Houseless, Busless and Vanless in Corvallis

A wonderful benefit of being a church in the heart of the city, engaged in the culture and committed to serving the entirety of who God has gathered, is that we have many people that are part of our church family who "live outdoors".  Many don't like the title of "homeless" as they do feel like they have a home. Some say that home is their tent, some say home is their city and for a few in our church, they call our church gathering on Sundays their "home".

I respect that and am changing my "label" from "homeless" to just using their names.  

Chris, Steve, John, Shawn, Renee, Diana, Peter, Mike, Shaun, Byron, Denacio...

These are men and women made in the image of God.  They will be the first to admit that they have some issues that drive them to not living in traditional houses, keeping traditional jobs or even having traditional relationships.  But they are God's precious creation and He is pursuing them and calling them to live in the fullness of Christ.    

In changing that mentality, God has done what seemed impossible for me to figure out on my own a year ago.

Here is an example of what God did when we changed our mindset from seeing them as "homeless" to seeing them as "brothers and sisters".  

• We set out to do a wonderful thing with our "homeless bible study" on Mondays. (and I'm sure God brought us along this process so we could truly learn and grow)
• After this shift in thinking we decided to relaunch it as a "Men's bible study" and we openly invited all men to join.  
• When it was a homeless study,  0-4 men showed up to tell one person their problems and talk about the bible.  
• Now that it is merely a "Men's study", we have men (who are "houseless") in fellowship with working, retired and student men. 
• THIS IS WHERE TRUE CHURCH COMMUNITY HAPPENS and everybody grows!  

As we shake off the labels, look people in the eyes, get over the strange odors and embrace the beauty of God's image bearing creation, we are able to truly see God.  Truly experience the Acts 2 and 4 church that we all long for.

Here is the dilemma we face.  

The City of Corvallis makes an effort to ensure that those sleeping outdoors, don't sleep within city limits.  Monday - Saturday, Corvallis has free buses which allows people to get downtown and where they need to be.   BUT, the buses don't run on Sundays.  This means that some of those who live outdoors have to walk 2-7 miles to get to church on Sunday.  

This is Steve.  (he's here with me at Starbucks as I type this and I have his permission to use his photo).   

Steve makes flutes out of scrap PVC pipe he finds in dumpsters and sells them for $5 to $10.  He lives in the northwest part of Corvallis.  During the week, he walks about a quarter mile and hops on a bus to head downtown to use the free wifi at coffee shops for his online schooling and to stay connected to his doctors, but primarily he heads downtown to engage in life with his community and church family.  Last week he helped us move in to our new offices.  

We love his sweet spirit and his respectful attitude.  The Brenners have had him in to their home to share a meal and he is a vital part of Corvallis Church.  He has expressed that he wants to go through our Growth Track to discover what gifts God has given him and how he can serve in and among his church family.

 Since city buses don't run on Sundays he walks about 5 miles to be at church for the 9am service.  Sometimes he's at the 2nd service and most of the time he sticks around to help with clean up.

This is Renae.  She is engaged to Chris. (not pictured).  

Renae is a sweet spirit and hopelessly in love with Chris.  Chris has suffered from a gun shot wound to the head when he was 17 which causes some social anxiety and cognitive impairments that has resulted in fear and anger issues in the past.  He is a gracious man, struggling with the same issues most men do.  Pride, faith, concern about his future, providing for his fiance, the desire to have children... but he's also very self aware that he has some social barriers to overcome.  He is working hard and attending his counseling meetings multiple times per week and the presence of Renae in his life has been a calming and focusing blessing from God.    

Click Here to Learn more about Chris & Renae in this article published by the local newspaper recently.

Chris & Renae recently were given a small camper trailer.  We have been praying for months that God would provide a place for them to park the trailer.  Corvallis restricts any camper living within city limits so again, it takes them out of the city limits to find anything.  They found a place in a neighboring small community called Lewisburg.   During the week, they can hop on the bus and head downtown to engage in their community and set up their busking/poetry spot and make their living.  

The issue:  The buses don't run on Sundays so they are stuck walking 5 miles to church.  Next Sunday, Renae will be trying out joining our worship team, playing her flute and blessing her church family with her gifts.  (She recently wrote me a poem on "Marriage" that after two lines, had me in tears.  Then she took it back and said "I'm not done with it yet".  I will post it when it's complete to her satisfaction.)

There is also a gentleman named John who was blessed to find an affordable apartment in a neighboring town called Philomath.    Philomath is about 6 miles outside of downtown Corvallis.  Do you see the trending need?  

We are praying a few things:  

1.  We are praising God and thanking Him for growing us in to the fullness of Christ through relationships with people different than us.  Thanking God for our outdoor living church family. 

 2.  That God would raise up or bring us someone willing to serve as a driver to take on the ministry of driving a 15 mile loop on Sunday mornings to bring people to church and then returning them home afterwards.  

3.  A van to use for picking them up (and hopefully their friends) so we can fellowship together on Sunday mornings.

Will you join us in prayer?