WINTER
2008
REPORT
Our Twentieth Year
February starts our twentieth year of The King’s Jubilee.
When I started, I thought it would look much different by now than it does. We
are still serving meals in the same neighborhood in basically the same way as
when we started. A few of the men we serve are even the same ones I met when we
started.
Recent Weeks
We were able to give away over $250 on St. Nicholas
Day. There weren’t that many men out that night so the ones who really needed it
got more. This is a good thing.
A man who has been living on the street for
over 18 years is getting an apartment on February 1st. We have been gathering
household goods in preparation for him to make this transition. So far, we have
a bed, a kitchen table and chairs, a microwave, an electric frypan, some end
tables, an upholstered rocking chair, and a few dishes. I should mention that
this man has been a faithful volunteer helping us and a couple of other groups
serve on the streets. Cash donations would be gladly received for us to purchase
appropriate sheets, cleaning supplies, etc.
As the weather has turned cold,
we have experienced an emphasis on thanksgiving among our "customers." Last week
almost everyone we served said thank you, some more than once.
Spring
Break
The University of Delaware OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship) have
chosen The King’s Jubilee for their spring break service project. This will be
the week of March 30. I am so thrilled that they are coming to help
us.
Through the years it has been a frustration to me that people are more
willing to cross the country or go overseas to help, rather than drive an hour
or two to a town near them to help. I understand that mission trips are fun, and
it is exciting to go to strange, exotic places. If I had the means I would love
to go on them, too. But there is work to be done close to home, as well, and one
may find that some of one’s neighbors are stranger than one imagined.
Some of
the students want a more economical, yet worthy, spring break this year. May I
add that less travel means lower environmental impact?
The plan is that
between seven and twenty college students will come to Souderton for the week.
They will bring their sleeping bags so we will need some floor space in local
homes for them to crash at night. Meals will be taken together at our place.
Each morning will start with prayers and Scripture. During the day, we will all
work on the barn, building a proper base of operations for TKJ.
Monday and
Tuesday evenings will be story telling, perhaps with a special guest. Wednesday
evening is Pre-Sanctified Liturgy at St. Philip’s. Thursday evening we will all
help serve on the street in Philadelphia. Friday evening is the Akathist
Hymn.
Please pray for this event and consider joining us sometime during the
week. It promises to be a real boost to help us do more for the poor and
homeless, especially for those transitioning off of the street.
Talk About
Recession
Lately, all of the economic news has been about recession and how
we might try to spend our way out of it. Year-end charitable giving in the US
was down in 2007, as was all giving for the year as a percentage of income.
Could it be that the recession is a form of reaping sparingly after sowing
sparingly?
The first and last to suffer in a recession are the people who
were poor to begin with. Now is the time to increase our giving to those in
need. We would like to expand the services that The King’s Jubilee offers;
especially helping those who are transitioning off the street and helping those
who are only hanging onto their homes by a thread. We can only do this with
additional funding. We cannot expect God to bless us, if we do not bless the
"least of these".
Christmas Cookies
Thanks to all who baked cookies for us
to give away. We shared hundreds and hundreds of homemade cookies on three
different nights in Philadelphia and gave away as many hats and socks as any
wanted.
Thanks!
What’s Ahead?
If we can finally finish the barn, what
are the possibilities? There is always a need for men’s clothing, toiletries and
blankets for the guys on the street. There is a need for household goods for
those moving off of the street. I currently have no good place to gather and
store these. Finishing the barn, especially the clean, dry storage room, would
allow us to do more without cluttering up the coat room at church.
Beyond
that, I have always envisioned The King’s Jubilee as being much more than a once
a week meal serving ministry. On the other hand, I don’t have any desire to
build a large organization with an institutional culture. I want to do more of
what we did in the early years. We acted as an umbrella organization to start
and establish various local ministries and pass them off to local churches to
continue for as long as they had people who would do them.
Clothesline in
East Greenville is an example of one such ministry. It has been operating a free
clothing exchange for over fifteen years. The woman who was operating this came
to us when she needed a space to continue this. I contacted the Mennonite Church
mission that had recently acquired a building on Main Street and negotiated for
Clothesline to operate out of their garage. Our daughter, April, drew a
beautiful "trademark" for them. The church people got involved and took
ownership in it.
The original organizer of it lost interest and moved on.
Over the years the mission closed for a couple years, then reopened, but the
clothing ministry continued to help struggling families in Jesus’ Name without
interruption.
We started homeless and poor outreaches in Pottstown, Stowe and
Upper Darby in Pennsylvania, and in two neighborhoods of Columbia, South
Carolina. These all continued for years after The King’s Jubilee had no
organizational ties with them. We were just there to lay the groundwork and
start them and shepherd them to local churches who then took complete ownership.
That is what I want to do more of.
I have ideas for three ministries to help
improve neighborhoods. Please let me know if you want to get involved in any of
the following.
Broom Brigade
I remember Maureen O’Hara telling John Wayne
that "Cleanliness is next to godliness" in one of those old westerns. It’s not
found in Scripture, but there’s a kernel of truth there nonetheless. People tend
to behave better in a clean environment. Whether the houses are small or large,
if the sidewalks are clean and the windows are washed, people feel safer there
and are more likely to treat others with respect.
I want to organize a mix of
volunteers, some from the neighbor- hood, some homeless, some from outside to
sweep, pick up trash, wash windows and weed a block at a time in North
Philadelphia. This would be done in cooperation with the block or neighbor
organization. If they don’t have an organization, we’ll help start one.
Neighbors talking to neighbors and working together has been found to be an
effective prevention against property crime and domestic violence.
Sun
Power
All of the home improvement shows talk about energy independence and
alternatives to expensive, fossil fuels. Remember when everyone with money was
buying smaller, more efficient cars in the 1970s after the OPEC oil embargo;
while the working poor were left with the gas guzzling, older cars?
There’s a
similar thing happening now. Oil and natural gas prices have gone up.
Electricity is bound to follow shortly. People with money are investing in
insulation, geothermal heat pumps, passive and active solar power. The working
poor are stuck renting older housing stock that is very energy inefficient to
say the least.
There are solar collectors that can be made for very low cost,
sometimes from scavenged materials. A simple passive solar heat siphon can be
hung out of a South facing window of a rental property without doing any damage
to the existing building.
Windows and doors can be tightened up. Energy and
water conservation habits can be taught and learned. These can make a real
impact on people’s monthly budgets, not to mention helping the planet. And
again, it is a point of contact to share the love of God, when it is done in
Jesus’ Name.
Sowing and Reaping
One can’t understand most of the teachings
of Jesus without a basic understanding of growing food and the cycles of nature.
Over the last century there has been an unprecedented migration off of the land
into cities all over the world. The cities have become uncivilized.
I want to
organize more community gardens. People who garden are better able to understand
the gospel of Christ. Neighborhoods with community gardens have lower rates of
violent crime, drug addiction, truancy and domestic violence; even when all
other factors are the same.
They have the added benefits of providing fresh
produce to help stretch budgets and promote better health; as well as
beautifying otherwise blighted, wasted lots.
Prevention is Easier Than
Cure
These three ideas all help to build better communities and strengthen
families. When families are strong and neighbors are talking to each other, for
anyone to fall through the cracks and end up homeless is much less likely. To
get these things started, I need more time. Not to put too fine a point on it:
to take more time costs money.
comeandseeicons.com is Going Greener
We
have changed material again. We are now using Microstrand Wheatboard for the
icons. This is made by the same company in Minnesota that makes the Dakota Burl.
It is made from wheat straw and soy adhesives. We made the change, because the
sunflower hull boards tended to throw off chips that would scratch the fronts of
the icons during the edging process.
PPG has a no VOC deep base paint, so we
are using that to paint the edges in bordeaux red, then varnishing the edges and
back with a low VOC varnish, which is no VOC within two hours of
application.
The packing materials are either reused from packages received
or fabric scraps from a local drapery company. "Come and See" is not just zero
landfill. We are net negative landfill.
I think a holy icon should be a
blessing in every way. As much as is possible, its physical form should not
deplete natural resources or pollute.
Now that conveniences have exceeded all
bounds, they have become inconveniences. Machines have multiplied, distractions
have also multiplied, and man has been made into a machine. Machines and iron
order men around, which is why their hearts have become as hard as
steel.
Elder Paisios of Mt. Athos
Cash, Checks & Visa Accepted
If you want to participate in this
ministry to the homeless and poor on the streets of Philadelphia, please feel
free to mail checks to:
The King's Jubilee
27 N. Front St.
Souderton, PA
18964-1148
phone: 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
We are now also accepting
donations via MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express on our website:
www.shoutforjoy.net
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