Missionaries Helping the Homeless
The dear people you see smiling just below are Dami (left) and Chi (right) Adeliyi. This Nigerian couple faithfully served the Lord as missionaries amongst Muslims and Animists in their home country before coming to a new missions field here in the States about ten years ago. Chi has just completed her doctorate at Asbury Theological Seminary, writing about the church and economic development in Africa. Dami has an MBA and a DMin himself. They both feel deeply called to serve the poor and the homeless and to work at economic development as an expression of the church's mission to proclaim and embody the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth.
The Adeliyis, along with their daughter Hadassah, will be coming to join the East Dayton Fellowship this summer. Chi is signing on with us to serve in a position we've long dreamed about but have never - until now - been in a position to create. She will be the East Dayton Community Development Director and she will work at helping us research the various types of homelessness in our area as well as the root causes behind them. This research will be quantitative (counting folks, referring to and supplementing available government and nonprofit data, etc.) but also qualitative (talking with people, getting to know them, hearing their stories, and looking for patterns in those stories).
We have gotten to know a lot about this problem through relationships with our homeless neighbors and friends over the years. But we know there is a lot we still don't know, a lot we need to know if we're going to be of greater help to our homeless friends. We know from experience that the population of homeless folks here is significantly under-counted in government statistics. We also know that there are multiple forms homelessness takes here and that each form has its own unique struggles. We know that we have a lot more knowledge about some of those forms and a lot less about others. Chi is going to help us study, pray over, and talk through the problem in all its many dimensions.
Based on this research she will then help us design, organize, and raise support for creating a pathway out of homelessness for our neighbors who are caught in that awful net. There are very few organizations or churches working systematically to build a path out of homelessness for the many people trapped in it here. As Jesus' disciples, we believe he is summoning us to this work and that he has provided Chi and Dami as the people to help us get going with it!
But I have to tell you something truly remarkable here... the Adeliyis are coming to do this work on faith. Our little church has no money to pay Chi a salary... something we told her up front. Despite this, she and Dami said they would come anyway. They are convinced God wants them here and are trusting God to provide for them, believing that the Good Shepherd won't fail to feed his sheep so long as they follow where he leads.
Our congregation is accessing some funds we have on hand - but it is not much. The Great Lakes Conference of the Brethren in Christ Church, which is partnering with us in this effort, is kicking in some available funds too. We've recently had word that our friends with the Church of the Brethren might be able to help too. We're going to be chasing grants and seeking other institutional partnerships wherever we can, but we know that, ultimately, we are going to need brothers and sisters from our wider church family to step in and help us fund this work. Our aim is to supply Chi a modest salary of $2,500 a month ($30,000 a year) for this work. Though modest, it is a big goal for a poor church already stretching itself in multiple ways. We will not be able to reach that goal without others pitching in.
Chi and Dami are coming to help us find a way to help people like my friend Tony (whom you can see in the photo below) get off the streets and live with dignity in a place they can call their own. Tony's been homeless for years. The pictured Sunday you see was a good day for him. He had food in his belly, no injuries or open wounds, clean clothes on his back, and clear eyes in his head, even though he had no place to lay that head at night. Things have gotten worse for Tony since then - his addiction and the cruelty of the streets won't let up. He was in church again just this last Sunday, but his clothes weren't clean and his eyes weren't clear and his body was looking awfully broken down. He was so tired he fell asleep in the back pew while I preached. I was glad he was able to get some rest under God's roof.
We got him some food at the end of the service and are fixing him up with some fresh clothes, but he needs more help than that. We want to be able to give him that help - and that's why Chi and Dami are coming. They're coming to help us create a path out of homelessness for people like Tony - our smart, funny, good-hearted neighbor who has been stuck for years in a hole that he's just not going to get out of without a big assist from Jesus and his people. We don't know what shape that assistance will take yet (hence the time spent researching, praying, and talking). What we do know, however, is that this is a long-term work that will take patience and lots of helping hands. It's a long road set before us, but we're excited to start and we're looking for others to walk with us on this journey.
Chi and Dami are willing to help get us there. We're hoping you will help them do that by providing them with robust prayer support as well as the funds they need to serve here.
Would you help us help our homeless neighbors by funding Chi in the role of East Dayton Community Development Director? If you want to read the full position description for the EDCDD, you can find it here. This document includes information describing the level of poverty and prevalence of homelessness in our area, which you may find interesting all on its own. If you have any questions about what we're up to, or if you're interested in supporting this work, I'd love to hear from you directly. You can call me at 937-430-5116 (that's my cell number).
Thank you for your time. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for giving to this ministry. You can follow this link to our secure giving page. Once you click "Give Online" you will be on a page that will give you an option of giving to our general fund or you can elect to support the East Dayton Community Development Director... I hope you'll consider doing that. Every little bit helps!
Thank you so much!
Zach Spidel
(EDF's Lead Pastor)