I hope that even just by sitting with him and being a “good listener,” as he called me, maybe—just maybe—my comment about Jesus’ love for him won’t have fallen on deaf ears.

Thanks for your prayers for him, and also for me as I continue interacting with our wide variety of guests for the next five weeks until my UGM internship finishes. The interactions I have had there, coupled with the topics we’ve been covering in our Servant Teams trainings, have definitely given me more of a heart for the marginalized and downtrodden here in my own country.

Internship First Impressions

As part of the Portland, OR portion of the Servant Teams program (see previous entry), I and two of my teammates are interning at a Union Gospel Mission here.

UGM exists to feed the hungry, restore the addict, and love their neighbor. They primarily minister to the homeless population in downtown Portland through their dayroom. UGM also runs two LifeChange programs, one for men and one for women, for those who want to recover from addiction.

The men in LifeChange work for the mission during the days, as well as taking part in counseling and other elements of the program.

My role at UGM is to help in the dayroom, offering food and other services to the local homeless guests. I started this week and will be working there every Tuesday and Thursday until December. My two teammates are working with Search + Rescue, which goes out to those living in homeless camps in other areas.

I wanted to share some of my observations from my first couple days of working there. My intention is not to pass judgment or criticize anything…these are merely what I have seen and experienced to give you a picture.

As I mentioned, it is the men in LifeChange who staff a lot of the homeless service positions. On Tuesday I met and joined the crew of seven men who prep and serve the daily meals. There have also been a couple other volunteers who have helped out as well.

The dayroom--offering protection from the elements outside, light meals, tables/chairs, and a bathroom--is open to the homeless guests three times a day, Tuesday through Friday. Breakfast (pastries, limited hot sandwiches, and coffee) is from 10-11:30, and lunch (pastries, sandwiches, and kool aid) is from 2-3:45. There is also a chapel service with a dinner afterwards in the evening – but I haven’t been part of that yet.

Pastry rack awaiting the breakfast crowd

My individual job has been to prep and hand out the pastries at three of the four meals in the two days I’ve been there. This morning at breakfast, we served over 100 guests. Breakfasts are usually a smaller group than lunch, but today’s breakfast crowd was evidently unusually large!

So here are my observations—in no particular order.

There are a wide variety of people who utilize the UGM services. Some don’t “look” homeless—others very obviously do.

There’s a wide range of responses from people coming through the line. Some don’t say a word, just point to what they want. Others interact briefly. A few express their gratitude.

Many of the guests go through the line multiple times, since they are only allowed two items at a time. Some get right back in line as soon as they’ve received their first items and make that circle often.

The dignity of choice – some guests have an opinion on exactly which piece of pastry they want. Most simply specify a flavor. Only a couple don’t care what they get.

People’s hands have struck me as I have placed the pastries into them. Some have been bent with age. Others have been the dirtiest hands I have ever seen. One person’s looked like it was bleeding along the edge of every fingernail. Many are decently clean.

The crew I work with is amazing. Maybe if I get their permission I’ll be able to share a bit of their stories with you. I’ve only heard snippets so far. But they have been so welcoming and supportive and encouraging to me. And they have fun together.

The crew leader gathers the members together and prays with them before each time of opening the doors to the guests. He also sometimes sings along loudly to the Christian music playing on the radio :)

Today's lunch line shortly after opening.

Some of the guests stay the whole time the dayroom is open. I noticed some gathered in small groups, apparently chatting and fellowshipping. Others come and go much more quickly.

There are those who carry their bag of belongings with them every time they go through the line…presumably because they don’t want to be apart from it even for a few minutes.

I couldn’t help but notice the apparent car key hanging around one guest’s neck…or the different leggings that another guest wore every time I saw her…or the presence of phones, including smart phones.

The excitement of one gentleman about going to get fitted for dentures to replace his missing teeth.

I watched as one of my crew mates helped one particularly troubled guest put his shoes and socks back on. This guest would rarely even wipe the snot from his nose…

Quite a few guests (relatively speaking) had dogs with them…Some little and a couple big!

Only a couple times so far have I witnessed cussing or rudeness. The LifeChange workers are quick to step in and deal with any issues that arise, so that things don’t get out of hand.

Inequality is hard. I haven’t been able to avoid taking note of the difference in the lunch served to the UGM staff/residents vs. the more limited fare for the homeless guests. And it pangs me that we live in a world in which such inequalities seem virtually unavoidable.

Yesterday at lunch, several guests were thrilled to get potato salad—such a seemingly small thing, but it seemed to make their day.

During lunch today, I sat with a lady at a resources table. She is a wealth of experience and information about what services are available to homeless people. She volunteers her time to help connect the UGM guests to what is available to help their individual situations. The goal is that I will be able to help her and maybe even do it in her absence…but the latter is a tall order, as there’s no way I can match her level of knowledge in such a short time!

Well, it’s late and I think that’s all I’ve got at this point. Thanks for reading!!

more catch up....

Sunday, September 13
That morning one of the churches in town was doing a community service day, so I decided to pitch in. When I walked out of my dorm building, I realized it was raining...I probably should have gone back in to get a jacket, but I didn't. My group was picking up trash around the town for two hours. It was fun...I even found 60 cents worth of coins! Thankfully it wasn't raining very hard at all, just an off and on drizzle. My feet got really really wet though, and I didn't have anything to change in to.
After we got back to the church we had the church service (they had been hoping to have it and a picnic at the park, but didn't because of the rain). I really enjoyed the pastor's message and I may end up attending that church. I haven't really decided yet. Afterwards, we had a potluck.
I took a nap that afternon because I had gotten up early. When I got on Facebook after my nap, I saw that Nathan was on...so I asked if he had time to try out the web cameras Dad had bought, so we did! We had kind of tried it a couple times before I left, but it didn't work right. It did this time though! So I had my first web cam "call" home :D It was nice to be able to "see" everyone again, including Bluebonnet! I'm pretty sure the little guy recognized my voice (which he doesn't seem to do over the phone), because he got REALLY excited. Sadly, I had to get off after about 30 minutes to go to dinner :(

Monday, September 14
I don't think I was overly smart that day.....I had kind of had a scratchy throat when I went to bed Sun. night, and I still had it all day Monday. I think I was kind of coming down with something from having sat in wet clothes (especially my socks/shoes) for two hours in an air-conditioned building Sun. morning. I decided to go running anyways (mistake #1), but only went a short distance.
Had classes and such...tried to drink lots of water. That afternoon there was a blood drive on campus, so I decided to go donate blood (mistake #2!). I didn't have a fever or anything. I had donated last September and been just fine, so I figured it would go fine this time too...not. Just as the nurse came over to unhook me, I just about passed out. So they lay me down and put me feet up and all that...I felt better after a little while so they sat me up, but then I felt like I was losing it again, so they put me back down. The nurse said I was really pale, so they gave me something to eat and drink and all. It took about 20 minutes after I finished before they would let me leave...and I still felt a little lightheaded.
That night we had our "Women of Walker" night. A JBU alum who now lives and works in India came and talked to us. It was really neat to hear her story. She ended up marrying a man in India and now has a daughter. They work with orphans and have 8-10 staying with them at any one time. Later that evening we all got to meet our Passion group (small Bible studies on campus), so I was really excited about that! A couple of the girls I kind of know from the Dallas area, and one of the girls is in my Gateway class, so I think it will be a great group!

Tuesday, September 15
Had my first homework freak-out that day........in the morning I started typing up my notes from Saturday about the block for the essay that was due on Friday. Then, when we got to class (English Comp.), the teacher spent several minutes talking about what a tough grader he is and how we have to take time to revise and we'd better not wait until the day before it's due to write it and so on so forth....so I freaked out. Got back from class and spent most of the evening (from 4-11) writing the essay. I didn't get much of my other homework for the day done because of that...but at least I finished up the rough draft for the essay and that made me feel much better!
I still kind of had a scratchy throat for part of the day, but by the evening it was gone and I was pretty sure that I had escaped without getting completely sick.

Wednesday, September 16
I tried to go running that morning....but it did NOT work. Between being kind of sick and giving blood on Monday, I just didn't have enough energy! I went one mile, but was feeling like I was just going to go to sleep running...so decided to quit!
Classes went well. For Mass Media we started watching some of the first silent movies...it was pretty funny to see what they would pay to watch - movies of people jumping into the ocean, of people crossing a street in New York, etc. For News Writing, we wrote our first story in class and I really enjoyed it. Writing news stories seems kind of easy...you have all your facts and parts of the story on a sheet of paper and you just reorganize it to tell the story...I got an A on that assignment, but the professor was going around looking over our shoulder suggesting changes we should make...so it seems a little bit like cheating...but not really.

[Well, now I need to head for class.......I have my first test this morning. Thankfully it is my first class (Mass Media and Culture) so I can get it over with. The teacher has basically told us exactly what's going to be on the test about five times, so I feel decently good about it. My family is headed to see me...I am SO excited to see them!!!!!!!!!]

Orientation Days 2, 3, and 4

[This was written last night, but the internet on my laptop was not cooperating....my first class is in about 45 minutes!]
So…Orientation is over, and classes start tomorrow! That means now is my last chance to catch you all up on the events of the last three days :D.

SUNDAY – Orientation Day 2
We started off with each O group going to a church together. Daniel, one of our O group leaders, took us to his church – Fellowship Bible Church of Siloam Springs. I enjoyed it, although it is a lot smaller than CBC and the style is somewhat different. If I had no choice at all, I wouldn’t really have a problem going to that church. We’ll see where I end up though. I know there are at least two other churches I want to try out, and I may go to a bunch just to experience other ways of “doing church.” I’d like to get plugged in before too long though. Anyways, the sermon seemed a little forced…I’m not entirely sure why. His main point was good though. He was preaching on 1 Samuel 14 about Jonathan going up to fight the Philistines with his armor bearer. He talked about how we should be willing to take chances (within God’s known and revealed will) even when we’re not sure of the outcome. After the service, we all stayed for Sunday school which was also very good. It was on James 2:14 and I really liked the teacher. He talked about how works are not necessary to our salvation, but they are necessary in order to have fruitful lives and to receive eternal reward.
In the afternoon all the freshman were required to voluntarily take a survey for UCLA to do some research….as in, the schedule said it was mandatory and then when we got there we found out we didn’t have to….don’t know why.
We had some free time after that, and I think that is when I wrote my essay for the freshman contest. It was based on the book we did for the summer reading program (The Chosen). I will probably post my essay after the contest is over. I like how it turned out….I *amazingly* came in well under the 900 word limit on my first time to write it!!! (I hardly ever do that, as Mrs. S could testify….I get VERY long winded!) [this post is also a very good example of that...hahaha] It came pretty easily, and I know it is because the Lord was giving me wisdom on how to say what I felt in my heart. I found some really good quotes to use too!
That evening we went down the hill, across the soccer fields, and over the bridge to have a BBQ outside of President Pollard’s house (we would not all fit in his house, even though it looks quite big from the outside).
Once we got back we all headed to the cathedral for the video introductions of the different dorm RD’s and RA’s. My favorite one was the girl’s dorm Mayfield…they had a video using most of the songs from Sound of Music, but rewritten with different words. The RD and her RAs then danced to the songs…it was really funny! Then everyone split up and had dorm meetings with their own RD and RAs.

MONDAY – Orientation Day 3
Monday morning we had the Day of Caring. That is where the various O groups go out into the community and do various kinds of community service. Our group (with about 7 other groups) had the job of shoveling mulch at school playgrounds. The school we were sent to had about 10 different play areas, each with a BIG pile of mulch that had to be spread out and leveled. It was hard work, but also a lot of fun. However, the really annoying part was that the first area (probably about 15 feet by 20-30 feet???) only had a mulch pile on one side. We had to shovel the mulch into an unused plastic garbage can we borrowed and drag it across the playground in order to get the mulch spread out. Then, when we went to the other play areas, they all had TOO MUCH mulch, as in, we would get the playground all nicely covered and still have BIG mounds of mulch. Also, we didn’t have enough shovels/rakes/scrapers/etc, so a lot of us ended up using our hands and feet to spread the mulch. I really wish I had brought my work gloves from home, but I didn’t…so I got a blister, and of course it popped in the last 10 minutes of work we did :( I really did enjoy it, even though it perhaps could have been a little better organized. As we were leaving, the kids were coming out for recess. One little girl asked us “Are you JBUers?” I thought that was pretty cute ;-) I really put in about 2 hours of work…after that there were too many people concentrated in too small of an area and so I didn’t feel like I helped much (for the last 45 minutes or so). I came back to my room and took a shower, but my feet are STILL stained from the mulch, even though I have specifically scrubbed them with soap twice! [This morning I woke up really sore…my upper arms and one spot on my back are really feeling it…but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. Also, I later found out that one of my professor’s twin girls go to the school that we worked on, so that is neat :D]
After lunch, we had several informative sessions to choose from. I attended one about studying abroad, one about living in the dorms, and another one about growing spiritually by getting involved in the small group Bible studies or the various mission opportunities. I’ve already signed up for a Passion group (what they call the Bible studies here), but I don’t know yet which one I’ll get assigned to.
That afternoon we all had to take a relationship/spiritual assessment. Lots of people said some of the questions were really awkward….and they did ask things about relationships with the other sex, drinking, smoking, gambling, etc. but I didn’t really find those a problem for me…. ;-) The more difficult ones were about what my friends think of me….I know what people often say about me, but I also know it’s not always the whole picture…..so I had to decide what to answer more on those. Both this assessment and the survey from the other day were SAT style fill in the bubble tests…bad memories. :P
Next we had a rally promoting JBU sports. They taught us some of the chants and the JBU fight song. After that was the scavenger hunt. Most of my O group didn’t want to do it, so those of us who did joined up with another team. We tried really hard, running ALL over campus…and we probably got second place out of the 33 O groups (but I don’t think all 33 participated)…but we didn’t win :(
At dinner time they had what they called the Homeland Rally. Everyone dressed up representing their home country/state. I went all out, as much as I could anyways. Thankfully, I had decided to take my Texas capitol shirt (I was wishing I had one like Nathan’s though!!!!!), and I put a bumper sticker that said “Native Texan” on it that my mom had gotten me on the back. I wore jeans, brown hiking boots (since I didn’t have any cowboy boots L), braided my hair in two braids, and wore my HSAA bandanna around my neck! One of the other guys from Texas had actually brought some home made chili that was really good! It was a lot of fun.
For desert, we all went to the homes of the faculty that are over our majors. Communications division folks went to Professor Gould’s house. She is the mother of the two girls I mentioned earlier. Professor Warner (the journalism professor) and a couple other faculty members were there too. I was REALLY excited to see that she had a cockatiel!!!!!!!!! She was really really sweet and even let me rub her head! (I could hardly believe that!) I promise I did interact more with the people than the bird though :D
Later that evening was the Karaoke. I didn’t sing anything, but I did watch some….some of it was good, and some of it I didn’t like…but that’s kind of part of the game!

TUESDAY – Orientation Day 4
This morning I went to the Walton Health Center and ran on the inside track. I knew as soon as I got in there that it wasn’t a quarter mile track, and when I ran 4 one minute laps in a row without too much trouble I figured it wasn’t a 200 meter track either. I guessed that it was a tenth mile track, and the guy outside verified that. So I’m not sure that I will be running there too often….that would probably get too annoying. I ran a mile there this morning though, in 11:09. It will be kind of interesting trying to figure out pacing for that….have to multiply by 60, divide by ten, then divide by 60….we’ll see.
After breakfast one of the Biblical professors gave us a session on what the professors probably expect of us. It was mostly common sense stuff like come to class, be on time, do your work well, and so on, but it was a good reminder too.
Next we got together with our Gateway class for next semester (I don’t know if I already explained this before here, but the Gateway class is a required class for all freshman, kind of a Christian philosophy/college introduction class. JBU offers lots of different flavors, from Celtic Christianity to Crime Fiction to Pop Culture. I chose NARNIA!). Today, though, we were purely discussing The Chosen. We started off by writing a 20 minute essay evaluating The Chosen from a Christian world view (that’s the words they used!!! I was quite happy to hear that term again!! :D) I had heard that that’s what the essay had been about before, so I had kind of subconsciously been thinking about it I guess…because I knew right away that I would write about the flawed view of God and the flawed view of man represented in the book. Mrs. S, here is a shout out to you: If I had been told to write an essay in class in 20 minutes about three years ago, I would have FREAKED OUT! Because of your class, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. THANK YOU!!!!!! :D
Next we had a chapel service to conclude Orientation, and then we were FREE FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON!!!!!!!! I desperately needed some free time before classes started to get some stuff done, so I was VERY glad to have it! During lunch, the honors students had an information session with some of the current honors upper classmen.
This afternoon, I received a surprise package from home via a family from church who were bringing their son here. I got some kettle corn and the bicycle pump that Dad and Mom had accidentally taken home, as well as a couple other things. I also found all my classrooms. Now I just can’t wait to actually get into it!!!
After dinner, I played Ultimate Frisbee with a bunch of other students out on the Quad (the big grassy area in the middle of campus). I wasn’t very good at it, although I did make a couple interceptions and once made a score by catching a short toss from another player on my team. It was a lot of fun though! I quit about an hour ago. It was getting kind of dark, and then the sprinklers came on right where we were playing. I decided that was a good enough excuse! Slippery wet grass + darkness + running back and forth a lot = a bad combination in my opinion!
Now I’m going to head for bed….this has been much too long….sorry about that, but kudos to any troopers who made it through the whole thing!!! At least now I feel all caught up :D