The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America January-March 2015 - (Page 8)

VocaTIon oF PeacemakIng Gimme Shelter: My Vocation as a Peacemaker by Dion Oxford Oh, a storm is threat'ning My very life today If I don't get some shelter Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away" -The Rolling Stones I 've committed the 24 years of my professional life to something I fundamentally disagree with: homeless shelters. I have built, consulted on, and advocated for the construction of these buildings that are specifically designed to provide food, shelter and clothing to folks who have slipped through the cracks of our so-called communities and ended up living on the streets. But the fact is, these places should not exist. If we citizens, if we people of faith, actually took seriously our commitment to loving our neighbours as ourselves, we wouldn't have the constant, steady stream of humanity flowing out of our neighbourhoods and into shelters. But the reality is we have no idea of what it actually means to truly love our neighbours, and, as a result, we do need shelters for folks who have no other place to go. So for now, I'm committed to being an advocate for shelters all across my country of Canada. While our society continues to be willing to allow the media and politicians to define us as taxpayers and not citizens, we peacemakers have to respond to the almost complete lack of concern that many people have for anyone else but themselves. My role, my calling, in that is to build shelters, train staff and do my best to redefine how an institutionalized shelter has to operate so as to insure that the dignity of everyone who enters our shelter doors is upheld. However, one thing I've been developing in order to counteract the need for more shelters is an initiative called Baptist Peacemaker "While our society continues to be willing to allow the media and politicians to define us as taxpayers and not citizens, we peacemakers have to respond to the almost complete lack of concern that many people have for anyone else but themselves." We help around 500-600 people per year get off the streets into their own housing. Unfortunately, oftentimes the people that we house return to our shelters within a few weeks or months. In social work this is a phenomenon called "recidivism." Research shows that when we house someone in a neighbourhood, the person often feels as though they've moved to another planet. They have no community connections, often lack the skills necessary to form community from scratch, and feel the violence of isolation and loneliness. As a result, they leave their new places and come back to our shelters because it's the only place they have any kind of connection. Causeway attempts to counteract recidivism by tapping into local peacemakers who want to step up and come alongside folks who have moved into their neighbourhoods. We are trying to "de-professionalize" social work. We aim to create unlikely, yet mutually beneficial, friendships that will not only decrease recidivism, but change communities and churches as well. We think that this might play a tiny role in reversing or at least slowing down the tidal wave of the violence of selfishness and neglect that is plaguing our world today. And in that process, our lives can be changed. -Dion Oxford is the Director of Mission Integration at TSA Housing and Homeless Supports. He lives with his wife and daughter in Toronto, ON. Art by Curtis Cannon 8 "Causeway" (for more information, visit www.thecauseway. ca). Through my workplace, The Salvation Army Housing and Homeless Supports-a system of five shelters for men and women experiencing homelessness in Toronto, we are attempting to connect the local church to the street. JAN-MAR 2015 http://www.thecauseway.ca http://www.thecauseway.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America January-March 2015

No Longer Strangers: The BPFNA’s New Strategic Plan
A Reflection On Our Convictions & Motivation
Board Welcomes Kadia Edwards as Young Adult Representative
Baptists, Others Respond to Ebola Crisis
Gimme Shelter: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Kidnapping of Students Leads to Outrage in Mexico
Parting Thoughts
With the Beating of Our Hearts: Bearing Witness to Other’s Pain
Dispatches from Ferguson: A Two-Part Account of a Week in St. Louis
The Gospel Is Not a Neutral Term: Excerpts from an Interview with Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Seko
Selma, 50 Years Later: A Memoir
Imaging, Journeying & Standing before One Creation, Part 1: Who Shaped My Image of Creation?
BPFNA Receives Grant for Justice Work on the US/Mexico Border
Central African Republic Rebel Groups Train for Peace
The Global Influence of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Resources & Opportunities
Keep It Real

The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America January-March 2015