People become homeless when they ‘run out of relationships’ not resources.
We commit to walking alongside our program participants for up to two full years (20 weeks at a time), teaching them the Christian faith which enables them to find restoration in their four key relationships: relationship with God, with self, with others and with creation(the world).
These relationships are restored as we seek to learn the truths of scripture, participate in classes, bible studies and community service together. We also strive to develop and deepen our relationships with a local church – a supportive community to worship and grow with for years to come.
Because the heart is at the center of the human being, humans are necessarily relational creatures; love must be expressed towards someone or something. As creatures who reflect the triune God, human beings are hard-wired for relationship. We are not created to live as autonomous individuals. In fact, when humans live in isolation from others, the effects are devastating.
Theologians regularly point to four fundamental human relationships emphasized in Scripture: relationships with God, self, others, and the rest of creation (see Deut. 6:4-6; Gen. 1:26-28). The relationship with God is central, as it is the foundation for the other three. Part of the way that we both love God and experience His love for us is in our relationships with self, others, and the rest of creation. Our relationship to God is integral to how we experience the other three relationships.
It’s important to understand that the nature of these relationships is not arbitrary. God has designed them to work in a certain way, and humans only flourish when we experience these relationships the way God intended.
Further, these four relationships are highly integrated with a person’s body and soul so that the human being is a mind-affections-will-body-relational creature.
Each part of a wheel impacts all the other parts. If one spoke is misaligned, enormous pressure will be placed on all the other spokes and on the hub itself, and they all will eventually bend or break.
A wheel is shaped by both internal and external forces. Even a strong wheel that hits a pothole can end up with bent spokes and a damaged hub. Similarly, human beings are shaped by both internal and external forces. Internally, our mind, affections, will, and body play a huge role in determining the nature of our relationship to God, self, others, and the rest of creation.
Adapted from Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream, by Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic, pp. 43-52 https://chalmers.org/resources/blog/what-are-people-for/
