Young Christian Adults Serve The Homeless And Are Changed Themselves.

In 2005, a conversation began about what to do with an empty apartment in a tiny homeless shelter in Louisville. Five years later, 26 young adult Christians have had the trajectory of their lives forever changed as they followed Christ and built relationships with the homeless and hurting through JSBC’s Hope for Louisville program.

Hope for Louisville was started as an opportunity for Christian young adults to learn how to love God and love their urban neighbors in word and deed. Team Members serve in JSBC’s Day Shelter by providing toiletries, helping guests access mail and their stored luggage, and building relationships with the male and female guests. Team Members also build relationships with their urban neighbors. (For the Men’s Team, this means primarily the men who live at the shelter long-term. For the Women’s Team, this means primarily the women and children who live close to them in a nearby low-income neighborhood.) Team Members are part of a solid gospel-centered church within walking distance of where they live, allowing them to bring their new friends deeper into Christian community. Also, Team Members seek daily intimacy with Christ through prayer, Bible study, service and worship. This is all pursued in the context of community with other Christian young adults as Team Members live together, worship together and serve together.

For many people, the desire to build deep, impactful relationships with the poor is lost on “someday”. “Someday, I am going to break out of my routine and do something radical.” But for many, that “someday” never comes. Hope for Louisville makes that “someday” happen today.

Everyone does the Hope for Louisville program for different reasons and come from different walks of life.

Hope alumni Matt Smith says, “I did HOPE because I was truly seeking God. I was working in the corporate world. I had no passion for what I was doing. I also knew that the job I was in wasn’t where I wanted to make a career. I was really wanting some new direction and change in my life. A friend told me about the HOPE program and I knew from the moment I heard the details I wanted to be involved, if that was God’s will.”

Some are fresh out of high school. Others have graduate degrees. Many are somewhere in their college years.

In reflecting on how God used HOPE to change his life, Hope alumni Brandon Bowers says, “I am different from the experience in several different ways. It has changed many things that will affect my life forever, such as how I view material possessions, what money is intended for, and how temporary so many material things are.”

Smith adds, “I feel I am different in that I have more empathy and a greater understanding of God’s love for people. I have been humbled and become more patient. I have received focus and put much more trust in Jesus. I have a greater understanding of the human condition and am able to identify with people who before seemed so foreign to me.”

Even the lives of parents are changed. Betty Stewart, whose son Coran did the program, says, “Coran’s three months of serving at JSBC with the HOPE team forever changed his life…and mine. While I shamefully and regretfully admit I’d always associated ‘homeless’ with ‘bum’, my son quickly saw and taught me something very different. God began to open my eyes a bit to the world outside my selfish own. It was Coran’s experiences that he shared with us that have forever changed my view of ‘homeless’ and has, indeed, made me better understand and appreciate his ministry passion.”

JSBC’s Hope for Louisville is open to Christian men and women between the ages of 18 and 30. Hope offers both a 3 month summer term and 1 year term. To learn more about the Hope for Louisville program, please visit http://hopeforlouisville.com or call 502.584.6543.

Summer Term 2010

Service Dates: Tuesday, May 25th – Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Full Year Term 2010/2011

Service Dates: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 – Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Application Deadline: Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Every month Seed profiles ministries that seek to bring both Word and deed to the lost, hurting, poor and needy.  Today, read about one of Sojourn’s partner ministries: Jefferson Street Baptist Center, a homeless shelter in Louisville that has become increasingly gospel centered in their ministry to the 11,000 homeless in the city.

Ministry Profile:  Jefferson Street Baptist Center

According to Executive Director (and member in process at Sojourn) John Ferguson, “Jefferson Street Baptist Center exists to make the entire good news of Jesus Christ known to the homeless of Louisville – meeting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.” Community, Transformation, Christ – this is the vision of JSBC.  The vision is to see Louisville homeless enter into Christian Community, trust Jesus, and live a transformed life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This vision comes alive through Jeff Street’s unconditional service and the emphasis they place on relationships that exist between God, guests, residents, staff and volunteers. JSBC has 3 primary programs that seek to minister to the needs of the homeless.

The Day Shelter is a service ministry open to men and women who are currently homeless. Through the Day Shelter JSBC provides service to over 200 homeless guests per day and nearly 60,000 individual visits per year. Their guests are provided a drug free, safe environment in which they may access a laundry room, showers, storage room, mail and phone services, or just enjoy some hot coffee and a light breakfast. Additionally, their guests may receive assistance with employment, housing, physical and mental health referrals, as well as help with disability and other applications. JSBC wants to help their guests to become more employable and to gain permanent housing.

Drawing from the successful New Life Program at Denver Rescue Mission, which has served as a model for mission education programs nationwide, Jefferson Street Baptist Center’s Fresh Start Program believes in “discipling people for life” in order to break the cycles of under-education, poverty and homelessness that flow from both societal and personal evils. The Fresh Start Program contains three foundational components: Life Skills, Education and Career Development.

Beginning with a Christian foundation, Life Skills classes include, but are not limited to: addictions education, conflict resolution, relational and family dynamics, stress and anger management, health education, personal finances and spiritual development.

The Education component is self-paced and equips students with basic academic skills and computer literacy.  Residents who lack a high school diploma can earn their GED.  Continuing education is also encouraged for Residents who have a GED or High School Diploma.

The Career Development component is an innovative multimedia, video-based, group counseling program designed to help unemployed, underemployed and economically disadvantaged adults and youth learn how to make and carry out important personal, career and educational decisions that will dramatically affect their future.

Hope for Louisville is a radical opportunity for young Christian men and women to serve the poor and the homeless. By living and working in an inner-city community and homeless shelter, HOPE Team Members effectively impact the lives of people by investing in intimate relationships, sharing the gospel, and giving consistent support to those most in need. Living out Christ’s command to “Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.”, HOPE is ideal for young men and women who have a passion for the gospel and compassion for their fellow man.

Watch the Hope for Louisville video

Financial Sponsorship

Under the leadership of John Ferguson, Jefferson Street Baptist Center is committed to being gospel centered in both Word and deed.  JSBC is no longer receiving several government grants that once supported this ministry. This means that JSBC relies more on the local church and individual givers for financial support than ever before.  If you would like to learn more about this ministry and how to support this kingdom work, visit jeffersonstreet.org or email john@jeffersonstreet.org.

Get Involved

There are many ways to volunteer at JSBC ranging from cooking meals for the men, providing job training, mentoring, teaching, and encouraging.  To learn more how your community group or church can get involved, email Darrel Johnson at djohnson@jeffersonstreet.org or visit jeffersonstreet.org and click Volunteer Now.