tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311397622174847219.post9183642467738100236..comments2008-11-17T18:35:25.466-06:00Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10070636843509784651noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311397622174847219.post-82931413391260599832008-11-17T18:35:00.000-06:002008-11-17T18:35:00.000-06:00Pastor Bob DeWaay left these comments, which I appreciate very much:<BR/><BR/>I watched it and believe it is an accurate description of how things work on the streets. It takes someone working full-time, like the lady at the end of the video, to sort through all the stories to find the rare case where you can actually help someone; I found that as a pastor it was impossible. When I was younger there were times where I occasionally would start working with someone I thought might have a legitimate story. But in each case, it turned out they were merely more sophisticated at running their scam than the others. One had helpers for his scam who would man a phone number that he claimed was his employer. When you called the number the person would verify that such and so was hired there. Then he would get us to give him money for work boots that were necessary for his new job.<BR/><BR/>Six months later he came back with another similar story. We eventually caught on to the scam. The more you investigate the more scams you find. How many pastors have time to be a part time private investigator? So what we did was donate money every month to a ministry that helped such people. But that ministry had a relationship with Hennepin County whereby they shared information. The county would tell them what assistance a given person was already getting and what their status was. The people at that ministry told us that those people who would accept nothing but cash were scam artists 100% of the time when they checked them out. When people would come to our door for a handout, we would tell them to go to Community Emergency Services (the ministry we helped). The reaction was mostly negative; they would say, “those people will not help. I tried them.” Translated that meant, “They know I am a scam artist.”<BR/><BR/>Minneapolis has gotten more aggressive trying to keep pan handlers out of downtown during the summer; I doubt they have been successful.<BR/><BR/>I agree with your article and reasoning. Most of the social services ministries do not focus on the gospel or sometimes never share the gospel. This goes way back to the days of the old soup line ministries. The idea was that they cannot be expected to hear the gospel until their stomachs are full. That probably was not so bad because they were forced to listen to preachers at some point. But as the twentieth century moved on, the preaching part was left out and the “friendship” part took its place. Then eventually the Christian social ministries became indistinguishable from secular ones.<BR/><BR/>--BobPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10070636843509784651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311397622174847219.post-22890437118587549812008-07-05T22:12:00.000-05:002008-07-05T22:12:00.000-05:00Thanks, Cedric. What else can we do a bit differently here and there while street witnessing?Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10070636843509784651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311397622174847219.post-21675349217807034452008-07-05T01:09:00.000-05:002008-07-05T01:09:00.000-05:00Great post! I like the handing out food idea. I carry McDonald's gift certificates and give them to panhandlers, along with a tract.Cedrichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06281239965682009232noreply@blogger.com