About two years ago I read a book called
Irresistible Revolution. It's a Christian book, but this book was different. The author didn't seem to be trying to win an argument or prove something right. Instead, he was simply telling the story of the journey that he and some of his friends had been on. He seemed to be real. He wasn't putting on the fake pretend everything's good because you say you love Jesus face. In the first paragraph of the book it even says something about Jesus pooping and it smelled. I thought that was kind of funny at the time and sadly... I thought it was a novel idea.
There were a bunch of us friends that had all read the book about the same time. Nothing organized or anything, it just happened that way. About the time we finished reading it, my friend John sent out a Facebook invite to this thing he called "BBQ in the D." Basically, we were all feeling inspired to do something about this new light that had been shed on the Jesus we claimed to follow. We were needing an outlet and here was an idea. We knew where there was this empty lot in Detroit and there always seemed to be a few homeless guys there hanging out under the pine trees. We were going to get together some food and borrow a grill and have a BBQ. We were just going to invite them to hang out with us for the afternoon and tell them to invite their friends too. No strings attached; no agenda; no ulterior motives; just a time amongst friends.
None of us really knew what to expect. I think if I'm going to be honest, I'd have to say I thought it was more likely for us to get beat up or arrested than for it to actually go well. But it did go well. In fact, it's a little embarrassing now to even admit what I thought before that first BBQ. But around 40 people came to the "BBQ in the D" and we all had a great time.
Now during this time I was leading this ministry called Elevate. Elevate brings together different churches and organizations to help college students and young adults make a difference in their church and community. It was spring time and we had just decided to do backyard BBQs once a month through the summer as sort of mixers with the different partnering groups and churches. These backyard BBQs had nothing to do with homelessness or Detroit or anything like that.
Now, Elevate is a very organic group and doesn't have any sort of budget. So five of us got together and did a can and bottle drive to get some money together and buy food for our first backyard BBQ. That backyard BBQ was a smashing success. We had about 90 people come and were excited for the next one. We also had a bunch of extra food. I have a large freezer in my basement that I don't use so I took the food home and packed it in my freezer to use at the next backyard BBQ. I was trying to be wise with what little resources Elevate had.
It was two weeks later after this first backyard BBQ when the "BBQ in the D" happened. I wasn't making much money at the time and so I just came without bringing anything for food. I figured I couldn't afford to do much, but I could give my time so that's all I'd do. I'd spent some time volunteering at homeless things before so I thought I knew about what to expect. In the past it was always with a mission or a goal - to serve a meal, to tell them about God, to build a house - always with a goal. But this was different. This time the reason wasn't to do something. It was to be something. It was just to get to know people. To learn names and hear stories. The goal, if you can call it that, was to share love and hope.
Like I said before, the "BBQ in the D" went great. It was a gorgeous day in June, the sun was shining and there could not have been better weather. While the weather was everything we had hoped for and dared to expect, nothing else about that day was like I had expected.
I found myself standing line waiting for food having a conversation with a homeless guy. All day I had heard people say things like, "I'm so glad you guys are here, I haven't had anything to eat today." Or "If you guys hadn't come today I wouldn't have gotten anything to eat."
And so I've sort of got my back to the food and I'm talking to this guy who's homeless. There's another guy standing just behind him in line sort of listening in. The guy in back waits for a lull in the conversation and then tells me that he's glad we're here because he hasn't had anything to eat today. Right then, in that same moment as I'm sort of hearing him out of my left ear, out of my right ear just behind me I hear someone else say, "I'm sorry, but we're out of food." When I heard that I was still looking at the same homeless guy, I'll never forget his face. But in my mind's eye all I could see was my freezer at home. It was packed with hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, potato salad... all the same food others had brought that day. Right then I knew that the reason that guy wasn't going to get any food that day wasn't because of any mistakes or bad luck he'd had. It wasn't because some rich guy wouldn't give more to charity. And it wasn't because of any government program or lack thereof. The reason that guy didn't get anything to eat that day was because I hadn't brought the food I had to share. I wasn't trying to be selfish. I was trying to be smart with the resources God had given us. And instead I ended up hoarding them. It wasn't that I didn't care for the poor. I did. That's why I was there that day. But the reality is that the poor and homeless were so far off my radar that it hadn't even occurred to me to bring the food I had to share. I once heard something that I believe to be true. It said that there actually is enough food in the world for everyone. The problem is one of mere distribution.
In that moment I made a decision. I decided that Elevate would never again buy food for people who could buy it for themselves. I decided Elevate would continue to have BBQs through that summer like we'd planned. But instead of being in a backyard, we were going to move them south about 15 miles. We were still going to invite our friends, but we'd also invite a bunch of homeless people we didn't already know... and now 2 years and 77 BBQS later, we get the privilege of inviting homeless people we do know. I first came to the BBQ in the D to share love and hope. And that's what I did. But what I have found is that the homeless people I've met along the way share love and hope with me as well.
That day sparked a movement. And I don't mean because of me at all. That day I simply realized that a broke college student could use the friends he had and the resources he'd been given to change the world. And that day that's what I started trying to do.
The whole world hasn't changed yet... But for the crack dealer named Thaddeus, my friend who no longer deals crack, the world has changed. For the hopeless suicidal felon that learned there is hope and has decided to be a father, it's changed. For his daughter who still has a father, it's changed. For the guy who was down on his luck and questioning whether there was any good left in the world, it's changed. And for literally a couple hundred college students who have learned their little bit really can lead to a difference and change someone's life now, rather than having to wait till they're older and have a "real" job, the world is a very different place.
I will always remember that beautiful afternoon and that moment. It is a moment that sparked a movement. A movement that is trying to change the world for one person at a time... through a message of hope and love in the poorest city in the country over a shared meal.
Mike Schmitt runs the homeless BBQs for Elevate Ministries. You can learn more about Mike and his program on Elevate's Facebook group. Contact Mike at mike@elevatedetroit.com.Labels: basic needs, food
