Under the Overpass – A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America January 23, 2006
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a street person? What is life like begging for spare change, living in shelters and interacting with other homeless people? Mike Yankoski lets the reader experience being a homeless person first-hand in Under the Overpass. Over the course of 5-months, Yankoski and his trusty partner Sam Purvis wandered the streets of five cities (Denver, Washington D.C., Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix and San Diego) in a journey of faith.
The most striking observation is how the church respondes to Yankoski and Purvis when they came into contact. The book provides several stories of churches forcing them off their property or Christians giving them a cold shoulder because of their disheveled appearance. At one church in Phoenix, the man who kicks them off the church property turns out to be the deacon in charge of homeless ministry! (Thankfully, the deacon runs into them later and with a tearful apology asks their forgiveness.) Yankoski does a great job of not over-simplifying the complexity of homelessness and what the church should do about it. The book weaves a number of highly entertaining stories that gives you insightful glimpses of the underground community, desperate drug addiction and the territorial nature of street life. One character that I enjoyed was the “Sugar Man” in Portland who fed, cared for and witnessed to the homeless at one moment and would light up a bong with them the next. This is not something many churches could handle.
The good news is the increasing volume of conversation from believers that seeks to tear down the four walls of the American church. Christians are dissatisfied with the programs and isolation felt in modern churches and desire to experience something more. Part of this conversation must include our role as bearers of the whole ‘gospel’ and not just a message of individual salvation. The good news is not simply that a person is spiritually forgiven of their sins, but that God plans to renew the whole world and establish His Kingdom here for eternity. It is in our pursuit of social justice and alleviating suffering that we serve as a reminder that God will one day restore all creation to its rightful place.
About the author: Drew Goodmanson lives in San Diego and is a Pastor at Kaleo Church. He was a weekly column writer for the San Diego Reader. He currently spends his time as a church planter, a tent-maker, a church technology strategist, a husband and father. You can view additional writings on culture, community and the church at his blog goodmanson.com.
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