Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The team that went to Christ House was small but very engaged in offering this time with our family in DC as an act of love and worship.
We met at the church at 5:30 am, loaded up the groceries for a full breakfast and met in Ryan Chapel for our worship experience before we left.
We arrived at Christ House a 34 bed hospital for homeless men and women about 6:45 am. We began to cook a breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and sausage and fresh fruit. We were a bit bleary eyed but full of joy to be there.
Pravin Gandhi was our tech savvy contact and he spent some time with a couple of older men who were living across the street at Kairos House. This is a facility associated with Christ House that offers permanent living quarters in 34 apartments. All of these residents are men who were formerly homeless and who had been walked a disciplined pathway to recovery and independent living.
We really enjoyed a conversation with an older man whose family moved to DC from NC for work in the early 1940’s. His father moved rock and dirt to help build the National Airport runway and terminal. It was all swamp and water then!
After breakfast was served by our group another group came in from another DC church and did the clean-up. We watched the men convert the small dining area into a worship space with altar and equipment for the worship team. Worship began with 20 minutes of silence. I sat beside a gentleman who was very kind and welcoming. He had been very sick with the flu last week and was still recovering his strength.
The worship experience was ecumenical and a mixture of the Good News of Jesus with elements of the 12 step recovery process blended in. It included singing from a African American Catholic hymnal and a worship team led by the men and a classical violinist. It was awesome gospel music with much of worship led by the men. Pastor Goetchus is a United Methodist from Indiana. He and his wife began Christ House in 1985. She is a physician who organized the medical care for the people there and continues to do so. There are four floors with two devoted to a 34 bed hospital. The upper floor is composed of full time living quarters for some of the nurses and the Goetchus family.
Our team shared various stories of being deeply touched by the humility and full participation of the residents during worship. We wished we had more time to sit with the men and to share stories together. That is something to consider for next time around. We were all very grateful for this experience of meeting Jesus through our friends in DC.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Six Crossroads Servants Find Treasure at Christ House
"Early service" took on a whole new meaning when the Christ House servants gathered at in the parking lot of Crossroads United Methodist Church at 5:30 a.m.
After a quiet devotion time in Ryan Chapel, two vehicles headed into the mist for a traffic-free drive to Adams Morgan.
Our destination: Christ House, 1717 Columbia Road NW, Washington DC
Our mission: to cook and to serve breakfast there, and to worship there.
All we know: Christ House is a 33-bed health-care facility that provides comprehensive medical care to homeless and sick men and women.
We were met by a friendly kitchen helper, who works in the kitchen 3 days a week and helps volunteers like us find our way around. We unloaded our breakfast supplies - eggs, bacon, sausage, sausage biscuits, crescent rolls and a gigantic bowl of fragrant fruit - and got down to business. Fortunately, one member of our small band of servants - Ron - had actual commerical kitchen experience and this proved invaluable.
Breakfast needed to be ready by 7:45 a.m. and we were told to expect anywhere from 10 to 40 people. At 7:45, there were people in line and we were ready. We quickly developed a "workflow" and dished up enough food to serve 30 hungry men - firsts and seconds. (Note to self: when we go back, we need to bring more sausage biscuits and crescent rolls!)
One way in which Christ House and Crossroads are similar is that we both have a versatile space that can be used as a dining area and a sanctuary. In the time it took the Christ House volunteers to set up for church, we enjoyed visiting with a resident of Kairos House. (more on that later) and actually lived in the area that is now Reagan National Airport, which he remembers as being rather swampy and full of wildlife.
The worship service began with 20 minutes of silence. What followed was an ecumenical service, punctuated with the liturgy (sometimes sung) and plenty of gospel music, accompanied by piano, bass guitar and violin. The pastor asked us to reflect on what holds us back from surrendering all to God? In I Corinthians 15:36, we learn that the seed we plant doesn't come to life unless it dies first. What part of us refuses to die?
We joined together in Holy Communion and sang "Every time I turn around, He keeps blessing me over and over again!" When we sang the closing song, the pastor encouraged us to use "full voice." That's easy to do when you're singing "This Little Light of Mine." A man sitting next to me said "That feels good, doesn't it?" Yes, it did!
After enjoying fellowship time after the service, the volunteer coordinator, invited us to tour the 4-floor facility. Our first stop was a meeting room, where we watched a short video made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Christ House.
Christ House opened on Christmas Eve, 1985 and was one of the first residential medical facilities for the homeless in the United States. They now have 34 beds (not 33) and the average length of stay for a patient is 35 days. They've had patients stay more than a year, since they do not discharge patients that are medically unstable. Their "criteria" for admission is that a patient must be homeless and too ill to be on the street or in a shelter.
The richness and breadth of help available through Christ House is astounding. For example, patients who are medically stable, but chronically ill, may find a permanent home at Kairos House. There, they have access to medical care, meals, counseling and a 12-step spiritual recovery program.
If you'd like more information about Christ House, please visit their Web site, where you'll find poetry, resident's stories and more!
After a quiet devotion time in Ryan Chapel, two vehicles headed into the mist for a traffic-free drive to Adams Morgan.
Our destination: Christ House, 1717 Columbia Road NW, Washington DC
Our mission: to cook and to serve breakfast there, and to worship there.
All we know: Christ House is a 33-bed health-care facility that provides comprehensive medical care to homeless and sick men and women.
We were met by a friendly kitchen helper, who works in the kitchen 3 days a week and helps volunteers like us find our way around. We unloaded our breakfast supplies - eggs, bacon, sausage, sausage biscuits, crescent rolls and a gigantic bowl of fragrant fruit - and got down to business. Fortunately, one member of our small band of servants - Ron - had actual commerical kitchen experience and this proved invaluable.
Breakfast needed to be ready by 7:45 a.m. and we were told to expect anywhere from 10 to 40 people. At 7:45, there were people in line and we were ready. We quickly developed a "workflow" and dished up enough food to serve 30 hungry men - firsts and seconds. (Note to self: when we go back, we need to bring more sausage biscuits and crescent rolls!)
One way in which Christ House and Crossroads are similar is that we both have a versatile space that can be used as a dining area and a sanctuary. In the time it took the Christ House volunteers to set up for church, we enjoyed visiting with a resident of Kairos House. (more on that later) and actually lived in the area that is now Reagan National Airport, which he remembers as being rather swampy and full of wildlife.
The worship service began with 20 minutes of silence. What followed was an ecumenical service, punctuated with the liturgy (sometimes sung) and plenty of gospel music, accompanied by piano, bass guitar and violin. The pastor asked us to reflect on what holds us back from surrendering all to God? In I Corinthians 15:36, we learn that the seed we plant doesn't come to life unless it dies first. What part of us refuses to die?
We joined together in Holy Communion and sang "Every time I turn around, He keeps blessing me over and over again!" When we sang the closing song, the pastor encouraged us to use "full voice." That's easy to do when you're singing "This Little Light of Mine." A man sitting next to me said "That feels good, doesn't it?" Yes, it did!
After enjoying fellowship time after the service, the volunteer coordinator, invited us to tour the 4-floor facility. Our first stop was a meeting room, where we watched a short video made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Christ House.
Christ House opened on Christmas Eve, 1985 and was one of the first residential medical facilities for the homeless in the United States. They now have 34 beds (not 33) and the average length of stay for a patient is 35 days. They've had patients stay more than a year, since they do not discharge patients that are medically unstable. Their "criteria" for admission is that a patient must be homeless and too ill to be on the street or in a shelter.
The richness and breadth of help available through Christ House is astounding. For example, patients who are medically stable, but chronically ill, may find a permanent home at Kairos House. There, they have access to medical care, meals, counseling and a 12-step spiritual recovery program.
If you'd like more information about Christ House, please visit their Web site, where you'll find poetry, resident's stories and more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)