No Luck At All
"If he didn't have back luck, he'd have no luck at all."
Unfortunately, this is a sentiment often felt at NeighborLink. No matter how many projects we do or how much we try to help folks, it just seems like everything is stacked against our efforts or the lives of those we're trying to help.
A recent story that sums this sentiment up well.
We got a call from a guy a month or so ago who was in the hospital due to some medical issues. He was getting ready to be released from the hospital and he needed to have some repairs done at his mobile home trailer before he returned. His front door was broken, a window needed fixed, and a few other things. This was a pretty standard call we get.
My co-worker, Jeff, stepped up and identified some volunteers to help him fix these things for this guy. Jeff assessed the project and began to get to know the story of this guy, which is full of difficulties that make our challenges in life seem small. Over the course of a few weeks, the projects got done and his trailer was in a much better shape. Jeff parts way with this guy and moves on to take on some other project.s
Just this week Jeff got a call from this guy, who was in the hospital again. This guy goes on to tell Jeff that he was beaten with a pipe from someone in his neighborhood after welcoming him into his home for coffee and a conversation one early morning. The unfortunate part is that he didn't get his name nor does his physical description help identify him from one of 10,000 other people it is similar to.
It's impossible for us to fathom the idea of attempting to be kind to a neighbor to only be beaten by them. It's no wonder few people trust their neighbors or put any effort into being kind to strangers. At times, it's only a loosing proposition and who wants to risk only to know they're going to loose?
Our hearts were broken after hearing this. Who does this? Why does this happen? What are we supposed to do with situations like these? Are we making any sort of different at NeighborLink or are simply standing close enough to the brokenness of others to also be broken but not be able to do anything to help? We're not giving up but it sure feels like we should.
This situation reminded me of this plenary speaker I heard a few years ago at a CCDA.org Conference named Bart Campolo. Bart is a community developer in Cincinnati and has a lot of experience working with complicated neighborhoods and people. It's one of the most honest presentations regarding the impossibility of doing ministry in challenging environments. Everyone in the room resonated with the idea that maybe some of those around us we're hoping to minister to have a ticket that has already been punched.
