Under the Overpass

From the back cover:
Mike Yankoski did more than just wonder.  By his choice, Mike's life went from upper-middle class plush to scum-of-the-earth repulsive overnight.  With only a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a guitar, Mike and his traveling companion, Sam, set out to experience life on the streets in six different cities:  Denver; Washington, D.C.; Portland; San Francisco; Phoenix; and San Diego.

For more than five months the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression, and social rejection - all by their own choice.  They wanted to find out if their faith was real, if they could actually be the Christians they said they were apart from the comforts they'd always known ... to discover what it feels like to be homeless in America.

Mike and Sam's story is gritty, challenging, and utterly captivating.  What you encounter in these pages will radically alter how you see your world - and may even change your life.

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Why on earth would anyone choose to live on the streets with the homeless? I knew the answer before I even opened the book - Jesus. 

God speaks to us in ways that are unexplainable sometimes, prompting us to do things that just don't make sense to anyone not a part of the conversation.  His will is for each of us to go deeper with Him, understand more of His character, in an effort to draw us closer to Him.  God, alone, knows what it will take for each of us, individually, to learn more about Him.  If we're willing, He will take us on a journey that, left to the world to understand, looks ridiculous and crazy, but the benefits are enormous.  We experience parts of Him we would have missed otherwise.  The journey is always worth it.

Mike Yankoski's journey started just like that - a prompting from the Lord to live with the homeless, putting God's love into action, instead of just reading/singing about it on a church pew.

I hoped to have a very specific question answered for me when I read this book: "Can the homeless not just help themselves?"

I learned so much from this book! Everyone has a story.  And everyone just wants to be heard.  We get into trouble when we decide who should be heard - as if where they are in society earns them a right to be acknowledged.  I can't find anything biblically sound to prove that theory.  It just doesn't exist.

These 2 men encounter many different situations in their journey ... people with severe drug addictions, mental disorders, alcohol addictions and no support system.  The struggle for each to survive each day is daunting and oftentimes, reliant on whether someone will look their direction. 

Heart breaking.

I could NOT put this book down.  What kept me up at night was the responses these men got from churches.  They were turned away, threatened and looked down upon.  Ugh! I felt myself getting so angry while reading.  Isn't the church suppose to be different?

I joke at times about how I have a hard time separating reality from a book.  I really had a hard time with this one, which I think was the point.  The reality is that my world is full of God's people who are hurting, struggling to survive, and I can either choose to acknowledge them or step over them.

I think everyone should read this book!  And maybe more than once.  Two men that had the guts and insight to live on the streets for 5 months have given us a gift ... a way to know what's going on with those around us.  I won't look at a homeless person the same.

I have always taught my girls that acknowledging someone is respecting them.  In this book, Mike suggests that the answer isn't always a dollar, but a word or an ear to listen is typically what someone needs to feel valued that day.  He says listening to their story, oftentimes, goes further than a meal. 

I will definitely read this book again!


My Rating:  5 Bookmarks