tumbling after You

Street.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

- Mother Teresa

This quote was given to me by Joan Cheever, one of the street retreaters from Mobile Loaves and Fishes. It is what inspired her to briefly trade the warm comforts of Austin suburbia for the cold, unforgiving concrete of Austin streets. For four days and four nights, street retreaters, all regular volunteers of MLF, entered the reality that the homeless people they serve experience every day.

Mobile Loaves and Fishes is a nationwide social outreach ministry for the homeless that was founded right here in Austin. What started out as one catering truck running seven times a month has grown into an entire fleet of trucks making 120 trips each month to feed the homeless population. Nine Austin-area church groups have started MLF ministries in their respective communities, and a workforce of 3000+ volunteers from schools, churches, and companies help to make it all happen.

From the few hours I got to spend photographing this assignment, I learned so much from just conversing with the volunteers, retreaters, and homeless. I even ran into Vincent, a homeless man I talked to at Church Under the Bridge, who walked for three days straight to San Antonio to look for work only to turn around disappointed and walk back the same day. But what a blessing to run into a brother again!

Anyways, some things I learned, in list form:

• It is illegal to refuse anyone water at a restaurant, although some are more unwilling than others.
• The cashier at Which Wich is a scrooge.
• The ones at Austin’s Pizza and Pita Pit are nice guys.
• The city forces restaurants and cafes, such as Starbucks and Einstein’s, to pour chemicals on their thrown-away food, to prevent the homeless from dumpster diving.
• Slices and Ices, where Arpeggio Grill is now, was run out of business by the city for handing out food to the homeless (at least according to a guy named Louie).
• The University United Methodist Church on Guadalupe and 25^th allows people to sleep in their parking lot, as long as there is no sexual activity, alcohol, or drug use occurring (which still does…).
• Veggie Heaven gives free hot meals to homeless people automatically if they are just standing nearby.
• Some mornings, an old man in a pickup truck hands out a simple breakfast and hot coffee, at personal financial cost.
• I also heard a lot of political controversies… I guess for those who feel like they’ve been screwed over by their own government, they feel someone/something external is to blame.

Because of MLF’s work with the homeless, the street retreaters were received by them with warm embraces. Immediately, they began to show the newcomers the ropes. Where to go to take a shower or use the bathroom or get a cold drink of water. They shared their food, despite what little they had for themselves. They massaged their sore, blistered feet, unaccustomed to the toil of an entire day’s abuse. It was a beautiful picture of incarnational ministry colliding with the fulfillment of God’s greatest commandment to “love thy neighbor as you love yourself.”

While photographing the street retreaters at Wooldridge Square Park on Guadalupe and 9^th, one homeless man approached me, noticeably upset and questioning my motives for taking pictures of hobos. When I told him I was with MLF, his entire demeanor instantly changed from one of suspicion to appreciation, knowing that he was speaking to a friend and brother in Christ. His only request was that I use the pictures and stories to raise awareness for their plight.

So here I am, writing to whoever cares to read. I submitted a condensed, less churchy version of this post as a write-up to go along with the pictures for my photojournalism assignment. I chose to feature Mobile Loaves and Fishes for my photostory not to glorify the volunteers, but to cast light on the reality of the homeless situation in Austin. I personally had no idea that along the path I take back from many a late night in engineering, there are people sleeping on cardboard sheets in a parking lot across from Mellow Mushroom, silent and hidden in the shadow of a church building.

Friends, brothers, and sisters, let us not forget Jesus’ words: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25:40) If Jesus Christ were at UT, he’d probably be hanging out on the streets with these guys. And yet I can’t even muster up the courage to make eye contact? Lord, please grow my faith. Help me to do small things with great love.

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The Mobile Loaves and Fishes catering truck makes a stop at “Push-ups” men’s transitional home in East Austin. Before the truck can even stop, people begin to swarm around, even opening the hood before the volunteers can get out of their seats.

High school students from St. Michael’s Catholic Academy volunteer on the Make Ready Team to help prepare the food and load the trucks each afternoon. On the menu today are bologna and cheese sandwiches, as well as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Before the trucks are sent on their way to different locations around the city, the volunteers commission them out by laying hands on and praying over each one. 

In addition to prepared sandwiches, the truck also serves fruits, snacks, canned goods, juice, and donated clothing. On this afternoon, the truck stopped in front of Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) on the corner of 9^th and Red River, where a few dozen people were already waiting in anticipation.

Founded in 1999 with one truck running seven times a month, MLF now sends out 120 catering trucks a month from nine different church ministries to serve the homeless population of Austin. 

MLF accepts volunteers from high schools, churches, and even companies around Austin. Brandy Reppy and her coworkers from Convio.com volunteer on a truck service once a month.

Twice a year, MLF hosts an event called Street Retreat, where volunteers eat, sleep, and live on the streets for four days and four nights. Teachers, pastors, doctors, musicians, and people of all different backgrounds gather to mingle with the homeless and experience for a few days what their homeless friends experience every day.

Scott Graham, a special education teacher at Travis High School, uses his vacation time each year to participate in the Street Retreat. Here, he is passing around a loaf of bread generously given to the group by a real homeless man.

Joan Cheever, mother of two, reads and prays to pass the time on Street Retreat. The book in her lap, titled “Breaking Night,” tells the story of a homeless runaway whose journey landed her in Harvard. 

Two retreaters, Scott and Nate, go dumpster diving at the invitation of their homeless friend Louie. The dumpster behind Einstein’s bagels often yields sweet pastry treats, but that night it only contained moldy bagels.

At night, the retreaters sleep alongside the regular residents in a church parking lot located across the street from Mellow Mushroom. A flimsy piece of cardboard and a thin sleeping bag are their only comforts from the hard asphalt ground.