Had lunch with a lady named Sarah--a beautiful example of God's work in this world. She has lived in Portland for quite some time and has more recently been working with the homeless street kids who wander around the city "spanging" ("can you spare some change?") and drinking or doing drugs. She opened up her home to them and now has three homes for them to live in. It kind of sounds like Keith Greens work back in the 70's--he just invited people into his home and ended up forming a whole community! I was excited to hear that one of her favorite books is Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger--one of my favs. I'm looking forward to going to a Bible study she is leading this Saturday. Anyway, her son was also with us for lunch--a rather interesting guy who wants to start a community living off the land!! Sounds pretty cool to me, although some of his ideas were a little bit further than I'd probably go. Gus and him had quite a good time of it discussing different books and ideas--it's always a ball being around people who are well-read in what they are talking about. Anyway, he also spent some time on the streets of Portland--about a month, and wants to go at it again, but is only hindered by the fact that he needs to pay off a debt by working. Gus also met some guys who are going to college but are also homeless--apparently to save costs on rent.
Another piece of random info--Portland is apparently one of the better read cities in the US--and it shows--I've seen a number of homeless folks reading books as well as newspapers--just yesterday, I was talking with this one guy at lunch in the soup kitchen who had two science books with him! He said he just wanted to be smarter. Go figure.
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Hey Flick! :) Its kind of weird calling you that, but I'll probably get used to it :). I really enjoy reading your blog entries, your thoughts and stories about the time you are having and the people you are meeting on the street. I'm sure that there's more going on than we hear about, but I'm so glad for these tidbits. A Bible Study on Saturday! Pretty cool! That's also reallly interesting about how well-read people are in Portland, whether homeless or not! That's great! ... Yay science :). Hehe. And yay for people who decide to open their homes. Maybe if I lived in a city long enough that would be something I'd decide to do... Sao Paulo could sure use it! Although homeless people (at least children there) have a really hard time settling into a more structured life. Anyway... just thoughts. Talk to you later!
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