News and Views for supporters and friends of
News and Views for supporters and friends
of
Summer 2006
We have moved. This may not seem like such big news to many of
you; but it’s pretty big for us. Bethann and I have been at the same address for
almost 29 years. Three of our four girls were born while we lived there, two of
them in the house. They all grew up there. We totally rehabbed the house -
twice. The King’s Jubilee started there in the late 1980’s. So many Bible
studies; so many potluck dinners; so many backyard picnics; so many family
dinners. We shared that house with ex-offenders, homeless people, and the
occasional hitchhiker. "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art was started there.
But it was time to move on.
Homeless for Half an Hour
On May 30th,
from about 2 to 2:30, we were homeless. That’s what our realtor, Jim Dietrich,
told us, as he was driving us from the settlement on the East Greenville house
to the settlement on the Souderton house. The day before, in 97 degree heat, we
had moved two 26 foot van loads, several pickup truck and car loads of our stuff
from one house to another, with a lot of help from our friends. I told Bethann
and Jim that I was feeling a bit envious of snails right about then.
A snail
just carries its house with it. Wherever it wanders; it’s always at home. No
moving vans, no transferring of utilities, no last minute repairs to worry
about; no real estate commissions, fees and taxes.
The new place is even
older than the old place. It is 35 years older than the borough of Souderton.
For a time in the 1800s, it was a hotel. The house is charming, with a hand dug
well with a working hand pump just outside the back door and a barn out back.
The main attraction to this house is that it is close to church; only a mile and
a half away. It is closer to Bethann’s work. It has a barn for my business.
The barn had a third floor added for storage. The way it was added was with
beams hanging on "J" bolts from the top plate of the side walls. A couple of
beams ended an inch from glass panes of windows. I have been busy replacing
those beams with proper joists attached to the top plate. It’s dirty, hot work.
I am grateful for the help I have received from Aaron Thompson and Fr. Noah
Bushelli to accomplish this. We have just three more beams to go (if my
calculations hold).
I can use more help. I need to get it weathered in,
wired and heated before winter in order to keep the business going. If I don’t
keep the business going; I can’t keep TKJ or any thing else going. If you are
just itching to try some of those things you have seen on DIY Network, HGTV or
This Old House, but want to practice where you can do little or no damage; this
is the place to be!
The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World
The book was published as promised and my article was placed as the
final chapter. I feel so honored by this. None of us got to see each other’s
work until after it was published, so I had a bit of trepidation over what
others might write; wondering if I might have to take exception to some of it. I
have to say it is a thoroughly solid book. My article is by far the least
scholarly. The whole book is geared to action and hope and includes practical
ways to address twelve major issues confronting the world. The only thing I
would change is how many times the sidebars suggest political involvement. I
don’t hold out much hope on that front, preferring the direct actions of
personal involvement and prayer.
It is for sale at St. Philip’s church
bookstore and I offer it for sale at www.comeandseeicons.com. I will autograph
your copy if you say "Please."
Blankets . . . Already?
The guys are already asking for blankets as we are starting to experience some cool nights. We prefer to give out used blankets as they are less likely to be stolen and sold. Buy yourselves new blankets and give us your old ones. Or, if you are into sewing, you could make an "ugly quilt" layering old remnants into a blanket.
Pray for Rosalie and Clare
These are two women who have been in
and out of homelessness for several years. Both are experiencing significant
health problems.
I have known Rosalie for about 20 years. I met her when she
was an inmate in the Women’s Detention Facility in Philadelphia. We are good
friends and are only a few weeks apart in age. A few months ago, she was
diagnosed with leukemia. She has gone through several rounds of chemotherapy and
appears to be doing well. She goes in for tests in a couple weeks to see if the
treatments did the job. She was living on the street with leukemia. It wasn’t
until her third round of chemo that she qualified for Social Security Disability
(SSI) and was able to move into a group facility with a room of her own.
Thankfully she has a good support group of several guys, including her
brother Pete, who have been looking out for her and helping her to cope. They
are all also homeless.
In a country under a regime that can mortgage the
future into the hundreds of billions of dollars to destroy (and perhaps one day
rebuild) Iraq and subsidize Israel’s destruction of Lebanon, we can’t muster the
resources to house a poor, sick woman with dignity while undergoing cancer
treatment. Shame on us! It is enough to make God weep.
I have known Clare for
several years. (Clare is not her real name, but a convenient translation to
maintain anonymity. If you pray, I am sure God can sort it out.) She is rather
soft spoken and keeps to herself. She has a demeanor that lets you know that she
doesn’t brook any nonsense. She reminds me of the hearty ice fishing women that
I knew when I was growing up in Minnesota. Over the last couple of years she has
gradually started to put her life back together. She befriended a federal social
worker who helped her get a job working night security at an old folks home; and
rented her a room for a time in her house. Clare moved out on her own, but still
came down to eat with us. The job paid so little (since minimum wage hasn’t been
raised in ten years) that she had to choose to pay for rent or for
food.
Clare attended a health outreach during the heat wave a couple of weeks
ago. The nurse told her to go directly to the hospital. They both were thinking
it was something to do with her diabetes. It was her heart. They admitted her
for a week. She had had a "silent heart attack" sometime in the last five months
and is experiencing congestive heart failure. She was told she cannot go back to
work for at least a year. She lost her room, so is back on the street. They told
her to apply for welfare, which she did. That is not enough to rent any place,
however. She also applied for SSI, but that may not kick in for 30 to 90 days.
Imagine yourself in her place: middle aged on the street fleeing an abusive
and destructive mate; just starting to get your life together; coping with
diabetes and moved off the street; only to be placed back on the street by a
heart condition. How would you react?
Let me tell you about Clare. She was
matter of fact, but sad, when she told me. She said, "There’s no point in being
angry. It won’t help my heart or my blood sugar any." (She really reminded me of
my tough Aunt Vi and Aunt Gert, then.) I gave her an icon card of Jesus Christ
the Merciful Judge from Sinai along with a little of your cash. She received
both with humble gratitude. I told her that I would pray for her and ask others
to pray for her.
Please pray for Rosalie and Clare.
What We Do
The
King’s Jubilee serves soup, sandwiches, pasta with meat sauce, fruit drink, cold
water, fruit and goodies (if we have them) to between 50 and 150 men and a few
women in Center City Philadelphia every Thursday night. This is in a park,
year-round. We also share toiletries, blankets and season appropriate clothing
with them.
We serve in the open air, because some of those we serve are
paranoid and will not readily enter a place with which they are unfamiliar.
Also, some of them are not homeless, but are on very low, fixed incomes. They
won’t go to a soup kitchen to take from a program just for the homeless, but
they feel free to eat with us to stretch their food budget, so they can stay off
the street.
We also try to gather resources for other ministries that serve
the poor in Jesus’ Name. If we can’t do it in Jesus’ Name, we
don’t have the
time or the desire to do it.
The Commercial . . . sort of
"Come and See"
Icons, Books & Art was started with the hope that it would provide a steady
income with flexible hours to facilitate my involvement in service with The
King’s Jubilee. After five and a half years, the website has over 1,000
different icons on it. We have signed royalty agreements with almost twenty
iconographers of a variety of styles. The collection is growing all the time. We
have shipped to all 50 states, every province in Canada and to over thirty other
countries on all six inhabited continents. We average about 9,000 hits per day
on the website. Please come and browse our collection at www.comeandseeicons.com
I had to shut down operation for about a month in order to move. I am having
a hard time catching up with orders. I need to find some part time help to catch
up and perhaps help finish the barn. Then we need to seriously market so that I
can afford fulltime help, and so it can start to be profitable, to facilitate
more service to the poor. Pray for us.
The Appeal
We can only do what we
do, because there are many others who share the resources God has given them
with us. Donations are gladly and gratefully received. Whatever we get we spend
in service to the poor, holding nothing back. We have no savings or investments.
If nothing comes in, we can give nothing away. That has not happened yet. I have
confidence in God and you that it will not happen any time soon.
In addition
to checks and cash, personal size shampoos, soaps & lotions are always
welcome, as well as men’s clothing in season.
Checks can be mailed
to:
The King's Jubilee
27 N. Front St.
Souderton, PA 18964-1148
Our phone is:
267-497-0267
email: TKJ@shoutforjoy.net
Thank you. May the Lord bless you as you bless the poor in
Jesus' Name.
Peace,
Cranford Joseph Coulter
© 2006 The King's Jubilee
Any comments or corrections to the site direct to the webmaster.
