Before you go ahead and jump to any conclusions, let me explain. Yes, a bunch of us guys did pay a visit to one of the shadiest areas of town the other night. But no, we were not there seeking a good time. Instead, we were there to pass out sandwiches to the homeless people that frequent the area.
Things started off well enough. We met one man outside a hotel of ill-repute, and his first question to us was whether we were Christians. Upon hearing our reply, he seemed rather excited, and told us that he too believed in the Lord. So we gave him a couple of sandwiches, prayed for him, and were on our way. This experience was particularly encouraging, as it showed that Christians had a positive influence on this man in the past. So many times the Christians can get a bad name outside the church due to over-zealous campaigns to convert and condemn. However, this was not the case with this man, as he clearly viewed Christians with a great deal of respect. So many Christians get so caught up in the bureaucaracy and institutionalization of the church that they neglect to reach out to the community around them. However, all Christians, not just 'missionaries' and 'ministers' are called to reach out to the needy around them.
About 30 seconds after this great experience things took a turn for the worse. As me and a couple of my friends were standing at the street corner waiting for the crossing light to change, a man of African-American/Jamaican ancestry approached us. From his fur lined coat and all his gold jewellery, it was pretty obvious that he was a drug dealer or worse. He walked up to us and mumbled something about a $50 trespassing fine. Being the small town guys that we were, me and my one roommate figured the guy had been caught trespassing, and said something along the lines of "oh, that sucks man," thinking he wanted some money to help pay off his fine.
However, the guy was fairly insistent, and told us that we were on private property. Still being rather naive, I looked around and saw no signs or fences denoting the sidewalk we were standing on was private property. Finally, we clued in to what was going on when he said, "No, you's trespassin'. This is my property!" At that moment the fear hit, as we had no idea what he would do to us, being in such a rough neighborhood and all. So what did we do? We committed the crime of jaywalking and hurried across the street. Kind of an anti-climatic ending to our story, but it doesn't change the fact that we almost soiled ourselves in fear. Unlike the earlier experience, I had no big lessons learned from this incident, other than to never again venture into certain areas of town at night. However, I figured the story was worthy of a blog. That should give you a little glimpse into what our life is like living in the ghetto of Calgary.
