LCMS Urban & Inner-City Mission: Caring for the homeless

Jesus says as you have done to the least, you have done to Him. So instead of seeing a beggar, we see in that homeless person, Christ our King!

LCMS Urban & Inner-City Mission offers the following helpful resources to assist in caring for the marginalized, including the homeless and others in need.

When you see a panhandler …

When you see a panhandler on the street corner, what do you see?

A neighbor? A scam artist? Or do you see, perhaps, a fellow beggar?

Do you remember that you, too, are helpless, destitute and completely dependent upon God’s mercy, a lowly steward of the gifts God has given in abundance?

Do you recognize a fellow sinner and realize that you are no more worthy of God’s grace than they are?

If this is what you see, then you are ready to engage and serve a fellow human being created in the image of God, to understand and help to meet both physical and spiritual needs.

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Community Development and Caring for the Marginalized

When showing mercy, it is easy to see ourselves as the king who helps those who are inferior to us or to look down on those people with a sense of superiority because we have our lives more in order.

And yet, when we understand our place in the Kingdom, we quickly understand that we are citizens only because the King was willing to suffer and die in order to give over His Kingdom as an inheritance.

Indeed, we are poor miserable beggars. We are those people unworthy of such riches.

And now as recipients of this undeserved mercy and love, we too distribute it freely as well.

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Prayer cards for the homeless

Download and print prayer cards to hand out to homeless persons.

Download prayer card (version 1)

Download prayer card (version 2)

Create and distribute homeless care kits

Portland Rescue Mission* offers suggestions for creating and distributing homeless care kits. When visiting PortlandRescueMission.org, scroll to the bottom to view lists of “Items to include” and tips for “When you give care kits away.”

Learn how to pack a care kit

“My Night of Living Homeless”

In “My Night of Living Homeless,” the Rev. Steve Schave narrates his firsthand experience of living among a group of inner-city homeless people in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati.

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LCMS Urban & Inner-City Mission

* Disclaimer: External resources were chosen for their insight and to benefit your research. However, all views expressed are not necessarily those of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Please read items with discretion. Discuss any questions with an LCMS pastor.