“If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’” – Deuteronomy 15:7-11
An Open Hand
Sometimes doing ministry with people who are unhoused can be uncomfortable. If our neighbors are sleeping outside, there may be a lack of hygiene, irritability from a lack of sleep, and general skepticism toward a society that has deemed them “lesser than.”
As God’s people, we are called to go to our neighbors. Deuteronomy 15:8 reminds us to be openhanded and freely lend our neighbors whatever they may need. Verses 10-11 call us to do so generously with a kind, unbegrudging heart. This passage also reminds us, just as Christ did, that economic inequality will always exist; therefore we are called to be with the poor and needy in our lands.
Living and doing ministry in the Northside of Pittsburgh over the past three years has been a life-changing experience for me. I like to call the Northside, “everything all at once.” You have $700,000 historic row houses on one street, and just a few blocks away, you have a homeless encampment. The economic diversity and disparity in the Northside are great and lead to many tense interactions between neighbors. Helping to lead a congregation in this environment can be challenging and has led to many uncomfortable yet life-giving encounters.
Transformation Amid Discomfort
There are many challenges that come with having unhoused folks in our community. Sometimes our neighbors sleep on the front porch of the church, even though we highly discourage this, and leave sleeping materials, food containers, syringes, and human waste, which we inevitably have to clean up. There are also Sunday mornings when our neighbors come in for free coffee but do so during the middle of a service, disrupting our time of worship.
But, despite the times when we are uncomfortable, there are many joys that come with having our unhoused neighbors in our church community. Walking with these folks as they journey through active addiction into recovery, erratic housing into stability, and mental crisis into a support system makes all those uncomfortable times worth it. And seeing the God-given kindness in these people who have been treated so poorly by society warms my heart.
Unexpected Treasure
Over the past year or so, I have gotten to know one of our unhoused neighbors quite well. She comes to our church every other week to do laundry. She has some mental health challenges but is also one of the kindest people I know. She is a wonderful artist. She only has a few supplies, but she creates these pieces in her notebook that are gallery-worthy. I see the divinity of God within her and within her art, as the pieces deal with her struggle but also the comfort she has found in Christ.
When you decide to live into God’s call to be an open hand to your unhoused neighbors, there will be times that will be uncomfortable. But you will also have great joy as you see God working—not only in their lives but also in ways that you were not expecting in your own.
Nathan Salamacha ’23 is mission and community engagement coordinator at Beloved Community Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh’s Northside. He holds degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Penn State University (B.S., Life Science in Education).
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