“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 17:6
There are an estimated 35,000 Canadians experiencing homelessness every single day in this country.
That’s just not right!
In the course of a year, more than 300,000 Canadians will have been homeless for at least one night.
That’s just not right!
Each night in Toronto alone there are close to 4,000 shelter beds full of men, women and children with no place to call home.
That’s just not right!
In Toronto alone there are approximately 500 people who sleep outside every night.
That’s just not right!
Even one person without a home is one too many and it’s just…not…right!
Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed by the sheer numbers that I don’t know where to turn; but then I remember that God is so much bigger than homelessness, and so in my helplessness I choose to pray. God can, and often does, respond to make things right.
The Salvation Army is doing a lot in the GTA and surrounding areas to combat the injustice of homelessness. We need God’s guidance every single day to help us with the enormity of our task.
We need prayer.
Here are some of our sheltering ministries that you can pray for today:
Barrie Bayside Mission Centre
- Transitional and emergency shelters for up to 32 men
- approximately 90,000 free community meals per year
- 17 staff
Peel Shelter and Housing Services
- Peel family shelter for 52 families
- Wilkinson Road shelter with 87 beds for men
- Cawthra Road shelter with 85 beds for men and women
- 42 staff
Sutton Youth Shelter
- 16 emergency beds and 10 transitional housing beds for youth ages 16-26
- plans to open a women’s shelter in Newmarket called Belinda’s Place sometime this year
- 15 staff
Toronto Housing and Homeless Supports
- Maxwell Meighen Centre 260 beds for men/56 private rooms/16 correctional services beds
- Gateway 108 beds for men, street outreach 6 days per week
- Hope Shelter 110 beds for men
- Evangeline Residence 90 beds for women
- Florence Booth House 60 beds for women
- 186 staff
- Causeway
- Gateway Linens
Maybe today you can think about or journal some stories where you know that God answered your prayers for a person or a situation you were dealing with around homelessness. Perhaps you can share those stories with your co-workers today.
Maybe you can identify some things happening right now that you feel are too big to handle or seem impossible to overcome; offer them up to God and see what happens.
Maybe you can think of someone you have gotten to know who is homeless that you can’t think of anything, short of a miracle from God, where they might find joy in this life.
Sometimes God actually answers our prayers in the way we want Him to; try it and see what happens.
Let’s keep trying to be The Hand of God in the Heart of the City.
Peace,
Dion Oxford, Mission Strategist
Hear our prayer today for all women and men, boys and girls who are homeless this day.
For those sleeping under bridges, on park benches, in doorways or bus stations.
For those who can only find shelter for the night but must wander in the daytime.
For families broken because they could not afford to pay the rent.
For those who have no relatives or friends who can take them in.
For those who have no place to keep possessions that remind them who they are.
For those who are afraid and hopeless.
For those who have been betrayed by our social safety net.
For all these people, we pray that you will provide shelter, security and hope.
We pray for those of us with warm houses and comfortable beds
that we not be lulled into complacency and forgetfulness.
Jesus, help us to see your face in the eyes of every homeless person we meet
so that we may be empowered through word and deed,
and through the political means we have,
to bring justice and peace to those who are homeless.
Amen.