Sex, Youth, Homelessness, & The City Of Wichita

This is not a happy post. Nor is it a fun post. By the time you read this there will probably not even be a hint of a smile left on your face, and I fully intend to leave anyone who reads this post with a convicted and saddened heart. Why will your heart be saddened? Why would I aim for such a thing? Because I also fully intend to force anyone who reads this to come face to face with reality. So if you would rather turn away and continue to live in a comfortable and happy fantasy world where you can continue to deceive yourself into believing that the world, the country, and the very city that you live in isn’t that bad off and that you are by nature a good person and have fulfilled your obligations to the community by donating a little bit of money here and there during the holidays, then leave now. Go back to perusing facebook. Go back to watching T.V. Go back to your video games and parties. This post is not for the faint of heart. It is only for those who can handle the truth.

This story begins right here in our very city: Wichita, Kansas. Smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt. Right in the midst of middle class America. A city packed full of right-wing, church-going, Christian conservatives. And yet somehow, a city where approximately 600 people also reside every year, void of the basic necessities of food and shelter. Don’t believe me? Just take a midnight stroll down by the river and see for yourself. Last night some friends and I walked right past a group of five people gathered under a bridge, four asleep on the ground covered with blankets, another standing in the corner by himself, gazing at us as we walked past, expecting nothing else from us than to do just that. And the saddest part…is that we did just that. As I walked past I thought about how I’d like to help them. I thought about how I wish I had had cash on me to give to them. I thought about how I should at least stop to talk to them and see if they needed anything. I thought about how I could at least go buy some food for them. And yet I continued walking, because for me to have done any of these things would have required sacrifice. I would have had to distract myself from the fun that I was having with the sadness of reality, and let’s face it…reality just isn’t very enjoyable. Could I have stopped what I was doing to acknowledge them? Could I have learned their names and heard their stories? Could I have gone back to my car, driven to a fast food place, and bought them food? Absolutely. But I did not. And I know that I am not alone in my failure to act, because their very presence on the street last night was evidence of an apathetic city who has daily done just the same.

And yet do you know what the real travesty here is? It is not just the fact that these people are on the streets, but more so the fact that we fellow human beings have rid ourselves of our responsibility to care for them. We cry out for the poor and victimized in our politics, yet the only time we rouse our hands and feet to action is when we head to a voting station and cast our ballot for the newest representative who has promised “change.” Then, of course, when the politician we voted for still fails to make the poor richer (or more realistically so, has failed to make us richer) and still fails to keep the homeless out of our sight and out of our minds as we do indeed clearly wish them to be, we simply cry out against these “lying” politicians and demand new policies that are sure to take care of the problem. After all, surely the solution lies with the government. Surely the best way to care for the poor is to bicker back and forth in Congress, in our city councils, on Fox News and CNN, on Facebook and Twitter and in our blogs and newspaper forums about the failures and successes of the government to care for the poor. Surely this bickering will magically build a roof above their heads, put food in their mouths, and put money in their pockets. Surely.

Dear friends, I welcome you to reality. A world where in order for the poor to have money in their pockets, we must first take money out of ours. A world where in order for the hungry to be fed, we must first physically supply them with food. A world where in order for the homeless to have shelter, we must give them a secure place to comfortably rest their heads. A world where in order for the downcast to rise from the ashes, they must first be given hope. You may not particularly like this reality, but it is in fact what is true. And no matter what belief you hold about the poor and your responsibility to them, no matter what excuses you are currently forming in your head to rid yourself from such responsibilities, I’m telling you here and now that reality is not going to magically adapt itself to fit the stereotypes, excuses, and lies that are currently filling your head to justify your lack of action.

“I don’t have the money” you say? Then I ask you, do you not have the ability to sell any of the possessions you currently have? Do you not have the ability to give food from your pantry or clothes from your closet? Do you not have the ability to sacrifice the money you would have spent on Starbucks, designer clothes, the latest movies, expensive restaurants, and fancy vacations for their sake? Can you truly not sacrifice any of your luxuries for their necessities? If you truly don’t have the money, then do you at least have the time? Do you have the time to volunteer in your community? Do you have the time to work in a soup kitchen, to mentor a child at the Wichita Children’s Home, to deliver sandwiches to a man on the streets? Can you sacrifice an hour spent watching your favorite TV show or 6 straight hours spent playing video games for the sake of another human being? Do you have the time to get to know those who suffer? Do you have the willpower to recognize their value and worth? Do you care to love them at all?

Would it help if I told you that it is not just grown men and women on our streets struggling to survive, but children, teens, and young adults too? Would it spur you to action if I told you that at seventeen years of age, teens who were already initially put into the foster care system due to abandonment and abuse are forced out of the foster care system and are again made vulnerable to the very same things that landed them there? Would it hurt your heart to know that these teens are unable to seek refuge in any local homeless shelters due to a required minimum entry age of 21? On average the Wichita Children’s Home itself only has two to three available beds for these youth, forcing hundreds of youth each year to literally fend for themselves on the streets, leaving many of them exposed to none other than the horrific trade of human trafficking. Truly, these runaways and outcasts are deceived by social piranhas intent on destroying them, who dehumanize them and treat them as commodities. Take this to heart:

“Professionals serving on the Anti-Sexual Exploitation Roundtable for Community Action suggest that 300-400 Wichita youth are at-risk of sexual exploitation each year. To demonstrate this, of 250 youth interviewed at the Wichita Children’s Home between 2007 and 2008, sixty-seven percent reported they had been sexually assaulted or raped; forty-six percent had been asked to strip, go on a date or provide sexual favors in exchange for food, shelter, money or drugs; and forty percent reported that they had “agreed” or had been forced or manipulated to exchange sexual favors for food, shelter, money or drugs. Thus, once pursued, 100 of the 250 young people interviewed were forced, frauded, or coerced into sexual exploitation. This is only including the youth we know about, the children who survived and were lucky enough to make it into safe shelter.” (Quote taken from here.)

We are in the top five of originating cities in the U.S. for sexual exploitation, meaning that traffickers come here, seek out the vulnerable youth in our city, and take them elsewhere to sexually exploit them. This business is often more profitable than even the drug trade, for with drugs, you can only sell the product once. With young children and teens, however, you can sell them for sex again and again and again, acquiring hundreds of thousands of dollars a year per child. And in the process, you can break their spirit and devalue them so much that they will no longer even have the desire to fight back. They indeed become your slave. This is what is taking place in our city. This is what is happening to our---or at least someone’s---sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, students, friends, and neighbors. This is heartbreaking, and we must not merely sit back, read about it, and think “That’s too bad. I’m sure someone will help.” No. We must take the initiative and act. I am asking each and every one of you to offer either your money, your time, or your very home to reach out to these youth. Offer your church, school, or business as a donation or fundraising site. Volunteer at the Wichita Children’s home, offering yourself as a mentor, tutor, babysitter, or just a general helping hand. Offer your creativity and vision to the cause through your own efforts or by joining those like Jennifer White here.

And here…here is where I am on the verge of making a suggestion that many will not enjoy, because I am about to ask much of you. I am about to ask much of the church particularly. It is a concept that many will deem ridiculous and unsafe, but as I say this I ask you to remember that the very God whom we serve has Himself loved us ridiculously and unsafely. Here is what I must ask of you: to take these children, teens, and young adults into your very homes, offering them food, clothing, shelter, safety, security, love and affection. If there are those on the streets without even the basic need of shelter, why do we so easily assume it to be the obligation of a temporary and capacity-limited homeless shelter or orphanage to care for them? Why are we not offering them our own homes? It is understandable if some genuinely do not have room for them, and it is maybe even understandable for those who are concerned for the safety of their children, but what about the safety of these children? And for those of us with even just one empty room, how is it that we have deemed the junk that fills that room to be more worthy of shelter than a man, woman, or child living on the streets? This very matter is the difference between the postmodern church of today and the early church of the New Testament. The early church didn’t just give the poor, the orphaned, or the widowed a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a sandwich and wish them good luck on the streets. They literally took them into their homes. They didn’t just provide the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, but the basic necessities of love, security, and family as well. They expressed to those who were deemed the “undeserving” of society the undeserved sacrificial love which Christ Himself has expressed to us. Unlike us, they actually took the Word of God seriously, for it says:

Deut. 15:7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

1 John 3:17. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Acts 2:44. All those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began to sell their property and possessions, and share them with all, as anyone might have need.

Mt. 25:31-46. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' Then they themselves will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

I know I am asking much, but I believe it is the duty of the church to take in these young ones, at least for a little while. I know it is risky, I know it will be difficult and messy, and I know that many of us deem ourselves unfit for such a task. Yet I also believe that God uses the weak to shame the strong, and I believe that we the church are able because we serve a God who is able. Let us be the heart and hands and feet of Jesus to those who are in need in our communities. Let us do what He has done for us, not so that He will approve of us---for He already does---but so that the love of Christ will become evident to a world that does not know Him. Let us do this so that others will come to know this incredible God whom we deem worthy to serve even to the extent of sacrificing our very comfortable lives in order to do so. If you are able, I ask you to prayerfully consider either entering the foster care system, particularly making your home available to those aged between 13 and 17 years of age or at least providing your home for some sort of emergency contact list as the need for shelter for these young people arises. If you are interested in helping in any way at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. I understand that many of you are not able to extravagantly give, but even just a little bit of your time or money makes a difference. And I recognize that many of you reading this are probably already involved in some sort of ministry or volunteer work, and I do not dare to ask you to add even more to an already burdensome load. I at least ask anyone reading this to pray for the homeless, orphaned, abandoned, and abused of this city. It is the very least any of us can do.