Note: Guest post by Chad Miller

Almost year ago Suzanne and I began visiting people in downtown Raleigh. We never knew all that God would do through our lives. We have made a lot of new friends and met some people who really need substantial help. I always had a struggle of being a bit of a pew rider, never wanting to get outside my comfort zone. Sure, I visited people in hospitals, counseled people and was an activist, but it never required so much of me as the pain of seeing people who are continually in physical needs. After I would visit people before, I could go back to my suburban home and know the people I was with were going back into a similar situation.

When you spend time with people who have less, you realize that community and friendship is all they have. I guess it helped me realize that community and friendship matter much more than economic status or stuff.

I am definitely not a person who will condemn anyone for being wealthy. Yet, I want to challenge people to know some people outside of their own so-called class. I think it helps you to become less selfish and materialistic.

So now, a year later, I have a lot of friends who would still love me, no matter what. I am part of a ragamuffin family , and I love it.

********

Chad lives in Apex, NC with his incredible wife, Suzanne. Chad and Suzanne have been involved with the homeless of Raleigh since January of 2007. They currently are working as schoolteachers in the community, trying to bring awareness of people less fortunate to other people. Suzanne is also an aspiring writer. Chad is on staff at Connections Church in Raleigh, NC as a Children’s Pastor. They both work in unison to bring dignity and grace to all types of people they meet with.

Dear Friends,

One question I get asked a lot, especially by those in traditional churches, is about my statistics. How many people I work with get off the street, how many get sober, how many get ‘saved’. I have to tell you up front; I have crummy statistics. But I am OK with that because I have some awesome stories.

Like the young couple I was talking to right after they heard her mother was in the hospital with heart trouble and they had no way to get home (200 miles away) to be with her. They are upset and crying and depressed and really pouring it out to me. While we were talking, an ‘evangelist’ pressed a tract in her hand and told her that if she gave her life to Jesus, he would change her life. As a result of that day, that couple and I have an ever increasing bond that has led to them making serious changes in their life. That evangelist saw a statistic, but that couple and I have a story.

Or the guy who braved the snow to visit my friend Renee in the hospital, bringing a collection of fruit, peanut butter sandwiches and crackers he took up from the other homeless. When I scolded him for coming, he looked me in the eye and told me, “Hugh, all my life I have not been worth much. I have been in and out of jail, in and out of rehab, in and out of relationships. I am 38 years old and you are the first person my whole life to ever tell me they are proud of me. I love you, man. I am here for you.” All those Social Workers saw a statistic, but he and I have a story.

There is the lady who had to leave her husband because liquor was destroying her life and he refused to quit when she did. She moved into a small hovel owned by a slumlord where she could barely pay the rent. When ends did not meet one month, the landlord filed eviction papers. I went to court with her and all the money but $50. The statistics said we did not stand a chance, but when she showed up in court and he did not, we got the eviction overturned and bought a few more days to raise the money. Now she is still in her house and still tells her friends the story of when she and I went to court.

Stories, not statistics. Names, not numbers. Meals, not metrics.

You see, we operate from this crazy premise we see in the teachings of Jesus that love, once given, spreads and grows (sorta like yeast, or a mustard seed…) and takes hold and, in small ways and in incremental bits, works to change us, then each other, and then, the world, working towards truly making it on earth as it is in heaven.

The way it happens is not through statistics but through stories shared over a plate of food, on a walk through the park together, sitting with them in the living room while a loved one dies in the bedroom. It takes being there.

You guys bless me incredibly by allowing me to be out there, touching lives and building relationships with people the world has written off but God has not. That you support me in doing that with your prayers, your time and your money mean more to me than I can ever say. Because of you, some people who have reason to have a low opinion of the church get to feel what the love of Jesus feels like.

Love Wins. Always.

Hugh Hollowell

You see, we operate from this crazy premise we see in the teachings of Jesus that love, once given, spreads and grows (sorta like yeast, or a mustard seed…) and takes hold and, in small ways and in incremental bits, works to change us, then each other, and then, the world, working towards truly making it on earth as it is in heaven.

That is my favorite line from May’s newsletter, which many have said is their favorite of mine. If you have not subscribed, now would be a great time to do so. I will get the online archive of May’s newsletter up next Monday.

As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t have a lot of time to do serious blog posts. I wish I did, but I just don’t. However, I do grab quite a bit of internet time, but usually in short snatches. With that in mind, I created an account for Love Wins on Twitter.

Twitter is a way I can post short (less than 140 character) messages about anything… to let people know where I am going to be, to give quick status updates, to request emergency help for people. Because of a neat plugin for WordPress (the software that runs this site), once a day all our Twitter updates will show up here, in one group, as a blog post.

I see several advantages:

• You, the blog reader, gets a better sense of what I do day to day. Obviously, I won’t be able to post everything I do (my phone and twitter do not see eye to eye, so I am limited to Twittering when I am at my desk), but you will get a better sense of some of the behind the scene activity.
• Google will like that the site is updated daily, so that should help the search results.
• Twitter, among a certain demographic, is huge. This will allow me to reach that demographic with our crazy message of Love in the name of Jesus. Hopefully, this will translate into some of them deciding to partner with us to change the world.
• When I find links to important websites, I can publish them on Twitter, so you can read them too.

Will this work? I am not sure. I hope so, but then again, that is just my nature.

If you are on Twitter, we would appreciate it if you followed Love Wins.

I looked at the website statistics for the website this morning and realized that I have not been very present on ye olde blog here.

The cold simple truth is that there is only so much of me to go around. Most of my life is taken up with ministering to homeless and poor folks, meeting with churches and Sunday School classes and such that want to help me do that and, unfortunately, raising funds to free me up to do those first two things. Once a month I write a newsletter and the time to do that always gets stolen from somewhere else, it seems.

Here are a few updates, in no particular order, to get you caught up until I can get back to regular posting.

• I moved from my very uncomfortable, very skanky room over by Lion’s Park (which has no lions in it… I checked) to my very cool, very close to downtown, very affordable (Thanks, A&J!) apartment. There are several reasons for the move, including the fact it ends up being cheaper, it is much closer to the areas where I hang with homeless folks and much saner. It is in a ‘transitional” neighborhood, which means you live a block away from a $400,000 house they are renovating, but you may still find a homeless man asleep on your front porch in the morning. The neighborhood is a lot like my ministry, in fact, bridging between the affluent and the poor.
• There for a while, I was dangerously close to burnout. I was working hours no sane man should be asked to work. Thanks to Bart & Lisa, I have began taking a full Sabbath day each week to recharge (which is why your emails probably won’t get returned on Saturday, nor your phone calls answered). Indirectly, this is also why the blog posts got cut back, too.
• Also thanks to Lisa, some progress is being made on the fund raising front. I really am just no good at organizing, so her pushing me in those weekly meetings to get off my rear and build some structure to support me is a good thing. I have one church that is on board with providing some monthly support and three members of that church provide some individual support. Plus, they have helped me with emergency funds for rent or other basic needs for folks, meaning that frees up my meager funds for other stuff. I promise to write more about fund raising in a separate post.
• I am getting some invites to speak to groups – this is something I am very excited about. More on this later too.

Well, there you go – some things that should have made it into the blog, but did not. I hope you will stick around. You may want to subscribe to the RSS Feed so you don’t miss anything, or sign up for our monthly (more or less) newsletter.

One thing you learn quickly is that not all the homeless are sinners, nor are all the sheltered saints, although we sheltered types like to think that is the case.

I recently read a great essay by Steve Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh titled There’s No Place Like Home. In it, they look at a homeless man named Kenny and a wealthy man named Kenneth and contrast their lives, their relationships and their community. It does not go like you might think…

Highly recommended.