Hello friends,

I have been attending the Westmont homeless ministry "Bread of Life" recently. We take food down to and eat with the homeless at Alameda park at 6:30pm on Thursday nights. Our intention is primarily to build relationships and foster a community of people who care about each other in the context of a meal. Many of these individuals are lonely, homeless, elderly, addicted to something, unmotivated, down-on-luck, or some combination thereof. It is often a great gift to these individuals to simply listen attentavely or engage them in friendly conversation. And of course the food we bring is much appreciated as well. So God be praised and I encourage any of you who want to come to come, we ussually meet at MCC (where the food is prepared) at around 6 to carpool.
That said, I often I see opportunities for supporting, aiding, loving, or spending time with those who come on Thursday nights beyond the 2 hours once a week that we spend with them. Three times I have taken initiative to meet with an individuals outside of Bread of Life, Once to provide Steve with clothing, once to provide financial support to Frank for food, once to attempt to assess/fix a wheel-chair for Courtney, and in all these instances I have attempted to constructively engage the individuals. But I have been doing it alone. Not only does this mean that I have made unsound and guilt-induced financial decisions (which have the potential to harm rather then hurt the recipient), but I have gone as an individual disconnected from the body of Christ. This means that I have far less (if any) potential to represent a community of believers which is called to bring the good news which is primarily relational.
given this, my thoughts are as follows:

Desire1: It would be amazing to establish a core group of people who attend "Bread of Life" and who can meet separately to catalogue, evaluate, compile, and assess what would be required for meeting an observed need.
Reason1.1: together we will make more rational, effective, and and therefore loving decisions as to how someone might best be helped.
Reason1.2:by being on the same page we will be better prepared to go out (in groups of 2 or more) to invite people into an established community.
Reason1.3: we will be able to more clearly assess when an individual's need should be referred upward (or sideways) to a person or agency with a different skill set then our own.
Reason1.4 we can be more safety conscious by identifying patterns
Reason1.5: we can report the needs to financial supporters and prayer warriors.

Desire2: It would also be amazing to have money (beyond what is provided by Westmont Student Ministries for the food) available which could be allocated (as assessed by the core group) to causes and individuals of most need.
Reason2.1: although meaningful things, and amazing relationship can happen apart from from financial considerations, what I have realized is that a relationship hits a brick wall when a need is confessesed and the hearer fails to do his or her very best to alleviate it. The extent to which we help those we know who need help, when we are capable of doing providing it, is a (if not the most important) measure of our love for that person. We may be more then willing to preach a pretty sermon that elaborates the most profound truths of the universe, but if we are not willing to give a cup of cold water then we are probably just trying make ourselves feel good. If we can't get a cohesive group of individuals to be willing to contribute and work towards the mental, social, and economic vitality of individuals (in addition to and perhaps as a neccessary pre-requisite to spiritual formation) then it is all for naught.

Desire3: A core group of people committed to praying regularly for Bread of Life" and all activities relating to or stemming from it (as would be regularly reported).
Reason3.1: because it won't work without God.

I have been thinking about community a lot lately and I see these ideas as stemming from my own currently evolving and expanding vision of a Christ-centered community is actually supposed to be. We should get rid of the all-star christian, or super-hero pastor understanding, and instead seek to all chip in in specific ways, when and where we can (with both time and money) towards the grand vision of Christian community lived among the lost. This very community should one that encourages and admonishes its members to be a more tighltly bound critical mass of accountability and active love which can do nothing but radiate outward, causing chaos and irreversible mutation to all those bound up in and inslaved to the old standards of the world.

thoughts?, reactions?, repulsions?, fears?, confusion?, smart-alek-remarks are all welcome
please respond by commenting on my blog (into which I have pasted this email).
http://benfisk.blogspot.com/
The blog-post can serve as a discussion forum and allow for people to participate in the discussion by choice.
Feel free to forward this email to those to whom it might be of interest, but respond on the blog.

-Ben Fisk

P.S. by the way I am currently still attempting to fix up courtney's wheel chair. I am pretty sure I have found the replacement wheels that she needs online and they are $50+ each. https://www.quickie-wheelchairs.com/category/8x2-Caster-Wheels/1019 Any contribution to this cause is welcome. If I recieve more money then Courtney requires to regain mobility I will save and use the money on aiding others in the future. It would serve as the kick off funds for what I have been talking about.