GALVESTON — It’s a long way from Waco’s Fourth-Fifth Street overpass to the battered piers and homes of Galveston.

But here we were, 32 Church Under the Bridge members in the hurricane-stricken city. We had come to repair homes damaged by Hurricane Ike in September.

Over three days we worked on five damaged homes.

As befits the uniqueness and diversity of our church, our group included five skilled craftsmen from blue-collar backgrounds, four Baylor University students, blacks, whites and browns, even one American Indian.

Oh, and four of our men were living at Mission Waco’s “My Brother’s Keeper” homeless shelter.

Whenever Mission Waco and Church Under the Bridge seek to help others in need, we work from the foundation that dignity and empowerment of the poor must include them as a part of their own healing and hope.

Instead of “feeling sorry” for those struggling on our streets, we try to find ways to help them give back to their own communities, nation and world. And so it was here.

The men from our homeless shelter were ecstatic to use their skills to help others who had experienced loss. They had something to offer and their talents were needed and used.

Working side by side with these people, you realize the slender reed of circumstance that separates the “haves” from the “have none.”

One of those at Our Brother’s Keeper, a licensed plumber, “just ran out of money” on the way to see his family and had been stranded for weeks without work.

Another suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, a mental illness which has marginalized him in society.

Another said he had grown up in a home operating a meth lab, until it had been raided and the adults incarcerated.

One of our homeless volunteers has struggled with issues, but his conversion to Christ changed his whole worldview.

All of these men were accepted and included in every aspect of the trip. They didn’t need a food pantry or clothes closet or handout. They were not “homeless men” on this trip. They were individuals, with names, personalities and opinions.  

Urban ministries often get reduced to pity, often resulting in the loss of personhood and dignity of those who struggle.

Many relief efforts institutionalize the basic need distribution with food lines and giveaway programs that can often dehumanize those being served, and even create a dependency which deepens their poverty and will to change.

The poor can contribute. In fact, their spiritual and emotional maturity depend on it. Each time they are included as equals, something deep inside moves them past the stereotypes of “those people.”

And churches and Christians learn that “relief programs,” while important, are not the most important methods of helping the poor and marginalized.

Instead, sharing meals together, working alongside each other, preparing food, playing games, and even asking them to lead are the tools of overcoming life’s struggles.

Empowerment and edification — these are the twin principles of real change.

So, move over and make room for those in our communities to work alongside you.

Jimmy Dorrell is a member of the Board of Contributors, Central Texans who write columns regularly for the Tribune-Herald. He is director of Mission Waco.