Think Global, Act Local By Rebecca Dunning

Rebecca Dunning, January 25th, 2010

I bought a T-shirt last year that says, "Think Global, Act local”.  I like it and I think it’s quite a fitting summary of the justice heart of 24-7 Prayer.  My husband Clint and I, inspired by these words and recent conversations began seeking the Father to find out what our local issue is to act on in Colorado Springs, USA.

Should we pray over the I-25, a highway that runs through our city, and extends from Mexico up into  Canada? It’s known to transport more victims of human trafficking into the US than any other thoroughfare. And/or should we pray about the large tent cities of homeless that are right here under our nose?

The city we live in is called the "Mecca" of Christianity.  Here lies more ministries, mega churches and Para church organizations than any other city in the States.  Yet we have tent cities popping up like mad right in the center of it.  As we drive along these makeshift communities we talk to our children about them and pray over them but we have never once stopped to enter them.  Until today… 

A friend of ours recently walked through one tent village and was shocked. There were folks, some who were considered middle class last month, now living in these temporary communities.  Many are still holding down jobs.  Colorado in general is accepting in its treatment and protection of temporary shelters created by those without homes and we typically have dry mild weather which draws many people from other states to the camps.  Unfortunately, we have had temperatures in the negatives recently and it has become dangerous to live along our freeways.



Several guys, including my husband Clint, delivered truckloads of wood for fires today. They met several inhabitants of the tent city, we have dubbed “America the Beautiful” due to its location next to the park bearing that name. This is one of four camps in Colorado Springs, which are home to men women and children.  The plan was to bring in the wood and then inquire about their needs.   As they approached the epicenter a sign hung outside one of the dwellings stating:

“WE NEED JOBS, PROPANE, FOOD AND WATER.”  

When they arrived with the wood the guys had met an elderly woman, named Tilly, who had driven an hour up from Pueblo, bearing food and clothing and was afraid to enter the tent city to give it out. So Clint called out, “We have food, clothing and firewood.”  Upon hearing the invitation, Dan, the owner of the sign came out of his home in such a hurry to respond that he wore only a sock on one foot and no shoes.  According to the rules of survival, it is ‘first come first serve’ and there was no time for appropriate footwear.    Dan and his wife Sabrina, who have been without a permanent house for a couple of months, are in their early to mid twenties and hail from Grand Haven, Michigan.  Dan journeyed here for a sand-blasting job and after a week was laid off. 

The guys also met another interesting gentleman, named 'Nooch'.  He is a Native American and bears several tribal tattoos on his face. Nooch has been among the homeless population far longer than many of the others and is the self proclaimed “pointman” of the America the Beautiful village.  His role is to keep the place in order and help maintain a sense of rule among the inhabitants.  He recently got out of jail and said the place “fell apart” in his absence but he is in the process of cleaning it up.

Upon further exploration, Clint found several packages of frozen bread thrown into the camps by those driving by, who like us before today, didn’t stop to find out what the real needs are from the real people that live there.  

So what is our response to be to the above encounters? 

How do we bring Jesus to these people in a way that enters the reality of their world? 

Our first thought is that we need to continue to ask the Father for what comes next.  As we do this, we have begun noodling over several possibilities, including networking with other like-minded followers of Jesus with the intent that each camp gets “adopted”.  We certainly do not know where this is going and frankly it is a bit unsettling but we are aware that driving by saying "peace brother" is no longer enough.  We know this has to be on going and based on relationship, not just another project.

For too long we have looked to the future and what "He is calling us to" and have ignored the need right at our fingertips.  Homelessness is wider than our city, our nation, but these families are right on our doorstep. This article is our accountability, now we must act.  We think we will start by doing what they’ve asked for…  We’ll bring PROPANE, FOOD AND WATER and then begin praying for JOBS.