Tragic Realities in Kansas City

(Kansas City: Dec. 8-10, 2010)

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

James 1:27 (New Living Translation)

Hello Readers,

I wish my hands could type as fast as the thoughts racing through my mind.  Sumer and I returned from Kansas City this past Friday, and reflecting on our experience has been mind-numbing.  This post is a regurgitation of the things we witnessed during our visit.  I use the word "regurgitate" because it's not a pleasant word...and though our visit was incredible, the things I will share with you are not pleasant.  In the following paragraphs I will share some of the encumbering realities in Kansas City. 

Sumer and I were in the Holiday Inn lobby when the IGNITE students returned from their service project.  They were covered head-to-toe with sheet rock dust.  Some raced by competing for first dibs on the showers, while others slowly shuffled in.  I was eager to hang out with the students and hear about the service projects that caused them to resemble powdered donuts.  I later learned that they spent the day renovating an abandoned hospital.  The hospital is now called "River of Refuge", a non-profit Kansas City based organization which transitions homeless families who have jobs from high rent motels and shelters into permanent housing.  (check out their website:  www.riverofrefuge.com...the story is phenomenal)  We spent the majority of Thursday morning touring the hospital with the executive director, John Wiley.  It was easy to capture the heart and vision as we walked through the massive building.  It was a little creepy walking through the morgue and operating rooms. (I thought, what a great place for a lock-in)  Seriously though, check out the website.  God may speak to you about contributing to the River of Refuge.  We spent a couple hours driving around the community and eventually landed back at the hotel.  We relaxed in the lobby for most of the afternoon talking with the IGNITE director, mapping out the next 7-8 months.  

The next morning we drove to Hope Faith Ministries, an outreach to the homeless.  Check out their website:  www.hopefaithministries.org.  This ministry serves between 450 to 500 homeless and less fortunate every day.  We learned that in Kansas City alone there are over 13,000 homeless.  The more alarming reality:  the median age is 7 years old.  That is not a typo.  Read again.  Now read it out loud.  How disturbing is that reality?  It fills me with a wide range of emotions, spanning from sadness to anger.  A voice from within screams, "THIS IS NOT RIGHT!"  Hope Faith Ministries is responding to that cry.  We were able to take a tour of the facility with Wilson, an employee of HFM who was also homeless.  Everything in the building was donated.  In fact, the new 47,000 square foot building was a donation.  Apartment furniture, food, commercial kitchen equipment, commercial freezers, forklifts, clothing...everything was a donation.  The presence and peace of God was so raw and real.  Perhaps the most chilling moment for me and Sumer was when Wilson explained the purpose of one particular exit door.

The picture above is a hallway where only children and women are granted access.  Many homeless women (and even children) are forced into the sex slave industry and they come to the Hope Faith facility for clothing and food.  (most of the time they arrive at the shelter with their pimp)  At any moment the women are separated from their pimp the Hope Faith staff lead them down this secured hallway.  They explain to the women that if they go through this exit door there will be a car and driver ready to take them to a rescue center.  They can either go through this door to receive the help they need to get out of the industry, or they can go back the way they came in. The choice is theirs.  

(Push pause:  I want to invite you to join in praying over this exit door.  Place your hand on the picture if you like.  Pray that God's love, peace and redeeming power rest over this doorway.)  

Let me offer a few other statements that may cause you to pray again:  Kansas City ranks highest in the nation for human trafficking.  Two months ago the Kansas City police performed a sting operation where over 600 sex slaves were rescued.  One sting operation, 600 individuals rescued.  I was stunned when I heard that news.  

I hope you're a little stunned too.  Please check out the websites that I've mentioned above.

Take a prayerful stand against the corruption that is in our world.  God might nudge you to go.  Go volunteer at a homeless shelter.  Go to Kansas City.  Go take the love of God where it is so desperately needed.

I want to conclude with some words from James 2:14-20:

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?  Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?  So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.  Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”  You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

Thanks for reading,

The Smiths