Loving the Homeless

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

For several years now I have had a growing desire to see our church become involved with helping the needs of the homeless. I naively thought it would be a simple thing to find a homeless person and have our church, with its many resources, step in and turn someone’s life around. But the more I learned about the issue of homelessness, the more I learned that it was a complex subject with challenging solutions.

But I’m glad to say that we are now at a place where LBF is ready to put our “Love in Action” as it relates to homelessness. Let me explain.

Starting in September, LBF will adopt one or two families who are currently residing at the Foothill Family Shelter (FFS) in Upland. FFS has been doing a wonderful job for the last 25 years in taking people off the street and providing them a place to live, along with providing the kind of support they need to return to a healthy lifestyle. They provide a four-month program and after that, they continue to provide guidance. But they can use support from local churches at this point to help a person or family continue on the road to sustainability.

This is where LBF will step in. Step one will be to sponsor families at FFS while they are in the four-month program. This will involve getting to know the family, building a trust relationship with them, and letting them get to know us. Once the four-month program is completed, LBF will adopt this family for one year. During this year we will continue to help them get back on their feet in the specific areas of need they have.

We will do this by providing a team of 10-12 people who will walk with the family personally for a year. Each person on the team will have a specific area of responsibility. For example, someone can help them obtain their Social Security support, someone can help with finding them a job or using a computer, and someone can help with providing food when necessary. There are 12 different areas in which we will be able to help.

One of the keys to make our effort in helping the homeless succeed was finding a partner who could show us the way. I have found such an organization: Open Table. They will provide all the training we need to successfully walk with someone for a year and be part of transforming their life out of poverty and into health.

To help get this moving I’m looking for an Open Table Church Coordinator. This will require some training and about five hours of ministry per week. Once we have that Coordinator trained, then we can move forward in training our Table Teams.

It’s hard to express this on paper, but you need to know that I’m very excited that soon we will be putting our “Love into Action” and tangibly helping people break out of poverty. I anticipate that God will use our love for Him and for people to make a significant difference in our own lives, as well as many lives within our city.

Please join me in prayer for the start of this new ministry. If you are interested in becoming involved, feel free to send me an email at gary@lbfchurch.com.