Outreach in the Bronx.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to serve with The Relief Bus ministry, an organization whose mission it is to "connect the poor, oppressed, addicted with a path toward help and hope." I spent Saturday morning serving alongside a handful of other volunteers in the south Bronx. Together we served meals to hundreds of homeless people in the area. Still other volunteers engaged in street outreach-- sharing information about the bus with the local passerby. Staff members with the organization took care of providing written material about clothing, food, and local shelters to anyone who was interested.

I've probably spent well over a dozen Saturdays in New York by now, but none have been as meaningful as last Saturday. It was eye-opening to spend a few hours in some of the neediest parts of the south Bronx. It was a humble blessing to be able to serve soup to so many hungry people-- women, children, the elderly; hunger knows no "type." I spent a lot of time this past weekend thinking about the verses from chapter 58 of the Old Testament book of Isaiah. One of the Relief Bus staff members, Dave, shared the verses with us during the volunteer orientation time. These are radical verses-- words that carry weight, and passion, and uncomfortable clarity. But, reader, would you not agree these are radical times?

Isaiah 58:6-12 (NIV)

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.