Fast From Shelter

On Good Friday, the staff of Good Works, former and current residents and members of the community participated in our annual Fast From Shelter. Every year we spend the night on the Athens County Courthouse steps being "homeless by choice," experiencing something of what it is like for people who have no home to go to for shelter from the elements. It is always an enlightening and impacting experience.
We choose GOOD FRIDAY to FAST FROM SHELTER because this day, more than any other day symbolizes the painful reality of Jesus death for us. The suffering God has came to identify with and rescue a suffering people. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen... Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter" -Isaiah 58:6-7
The prophet Isaiah in chapter 58 inspires us to sleep outside on the streets of our city once a year and FAST FROM SHELTER as one might otherwise fast from food. We began this discipline almost 10 years ago in an effort to identify with the poor and worship Jesus on Good Friday. We felt that the darkness associated with Jesus' death is something to reflect on in relationship to the poor and oppressed. We felt that for some of us, our lives lack enough reflection.
What is a FAST FROM SHELTER? Each year, the staff and volunteers of Good Works along with many others gather outside on the courthouse steps in our college town and 'abstain from shelter' for 15-24 hours. The purpose of the fast is understanding. The result of the fast is perspective. And perspective is everything. Everything.

First, we fast in order to better understand. We begin by admitting that there is so much we do not understand—about ourselves, about our own biases, about the situation with the poor and homeless both in the world and in our community. In a word, this is continuing education. Reading books, seeing films, hearing speakers don't bring us the same kind of insight into the poor that staying outside for a night on the streets can. We intentionally place ourselves into an environment outside of the classroom (indeed, outside of our comfort zones) where we believe God can teach us about loving God, ourselves and our neighbor. Each hour those who are fasting gather for a short time of song, prayer, scripture reading and sharing for 10 minutes. The other 50 minutes is spent in reflection and more intimate sharing. After several hours a theme begins emerge from the many scripture verses surrounding God's love for the poor and oppressed. During the fast, we have many many visitors. Some are curious, others want to contribute money or food. Occasionally, friends of friends will come by and there will be spontaneous singing. It is an atmosphere marked by the noises of the city and the voices from the streets.
While we realize that fasting from shelter is NOT the same as being homeless, we also realize that taking this intentional step can really help to replenish our reservoir of compassion. No one is exempt from the possibility of getting a hard heart. Those of us who work daily to help the poor are vulnerable to abuse the power given us and are tempted at times to succumb to our own indifference. Furthermore, the constant challenge of caring for those whose lives have become unmanageable can be overwhelming and we are often pushed beyond our emotional and physical boundaries to the point where we often lose perspective. The fast, therefore helps us regain some perspective and at the same time helps us to appreciate the wonder of the body of Christ. Those who participate in the fast are forged into an intimacy with one another in one night that many in the church don't experience in a whole year. We are often joined in our fast by former homeless people who huddle with us throughout the night and share from their hearts the story of their homelessness. This is truly an awakening experience—body, soul and spirit!
While many in the media and other sincere on-lookers have called our event a "protest" or "vigil" the only personal benefit we seek is to further grasp the heart God has for the poor and oppressed and in doing so, to be more transformed to think like Jesus as we see the multitudes in our community. In our hearts, we know that most of us are middle class and that we have many limitations with regard to understanding the ugliness of poverty and homelessness. Therefore, we, as the writer of Proverbs exhorts us "cry aloud for understanding and call out for insight" (Proverbs 2;3)
It is out of understanding that we gain the momentum we need to do justice, love mercy and walk in humility with God AND not neglect what Jesus considers the weightier issues of the law (Micah 6:8 & Matthew 23:23). God renews our compassion for the poor through this intentional fast and we are further empowered by the Holy Spirit to demonstrate the gospel as well as proclaim it. Come. Grow. Spell faith R. I. S. K.

Michael Teagarden (past Staff Member) shares his insight:

My experience with the fast from shelter was an eye opening experience. I have been made more sensitive to how God looks at those in need and what he desires from us. We cry out in OUR humility for ourselves, but we need to humble ourselves to serve others. To share our food, to show kindness to the poor and to speak for the powerless.
I remember lying on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse steps in fear. I was scared of being kicked or spit upon as I laid there on the sidewalk trying to sleep. All the while, offensive and misunderstanding people walked by commenting their amazement to see a ‘homeless’ person in ‘their part’ of the neighborhood. I felt misunderstood and helpless to reason with their thinking. What would be the use. If they were drunk, then would they really hear? If they were sober would they even take the time to listen? So, I slept, or tried to sleep. With the city noise all around me, the cold air drafting into my blanket, and the hard concrete under my head... I didn’t get much sleep. I only had to experience this for one night. I cannot fathom what it must be like to live like this. I was surrounded by friends and people I could relate to all on the steps of the courthouse, but the homeless are mostly alone and without connections.
Reading Isaiah 58 stretched me and my understanding of how God thinks about the poor and needy. In His Word, my mind and life was transformed. My experience was a growing time and God has become very personal to me this week since the study that we went through that night on the street.

Debi Willis, a social work intern from OU, shares her thoughts:

Good Friday 1999 had a completely different meaning for me. I participated in the Fast From Shelter that Good Works Inc. has yearly. The thought of spending a night outside did not strike me as being difficult. That was before I did it. The begining of the night held conversation, worship, and prayer which was wonderful. As the night wore on I began to feel tired and sitting on the concrete was not comfortable. I walked around the streets for awhile just to get off the concrete. The more I walked the slower the time seemed to move. I tried to find a comfortable place to rest but everywhere seemed so public. I shut my eyes and the sounds of the people on the street traveling from somewhere to home seemed to amplify. I felt the eyes of those walking by boring through me. I could not keep my eyes closed. I began to walk some more just to pass the time. My legs ached from walking but the thought of people watching me as I tried to sleep was worse. The feeling of hopelessness seemed to grow within me with each passing hour. I began to think, “This is just for a night, anyone can survive a night.” That brought my thoughts around to those people who did not have a dawn to look forward to. Their night was endless and their days could not be much different just trying to survive one day at a time. I had a deep feeling of admiration for those whose lives are so public and so hopeless. They had to have a great deal of strength to face each new day. I felt that God must be extremely close to the homeless. They have to be chosen as special people to be able to live without much more that the clothes on their back.
The fact that I could not sleep with people watching me was minor when the problem of restrooms came up. The restaurants had closed that were close to where we were and the thought of having to walk to a place on the other side of town at four in the morning did not appeal to me at all, especially by myself. The fear of who was out on the street at this time of morning and how unsafe it would be to walk alone was overwhelming. I was lucky to have a couple of volunteers to walk with me but how many women were not so lucky? This thought was sobering to think that not only do the homeless have to find a place to sleep and food to keep them going but the thought of being alone in the night as a woman who had no one to walk with was like a nightmare.
As the sun came up and I knew the night was over, I could not rejoice as I thought I would that I had survived. The thought that if I were in this position in reality was frightening. I do not think that I could handle life as a homeless person and the thought that most of us are actually not that far from this life is even more frightening. If it were not for my parents I of course do not have the financial status to pay for a home and all that goes with it. Not far from the same place financially but I was so far from it mentally. I could have been the parent who pulled their child away from a person who lived on the street for fear of what they might do to my child. I was that person who looked on with pity and thought what did they do to get in such a situation. Now I know that it is not always what they did and their fears and frustrations are so much greater than any that I might ever have. I am ashamed to say that I like many other people do or did nothing to make life better for the homeless until Good Works. My understanding of this group of people was very slight bordering on embarrassingly ignorant. The experience that I had as a homeless person will forever change my thoughts. I have a great respect for this population and hope to continue to help to make a difference in any way that I can in their lives.