This past weekend we hosted a wonderful group from Tablerock Fellowship. The group of middle schoolers and high school students was wide eyed and reserved on the first night but opened up more as we began our spaghetti lunch for our homeless neighbors. I watched a 6th grade girl with eyes as big as saucers stare as a large homeless man in a big stained coat came and sat accross from her. She introduced herself in such a quiet voice he had to lean in to hear her and she backed up as he leaned in. Not ten minutes later the two were laughing together over lunch. By the end of the hour the man’s eyes swelled with tears as the girl touched his arm and prayed for him.

It came to be the end of the afternoon and most of our guests had left when I noticed a woman, who goes by Mama sometimes on the streets, captivating the attention of a large group of students. Her voice was gentle yet full of life as she spoke to each kid in turn and then gave them a nick name. They each waited intently for their nick names and the joy was contagious. Finally, after over two hours, I had to ask Mama to leave so we could clean up. She had been the first to show up and the last to leave. “Alright then.” She said it in a satisfied way as if she felt warm. The kids didn’t want to say goodbye but finally conceded with a chorus of “Bye Mama! We love you!”

There are many needs here in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. Many are hungry, need clothes, are jobless, or need housing. Sometimes in the midst of physical poverty we forget about the vast spiritual poverty all around us. There is a healing in being heard that can not be found in medicine. There are treasures that comes from listening that the hearer can not dig out of any book.