7 minute read
Manteca Homeless Ministry
by Jacob Clagg with Pastor Timothy Welsh
“When you have your vision, and that vision gets squashed, how do you react at that moment? Is God’s greater vision more important than your smaller vision going forward?”
Pastor Timothy Welsh of Manteca Church of God, and the President of our California Eldership, posed this question while reflecting on one of his most difficult valleys during his 15 years of street ministry in the Manteca, California area. It’s a question that comes out of years of ambition, toil, and vision, only to be “squashed,” as he put it, right when victory looked secure. In order to solve a complex homelessness problem in Manteca, Pastor Tim helped coordinate 12 different agencies to purchase a property right next to City Hall. The intention was to create a medical respite for the homeless, and also to make the location a one stop shop for multiple entities to work together to help homeless people get basic services and support. Pastor Tim had worked with the city government to run all the numbers and to get city officials on board, going so far as to speak with the mayor. He and his team of agencies had even received approval from local businesses and tenants to ensure that the rest of the community was in support too.
“We had it all written out, how every group would participate and come along… And the city turned it down… Everything was laid out for them,” Pastor Tim said. And as he walked out of City Hall, hanging his head, he asked, “Why? The city said they were behind us, and they wanted our help, and they turned it down.” Pastor Tim describes it as a particularly low moment for him, and it’s apparent that the emotions were a mix of both frustration and confusion. But amid this, he heard what he attributes to the voice of God saying, “Don’t give up on them. Stay with them. Go back to the drawing board.”
Hence, the reflective questions, “How do you react at that moment? Is God’s greater vision more important than your smaller vision going forward?”
Pastor Tim commented that moments like this, and numerous others, were what God used to squash him down and build him back up. It’s all part of the process that Pastor Tim calls “Progressive Sanctification,” and it doesn’t happen in the way we might think. We might be tempted to think that Progressive Sanctification would be a process that is both enjoyable and exciting. But the way Pastor Tim describes it may leave some of us running for the hills. “It’s not in this ideal, surreal church environment when you walk in the doors and the angels are sounding… It’s when you’re getting cussed out by a homeless person that wants you to get a driver’s license for them." Pastor Tim describes progressive sanctification as a series of events that, more often than not, painfully stretch us, shake us, and humble us, because those are the events that force us to either rebel and to wash our hands of people or grow and become more Christ-like.
“Those interactions are where the true progressive sanctification happens and then we bring those testimonies into the church. When those testimonies come back to the church, [they] bring more unity, bear more fruit; it’s a magnification.”
Of course, it’s not just the homeless people that are challenging to work with, it’s the church people too. Pastor Tim described working in Manteca initially as territorial, and where different organizations were jealous of their ministries. When they weren’t jealous, they were apathetic or unwilling. Pastor Tim recalled another frustrating time when he called 30 different churches together to support a homeless outreach event, and only 11 came. The response from some of the other 19 churches that didn’t show was that the homeless people “weren’t their target demographic.” In other words, they weren’t tithing people, and so the churches didn’t see much use in reaching out to them. While we might expect more of a person in a faithbased community, Pastor Tim said “No, don’t expect more, okay? They are people, right? When people get hurt by other people, they just want to wash their hands of them. And the number one thing that God has helped me grow in is keeping the vision central, not the hurt.” It’s a difficult perspective to maintain, but that’s progressive sanctification in action. It’s not just when there’s friction with people on the outside of the church, sometimes it’s the self-righteous people on the inside that also need our grace. To be sure, we need the people in the church, even the most difficult Christians, to line up and to start doing good kingdom work. As Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” Matthew 9:37.
Pastor Tim admitted, “We’re not going to say all the right things. We’re not even going to do all the right things. But is the vision more important than the small little hurts that are done along the way? The answer has to be, ‘Yes’.” That’s why Pastor Tim, despite the setbacks and the hurts, has continued to work with other non-profits and other faithbased organizations to bring healing and recovery into Manteca where it’s needed. By working “in the trenches” with these other non-profit organizations, they have managed to come to a sense of mutuality and trust. “It wasn’t easy at first. But slowly and surely, we’ve formed this coalition and now we’re all working together.”
Now the different non-profits share a database where they focus not just on the gaps in services, but also on the duplicated services they provide to the homeless as well. This means that the level of cooperation has grown tremendously. Rather than acting as isolated ministries, they all work together to cover gaps and ensure they aren’t accidentally giving out redundant service. This increases efficiency and helps to make sure some people don’t fall through the cracks while others take more than they need. Collectively the coalition offers ID vouchers, transitional housing, addiction recovery, water bill payments, education, prayer, spiritual counseling, community medical services, a food and clothing pantry, and even mail services. They’ve also partnered with a local Catholic charity to help provide food stamps.
But they haven’t stopped there. Despite being turned down by the city in the past, they’ve managed to secure an even larger success. Pastor Tim confirmed that the city has purchased a $16 million, 8-acre piece of land which will become a navigation center for men, women, children, and families, with transitional homes and apartments on the property. The different non-profits will begin operating out of this navigation center, so services and charities can continue working closely together. This is scheduled to happen in the next 3-5 years. In the meantime, the city has been operating a massive tent that non-profits are working out of, providing shower services, three meals a day, and clothes. Pastor Tim sees this as a massive success, and a testament to the persistent work of the different non-profit and faith-based organizations that have strived for years.
Pastor Tim says, “We are trying to bring our community together and to meet the needs of the underserved in our community. The people that are bankrupt and have absolutely nothing. They need our help. If you have joy, give it out. If you have love, give it out. People are not going to react the way you want them to react when you give it out, but is the vision, our vision, God’s vision, that’s hopefully aligned, worth it to disregard the small hurts along the way, and not just wash our hands of people?”