Developing Horizons Magazine (2).pdf April 2014 | Page 30

Irene ministering to
the poor in New York
with DHM

The Effects of Alcohol
and Drugs on Poverty

;a

Hiawassee Hair Salon

By Irene Leak

During my journey into the world of working with
the homeless, the poor and those enslaved by substance
dependency, I have found a two way stream. The use
or misuse of drugs and alcohol can lead to poverty and
eventually homelessness, prostitution, law breaking
and more. Conversely, poverty, caused by loss of earnings, bad management of financial matters, broken relationships, and any number of other factors can lead to
the temporary escape found in drugs and drink. This
method of dealing with one’s problems leads to eventual
dependency and worse poverty if not imprisonment or
death.
Poverty is isolating; homelessness is isolating; addiction is isolating! Whichever way the stream is flowing,
in the majority of cases, these plights spring from brokenness, hurt, emptiness and a sense of hopelessness.
In the ministry of Jesus, our call is to bind up those broken hearts and release the captives --in His name--from
any prison that holds them.
Society, in general, gives those trapped within this never-ending circle a wide berth and using a sweeping generalisation, labels them “layabouts,” idlers, no-gooders,
the dregs of society. The government and local councils
treat them as a number, a statistic. God, however, loves
these people!!
I have been as shocked by the attitude of other human
beings to the souls locked into this existence, as I have
been to witness at first hand the effects wrought on their
lives. The experience of sitting and listening face to
face with the men and women who are enslaved within
the prisons of substance abuse, prostitution and homelessness is entirely different from merely hearing of the
problem via television or other media. They are you
and I but for the grace of God.
When I first entered the place where the poor, the
homeless and the addicted in our town are fed and
loved, clothed and listened to, it was the look in the
eyes of new comers, the first time visitors which initially struck me. In their eyes could be seen wariness,
guardedness, separation, a wondering, “Will I have to
defend myself here? Am in for judgement and dismissal? Am I safe? Therefore, defensiveness was in their
very body language.

The difference between the look in those eyes and the
look in those who had already been accepted, loved,
considered and helped just as they came, those who
had the hope and faith that they could be led out from
their particular lifestyle into a better one, was so vast it
motivated me on to be a part of this place where “The
wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side”
(Message, Matthew 11: 6).
What has amazed me more than anything is that the
“street people,