NYC: take 2

friends and family,

greetings from the city that never sleeps, and that includes us. it is much harder to get sleep up here because we have no secret place to sleep like we did down in philly, and the cops kick everyone out of central park at 1 a.m. we have heard that if they catch people in there after they’ve kicked everyone out they just arrest them which isn’t a part of the streets we would like to experience so we end up staying awake every night until 4:30ish when it begins to get light. then we go into the park in an out of sight spot and finally stop killing the sheep as they bounce over our heads. 

yesterday we went to redeemer pres, church, and for those of you who don’t know of it or of dr. tim keller you must check them out online. www.redeemer.com go listen to some of tim keller’s messages. they are wonderful. the place was great and the message was very good and convicting, and that was followed by the best soloist i think i’ve ever heard in person. it was unreal. this however is not outweighed by the fact that nobody sat near us unless they had to because of a lack of seats and the only conversation we had other than the necessary “get up and greet your neighbors” was one guy… oh wait he didn’t give conversation… he just patted ben on the shoulder, smiled and quickly walked by. sad since the confessional prayer was about helping the homeless and the poor and the widow and the orphan. 

it’s also amazing how ungrateful the homeless can be. we encountered this woman at a shelter for food last night. she was complaining quite loudly about how the portions were too small and that “if they’re going to do God’s work they must do it right” she then went on to tell us she was a prophet of God. mmhmm… time to move on i think because there is no winning a discussion against a “prophet of God.”

well, life had gotten a little better than when we first arrived. we have a list of some food places and found a better place to play for money. its better.. but still not great. well… i can smell myself contaminating this room and feel the need to move on.

we love you and appreciate your support every day!
dimps and shaggy 

the big apple. how i hate thee.

friends and family,

philly seems to have been merely a village compared to what we now see. just walking a block down these crowded streets is enough to make us need a nap. of course, living where we do.. we always need a nap. back in philly we had been kicked out of sleeping spot by the police so we slept in a park… just waiting to get kicked out which didn’t happen unless you count the sprinklers that turned on in the middle of the night… forcing us to move and sleep on wet grass… already wet… and cold. life is beautiful. so we caught our bus for NYC yesterday at 1:45 with $1.20 in our pockets. quite enough to get by in a city we’ve never been. at least not like this. anyway, central park closes at 1 a.m. so we slept by a fountain. the police here seem to be … rather rude. anyway, we slept until dawn and then moved into the park and slept till 10. so we actually got plenty of sleep. then we had this very long one way conversation with an interesting lady who claimed to be a traveler, but by that i’m guessing she means she travels from one side of central park to the other. she had about three different suitcases and plenty of pointless things. i think she said she was robbed and didn’t have the money to leave. anyway, she gave us some good info on shelters and such, but we had to walk further to get to lunch than we ever had to walk in a day in philly. life here will take much adjusting. other than food, there are people playing instruments everywhere you go, and despite the news that you could make 3 or 4 hundred bucks on times square i don’t think we’ll be making that much money here. i could be wrong… i usually am, but everything is so loud that you can barely hear yourself speak. let alone hear a guitar in passing. everyone is in such a hurry. right now we are in the Apple store on 59th and 5th. it’s madness in here… much like everywhere else in this city. 

we are being taught many things, and many of these things we did not expect to learn. many of them we did expect like exhaustion, hunger, frustration, loneliness. on the latter, life here gets more and more lonely. i can’t imagine doing this without ben. i have come to longer be surprised by the men walking down the streets talking to themselves. there is a need for people to let things out of themselves. i feel it. we need to talk and when you are all by yourself you are your only option… unless you invent someone which i have yet to do… but i might.  

we may have mentioned the police run-in we had in philly, but if we didn’t… we met this cop who was fairly nasty. he was perverted – yelling out to girls in the street. he was mean – calling a black woman an animal. anyway, we ended up telling him what we were doing because he seemed fairly relentless with his questions, and he told us that there are three categories of the homeless : 1. mentally ill 2. veterans who are mentally ill 3. crack addicts. it was sad to hear that the people “protecting” our streets have no care for the homeless but only for those that pay their taxes and therein pay them. i knew of this, but hearing it from horses mouth was sad.

well, we will be here for a while, but i’m not sure how often we will be able to get into this place to use the computers, for we smell much like a dumpster. we got to take our first shower in two weeks this past wednesday, and after we got out, i noticed that before i had even put my dirty clothes back on that i still smelled awful. nice.

well, ben is back from being lazy… we move on now.

dimps. 

long weekend…

we learned a lot this weekend and God stretched us in some major ways. we had our hardest night on the streets yet on friday, but saturday went much smoother and we were able to make some money. we bought our bus tickets to head to new york this thursday, and i know that will be a very trying experience up there. we are exhausted already from our time here in philly and it seems like we’ve been out here for months. i’m sure with the size of new york the experience will only be more difficult.

thank you all so much for the comments you leave, and we’ve had a couple good questions asked to us so we wanted to take some time to answer them. we have chosen to not tell people the reason we are out here. we know that if people knew we were here by choice they would treat us differently, and it would be more dangerous for us because they would expect us to have money so it would be more threatening for us physically. it’s interesting because the only people who ask us why we are here are those who arern’t on the street. it seems like with those on the street it’s kind of a don’t ask don’t tell type of thing. we have had a number of non street people ask us where we came from and why we’re here so we have tried hard to come up with something to tell them. we didn’t want to lie to people,  but because the job market in the midwest is so bad right now, most people assume that we couldn’t find a job over there so we headed here because there is more potential up here. jobs are still scarce around here, but there is more available than back around dayton. most people are satisfied with something like that and don’t seem to ask much more about it. as to our age out here a lot of people assume we are just travelers and trying to make it as musicians because we have a guitar. we have actually met a number of people our age who are at hard spots in their lives right now and are living on the streets as well. a lot of people assume we are drug addicts because they don’t understand why people our age would already be homeless, but like i said it is fairly common for 20 somethings to be out here because we have lost so many factor type jobs in the states.

recently God has really been teaching me how much He loves people. He loves all people right where they are in their life which is so hard for us to imagine. we try so hard to make God love us by getting caught up in religion, when our religious practices are nothing but “filthy rags” before God. if i can encourage you wtih anything right now just know that no matter where you are in life God loves you more than you can imagine. the love of God and the grace of God are such amazing gifts! don’t burn yourself out working so hard to make Him love you because nothing you do can make Him love you anymore or any less.

i know these weren’t the best answers to your questions but we only had the internet for a few minutes so we had to hurry. but thank you all for the posts and the questions…keep them coming! we love to hear from you all and appreciate your prayers so much.

shaggy

clear skies…

friends and family,

we appreciate you all for following us along our journey via this site. it means a lot to us since we cannot keep connection with anyone other than our family who would suffer from not knowing how we were doing. it is great to know we are loved. right now there is a really loud and annoying man getting angry at Verizon because they won’t sell him a phone for 25 dollars which is the price it would be if he started a new contract, but since he lost his phone the cheapest phone he can get is 195. this guy is pretty angry and is insulting Verizon. interesting where our priorities are now… because i’ll be insulting the rich people at the bars that won’t give us money for food later. just kidding… i’ll be nice, but i will honestly at least be thinking it.

the mood swings of this life are so so much to handle. those of you that know me know i was voted “most moody” my senior year of high school, and this is driving me crazy. you’re angry because it’s hot and you’re sweating waiting in line at a mission for food, and then you’re ecstatic because you’re full. then you’re angry because you’re broke and can’t get any money for dinner, but then somebody puts in a dollar and you dream of a double cheeseburger with a side of unhealthy and all of a sudden you’re happy again. it may not seem like much because i’m too tired to truly describe it all, but trust me that alone is exhausting… as if the rest of this life isn’t.

well, it’s back to the street. we are doing well, and we haven’t lost too much weight. we really do eat well sometimes, and those times hold us over to the next one for the most part. also, don’t worry about danger. a lot of people were worried about our safety from the dangers of the city, which do exist, but since we are downtown in the hustle and bustle tourist areas life is pretty much safe. we are still watching our backs, but there are reasons you see so many homeless in the places you visit… it’s because it is safe to be among groups… especially groups of beautiful rich police gaurded people.

have a wonderful weekend!
dimps

if hepC doesn’t get us then lung cancer will…

good afternoon friends and family,

it’s been a week since i’ve seen my home town, and a what a week it has been. i’m not sure what even to say about our journey. it feels like it has been a month already. tuesday night we were approached by a park guard and he told us we couldn’t sleep there anymore, but it’s alright because we found the perfect place to sleep. it’s kind of hidden in the bushes down by the delaware river. there are others sleeping about thirty feet from where we are, but i don’t think they know we live there.

it’s amazing how twisted the minds of the homeless can be. they say that it is the right thing not to ask a guy who gave them a 20 for more because “you never know… he could be a millionare one day and he could take care of you.” sadly, the homeless are content being homeless because as a man told us yesterday… it doesn’t matter where you go there’s always food. we have rarely worried about food, and we rarely pay for food. there’s always either food to be “recycled” if you will or food being given out. it’s amazing. most guys that we meet are happy guys and have lots to talk about, but when in the public eye you must keep up the appearance of being pathetic in order to make a buck or two. this is sad because all this means is that missions and others that give out free food are only furthering homelessness. these guys have no reason to “get back on their feet” because life is relatively stress free where they are. this also makes helping as an individual difficult because whatever you do it just continues the cycle. so what do we do? ben and i aren’t sure… but we have plenty of time to figure that out. please help us through prayer and thoughts of your own as to ways to help in the future.

well, keep us in your thoughts.
we’re doing well.

dimps

think about this…

my dad sent me this attachment which i think is really powerful. read slowly and think about what this really means to us…the love of Christ blows my mind…

 

He Pitched His Tent Among Us

By: Greg Herrick Th.M., Ph.D. (Bio) 
 
Also available in:  
Also available in: French Indonesian Dutch 

When narcotic’s squad detectives recently raided a loft apartment in a depressed area of New York City, they came on a scene straight out of “The Beggar’s Opera.” Every square foot of the long, dingy apartment was crowded with human derelicts who were sleeping on the floor, or sitting huddled in corners; dimly visible overhead were a number of gay paper ceiling ornaments, left over from the days when the loft had been a dance hall. After searching the crowd, the detectives arrested six men who were carrying hypodermic needles and packets of heroin; they also arrested the derelicts’ host, a mild, weedy-looking man who was charged with harboring drug addicts in his apartment.

At police headquarters, the weedy-looking man claimed he was actually well-to-do, but that he had chosen to live among the homeless in order to provide them with food, shelter, and clothing. His door, he said, was open to all, including a small minority of narcotic addicts, since he had not known it was against the law to feed and clothe people with the drug habit. Checking his story, the police found that the man was neither a vagrant nor a drug addict. He was John Sargent Cram, a millionaire who had been educated at Princeton and Oxford, and whose family had long been known for its philanthropies.¹

So it is with God in Christ. He too, though rich beyond measure, left His penthouse dwelling and made His home among the homeless, destitute, and morally shunned of this world. He left His palace of gold to walk streets of mud…and he did it to rescue us (Gal 1:4). He left a drug-free zone to live with pill pushers and drug dealers, determined to feed, clothe, and redeem them. As John said, Jesus pitched his tent among us and we have beheld his glory, the glory of the One and Only, Son of God (John 1:14).

Have you ever given serious meditation and prayer to the thought of the incarnation, that is, to the fact that God somehow clothed Himself with human frailty in order to live among those with unclean hands and tainted hearts? It’s as mysterious as it is wonderful that God Himself should visit His planet and pitch His tent among us-among the Pharisees, tax-collectors, prostitutes, and the poor and needy. Like a breathtaking sunset, clothed in rich purple, orange, and blue, the thought of the incarnation is marvelous, utterly mysterious, and majestic. That my God should leave the richest fair to eat with those on the street is utterly wonderful and incomprehensible.

Toady, as you go about your business, think deeply about Jesus Christ, especially about the cost he paid to dwell with us as the God-man. Ask yourself some questions: (1) Would you have made the sacrifice? (2) What are some implications that flow from the truth that the eternal Son of God has forever clothed Himself with humanity? Have you considered that? The second person of the trinity will forever walk with us as the incarnate Son of God. At no point in the eternal state will he give up His glorified body. (3) What does the incarnation say about God’s desire to fellowship with us? (4) How was Jesus’ first coming both a revelation of who God is, but also a veiling at the same time? (5) What does the incarnation say about God’s view of creation? (6) How does one reverently worship God in light of our knowledge of the incarnation? 

¹ Charles R. Swindoll, ed. The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1,501 Other Stories (Nashville: Word, 1998), 111.

the church – the hospital for sinners

during my time out here on the street i’m reading the book Ragamuffin Gospel and i really encourage you all to read it. he talks so much on grace and what it means to live by grace and how the church should respond to sinners. it breaks my heart that the church is not a place where hurting and desperate people feel comfortable to run. we tried 2 churchs sunday, and let me tell you neither were a welcoming place. why is economic status such a barrier between people? i know it breaks the heart of Jesus because He loves them all so dearly. God is stretching us out here and bringing many interesting people accross our paths, but He is watching over us. we are eating well and have been safe thus far. continue to pray, and continue to be more like Jesus by loving people as He would. don’t get stuck on the color of their skin, or the size of their wallets, look deeper and you are sure to find a treasure. its easy to show Jesus to people on the street. Just treat them with respect and love them like you would anyone else; cause after all we’re the same. love you all 

ben

 

p.s. we met these really weird “normal” people on our bus trip down here to philly. this weird and lonely girl said she liked my dimples and then Big Pappa Brown (aka samuel l jackson’s brother) started calling me dimpsy. then, as the two of them tried to think of some name for ben, big pappa brown said that ben reminded him of shaggy from scooby doo. strange people out here. -tim

a life of luxury.

dear moms,

ben and i have eaten like kings, slept on a really comfortable bed and brushed our teeth before we went to bed… at least sometime before we went to bed. to be honest, we did eat like kings. our first day on the streets and we had a foreign couple buy us dinner at kfc and if you change your appearance somewhat the free samples of chinese in the food court can really fill you up.

we’ve met some really interesting people out here. that’s all we can really say about that. some of them smoke “whatever god puts in front of them” and others just don’t really know what’s going on however in the metropolitan area of philly life is very safe. the most trouble we’ve had was when we sat in some vietnam vets “territory” trying to make some money. unfortunately, he had a cane and he started swinging it around like a mad man. he did say that since we were so nice that he would be nice and let us go. some info that you don’t want to hear… we didn’t go to the rescue mission last night. we went there and it seemed shadier than the downtown area so we just got breakfast there yesterday morning and haven’t been back. our trip has been accelerated a tiny bit, but we’ll survive. it’s what we do, and we’re quite good at it.

we’re in an internet cafe that gives you 30 minutes of time when you buy something so it will cost us 1.50 to use the internet… unless we can jump on a computer that somebody left early. just so you all know…

please don’t forget us.
it’s a tiring life.

tim & ben

picking up pennies…

friends and family,

this is just a quick note to let you all know that we are alive and … well? breakfast this morning at the rescue mission was slightly less than par and lunch has yet to appear. don’t be worried if we don’t write that often as the “free” library won’t let us get on the computers without a current philly address… however, we’ve heard of another library on the other side of town we’re hoping for. we love you all.

dimps and shaggy (we’ll explain that later)

24 hours from now…

it’s hard to imagine the uncertainity that looms around the corner. 24 hours from now life as we know it will be totally different. after all these months of planning, it’s hard to think the journey is about to begin. it’s been difficult having to say goodbye to friends and loved ones, but i thank God for those special people He has given to me. as a person who loves to hav a plan and know what is going on, these months will really stretch me. i ask for prayer as we begin to plan our journey. here’s some requests….

1. our families and loved ones who will worry about us while we are out

2. that we would learn the leasons God hopes to teach us while we are out

3. that we would be an example of our Savior to those we meet

4. that our relationship with God would grow…despite how easy it is to forget Him when we switch into survival mode

5. that we would learn to love God and be content solely in our relationship with Him

6. our safety

thank you all for your prayer and encouragement these past couple weeks leading up to this journey. without people like you influencing my life i could easily be living on the streets not by choice. thanks be to God for His grace and provision!

ben

Philippians 4:11-13