When I had spare time I visited my old stomping grounds. Seven years of my life were spent in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh because my old church is right around the corner. Other conference participants spoke of East Liberty with hushed scared voices. And it is foreboding. If anything, it is a more dangerous place than ever. Drug dealing is probably the most prosperous business in the area. Prostitution is openly practiced and gangs flaunt their colors on street corners.
At Shaky Frank’s corner. Once upon a time a friend of mine, a homeless man named Frank (no one on the street had a last name) tried to make a living at Penn and Negley. Alcoholism had permanently damaged Frank’s nervous system so he constantly shook. Day after day, rain or shine, Frank stood on that corner, sold Pittsburgh Gazettes and finally died there one cloudy spring day. But not before Frank visited my former church’s drop-in center for the homeless and heard the Gospel.
My old church is prospering. The building is beautiful, the sidewalks are newly repaired, attendance is growing. Isa. 58–a house we purchased for the homeless–looks as good as new. Vacation Bible School–200 strong was beginning the next week. Interracial Families, led by my old friend Chuck Stewart was growing. I spent a gentle half hour one morning reminiscing with Chuck. Celebrating and remembering what an awesome God we se rve. It gave me great pleasure to see that things were going so well. We serve a most faithful and generous God!!!
And in one corner of East Liberty the Health Care Center was quietly saving lives. About the time my family came to Pittsburgh (1983) David Hall, Steve Paschall, and Sue Craig changed history by opening a medical center to serve the poorest of the poor. Today, there are four doctors, social workers, nurses, and even a chaplain! Our God is so good!!
Above the Health Center is a hospital for the homeless. Ten years ago my friend Steve and I had tried to obtain government funding for such a project. But it was not time. Not God’s timing. Someone else built the hospital. And today sick homeless persons no longer wonder the streets alone. Our God is so faithful!!
Garfield Heights is one of the most dangerous areas in America. In the early eighties an enterprising group of Christians bought fifteen abandoned properties and renovated Garfield houses with money borrowed from Beulah Presbyterian Church (and from other sources!). They met at my church. These idealists brought in 15 families and told them that they were not renting–they were buying these properties (at significantly reduced prices!). The poorest of the poor moved into these houses. Most stayed. Their lives were changed. Garfield was changed. My life was changed. Later, I was asked to be on the board of this great ministry called Garfield Jubilee. Proclaim the Year of God’s Jubilee! Today, Garfield is changing. And Jubilee has renovated 100’s of houses.