A Fixer-Upper

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27 (New International Version)

George and Cindy Freeman in front of the the new double-pane
window George installed above Ellis Street, where the
crack cocaine dealers hang out. That's one of the matching
IKEA wardrobes behind them, too.

George and Cindy in front of the Murphy bed, which
pulls down from the wall at night and fills up the
whole apartment.

Cindy Freeman in the kitchenette, next to the
stove she cleaned and re-painted.

Steve had a class through the Society of Certified Public Accountants in San Francisco on Monday and I went along for company.  The class was at the Nikko Hotel, off Union Square, a beautiful, luxurious hotel with a waterfall in the lobby and an upscale Asian restaurant on the mezzanine with bubbling water features.  The Nikko is just a few short blocks from the base of Youth With A Mission in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, an area renowned for its crack houses, heroine addicts and meth heads.  It always fascinates me how a big city can juxtaposition the extremes of society right next to one another.

Our friends, George and Cindy Freeman, have signed up for a three-year commitment, ministering to these drug addicts and street people in San Francisco.  They are DIY-ing a tiny, dorm room-sized apartment on the second floor of the base, making it their home.  George installed dual-pane windows to cut down the noise level (a huge improvement!) from the street below, they bought a used Murphy bed second-hand in Clovis for a fraction of its retail price.  When the bed is pulled down from the wall, it fills the tiny apartment. They are making the most of small spaces with wardrobes and shelving from IKEA. Cindy has spent hours cleaning the kitchenette stove and still has some plans for making the space more liveable. George has spent hours cleaning mold out of the shower and making it "habitable".

As I study the book of James this semester, I feel like I'm in the lab portion of the class every time I visit my friends in the City.  George was explaining a little about the city's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, to us.  St. Francis was known for his inclusive nature, not excluding anyone, including animals.  There is a story that St. Francis once reasoned with a wolf, at the request of villagers who were being terrorized by the wolf's killing spree of chickens and possibly even a small child.  St. Francis met with the wolf, outside the village, and asked the wolf why he was doing this.  Then, St. Francis struck a bargain with the beast: the villagers would make sure the wolf's needs were met if the wolf would stop raiding the village.  And, then, the wolf and St. Francis shook on it.

Keeping oneself from being polluted by the world certainly does not mean "staying out of the wrong part of town".  George and Cindy live and work and walk daily in the Tenderloin District.  I think it means keeping away from that favoritism that says, "I'm better than you", "You don't deserve to be my friend", "I don't associate with your kind".
--Posted by Mama O.