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INTRODUCTION - SHELTERS - HOW TRM IS FILLING THE GAP - HOW CAN YOU HELP
There are so many homeless people in the world today. According to the Urban Institute homeless statistic report released in 2000, in just the U.S. alone,
an estimated 3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness at least once during a year time. This includes Children, who are estimated at 1.3 million during a year time. In 1996, it was estimated that 9.6% of the U.S. population live in poverty. According to Habitat for Humanity, 100 million are homeless around the world and more than a billion people around the world live in inadequate shelter. Up to 60 percent of the world’s residents live in illegal settlements. Furthermore, the gap between income and costs for basic necessities is growing in the United States and around the world. The hourly wage required to afford housing in every state and U.S. metropolitan area exceeds the federal minimum wage. In 29 states the housing wage is more than twice the minimum wage. In countries like Africa, it takes 12.5 times the annual income for a house purchase. In addition, hunger continues to plague an estimated 841 million people around the world.
Thankfully, there many growing shelters and programs today. They are geared for helping the homeless, by supplying warm meals, a place to sleep, rehabilitation programs and much more. In fact, an estimated 462,000 homeless people will use a shelter at any given day during a month like February. That may seem like a lot to you. Well, IT IS! However, many more homeless do not use shelters for one reason or 
another. Either they don't want to, they don't know where to go, or they have just given up hope and don't care any more. Whatever the reason, the question becomes...who will reach them? The problem is, there are so many homeless people that most shelters are to busy with the ones that come in. They don't have the time to go out and look for homeless and bring them in. What happens to the ones that don't go to shelters? Well, many of them die from starvation, illness, and/or violence. So what can we do? Well, this is where we at Triumphant Return Ministries believe God is calling us into action. We are trying to fill up a gap.
How are we trying to fill the gap? Well, we will hand out little lunch bags to the homeless
located in and/or around the Pittsburgh, PA area. These lunch bags will be filled with a sandwich, a drink and information. The information 
being one of our "THE FACT" tracts and
a Directory Sheet that supplies them with a listing of names, numbers and the addresses of shelters they can go to for a warm meal, a place to sleep and for rehabilitation. In addition, we will share with them the message of salvation available through Jesus Christ our Lord and
offer to pray with them and lift up any issues they may want lifted in prayer. As with all things, we believe that Jesus Christ is their one and only true answer! Our Lord knows their heart, He knows what they need, and HE knows how to reach them. We are just making ourselves available to however the Spirit may lead us.
You may be asking, what's the point? Why do all this? Does God care one way or another? Let's take a look and see..
MATTHEW 25: 31- 40
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’37"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
You see....When we help others, Our Lord sees it as if we just helped Him. It's easy to help a loving family member or a really close friend. However, it's not always so easy to help a stranger or a person who is mean and hard to get along with...
Here's where you come into play.. You can help TRM in reaching out to the needy and homeless. How? Well, it's very easy!! Here's what you do.......
Get some people together, make some sandwiches, gather some info on local shelters, put it all into a bag, and pass them out to homeless people in your area. As you pass the bags out, tell them about Jesus Christ and how He paid the price for all our sins; Tell them how they too can have eternal life and salvation through Jesus Christ.
It's that simple!!! However, you would be surprised what a huge impact it can have on someone's life...
Be sure to get information on what safety measures your group will need to take when dealing with the homeless. If you would like more info on safety; feel free to contact us. (click on "contact" below)
Remember, We are all spiritually homeless without Jesus Christ.