The Stories and Individuals Around Us
It’s amazing to think we’ve been operating our cooling station and respite center for five years now. Hundreds of individuals have walked through our church doors seeking relief from Arizona’s brutal heat—and even more importantly, a taste of love and kindness in difficult seasons.
Each person carries a unique life story, with its own mix of triumphs, tragedies, choices, and circumstances. Like snowflakes, no two are alike. Yet society, news feeds, and algorithms too often reduce those experiencing poverty or homelessness to a single ugly label: addicted, mentally ill, criminal, lazy. In the process, they strip away the person behind the struggle. This helps no one.
As believers, we are called to look beyond the headlines to the real stories.
Right now, as I write this, more than 20 people are here in the cooling station. One woman savors a plum—a simple treat she hadn’t enjoyed in years. A young man who appears to live with schizophrenia carefully spreads cream cheese on a bagel, his eyes distant. A 45-year-old clicks through job postings on a borrowed computer. An elderly woman recovering from a stroke rests quietly on a cot. Another man obsessively inventories the few possessions on his cot, while someone else, whose family ties recently shattered, stares out the front windows at a world that feels far away.
None of these precious souls ever said as a five-year-old, “I want to grow up to be homeless.” Yes, bad choices play a role in some stories. But many others began with circumstances no child should endure—trauma, abandonment, or systems that failed them. These realities set people on painful trajectories.
Some will say, “I went through hard things too, and I made it out.” If that’s you, congratulations—you should be proud of the grit and grace that carried you. But not everyone receives the same support, opportunities, or safety nets. So let’s choose to be quicker with grace and slower with judgment.
More wag, less bark. This was the way of Jesus.
Jesus consistently saw the individual: the woman who touched His garment, Zacchaeus in the tree, the Samaritan woman at the well, the one caught in adultery. One of the most moving examples is the man possessed by demons, chained and living among the tombs. Jesus saw him with compassion, set him free, and—once the man was in his right mind—sent him home to his family.
That’s what we all ultimately need: healing for our brokenness and restoration of our relationships.
The next time you hear about our cooling station, or you encounter someone who appears homeless, pause. Remember they are an image-bearer of God with a story as complex as your own. Let genuine compassion move you to prayer, kindness, or service. In seeing the person first, we reflect the heart of our Savior.