Welcome Homeless
One Man's Journey of Discovering the Meaning of Home
- Christian Living
- Publisher: W Publishing Group (Thomas Nelson)
- Published: 2017
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Publisher's Description
Homeless. No other word better describes our modern-day suffering. It reveals one of our deepest and most painful conditions—not having a sense of belonging. However, Alan Graham, founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes and Community First! Village, is improving the quality of life for a large quantity of people through sharing his personal story of becoming more human through humanizing others. Graham believes the more we can give people dignity, the power of choice, and genuine community, the better we’ll be able to offer solutions that will have impact on the world at large. And while his missionary work is focused on giving a home to the physically homeless, he also wants to transform the lives of every living person by shifting the paradigm in understanding what it means to be “home.” In Welcome Homeless, Graham delves deep into what it means to be connected to God, the earth, and each other. In doing so, he shows us the home we’ve all longed for but never had. Welcome Homeless is about becoming fully human by being fully present. It is about finally connecting with the disconnected and finding our identity through knowing the true identity of others. Graham wants to engrain the human story in you so deeply that you start being who you were made to be—that you start finally being like the image from which you were made and start empathizing instead of sympathizing with the people around you. Similar to how we can become 100 percent fully human by mimicking the ultimate image, we can shape a better world by mimicking the picture of the new heaven and the new earth—a picture that has reality at the heart of it but is beyond our imagination. Alan Graham also shares his personal story, the stories of the homeless, and the stories of those whose worldviews have been shifted by the homeless. Because of his raw, humorous, and honest voice, he achieves a rare and profound universality. Houses become homes once they embody the stories of the people who have made these spaces into places of significance, meaning, and memory. Home is fundamentally a place of connection and of relationships that are life-giving and foundational. Graham invites you to make everyone feel truly at home by finally inviting those living on the fringes of society into your heart. This is why Welcome Homeless is about doing, not saying. It is about taking the ultimate and forward-thinking vision of a new heaven and new earth and literally breaking the soil so that new earth can exist here today. It is about realizing that homelessness is not fundamentally a consequence of moral and spiritual inadequacies; but rather it is often the logical and economical outcome for a large part of our population. So, what does your vision of humanity and love look like? Whatever the vision, it should look like community. People should feel more alive after they meet you. When your consciousness changes from one of self-absorption to a consciousness aware of its human desire for connection, compassion, kindness, and beauty, you will start seeing things differently—and others will start seeing you made anew as well because the absolute greatest self-help occurs when you help others
Endorsements (10)
“Once in a while you cross paths with someone who will forever change your life. For us, Alan Graham is that someone. His life, his heart, and his mission to see “I am” in the “least of these” is nothing less than transformative. Welcome Homeless is a much-needed work that gives incredible insight into how the gospel turns pain and isolation into victory and community. It’s a coming home story for all of us, where we are challenged to see others as well as ourselves only as Christ sees.”
“I know what homelessness feels like. I started Paul Mitchell with a $700 loan when I was living out of my car. When I met Alan Graham, I knew this was a man who really understood the problem: people need a place to belong. The Community First! Village and this book invite people into something greater, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
“This is a book of deep homefulness. Alan Graham is such a wonderful homemaker, in large part because he is such an evocative storyteller. Home is always a storied place and Alan tells his stories with love, gentleness, and deep, deep respect. You don’t get to tell the kind of stories that we meet in this book without first going into the pain, betrayal, violence, and despair of homelessness. In this book we meet Alan’s friends and mentors, and they are a stunningly beautiful cast of characters.”
“Welcome Homeless is jam-packed with unabashed honesty, unfiltered stories, and profound ideas that lead you to a place of beautiful awareness about the world and the way it truly is.”
“Let me tell you about my friend Alan Graham. He’s the man who hires a homeless friend to work at the Mobile Loaves & Fishes office, calls the police when that man steals something, and tells the man he’ll be the one to pick him up when he’s through serving his time in the Travis County Jail. Alan personifies Christ’s command for us to be innocent as doves and shrewd as serpents. We owe him a debt we’ll never repay for writing Welome Homeless and once again showing us all the way home.”
“Welcome Homeless takes us on a journey seen through the eyes and heart of Alan Graham. A journey that transformed his life and, more importantly, helped transform thousands of lives over the last few decades. A journey that lets us in on the people he has met along the way—who have changed his life as much as he has now changed theirs. He has shined a light on the invisible, the unwanted, the misunderstood, and the forgotten in the most heartwarming way— through their own life stories of loss of home, family and friends, self-respect and dignity. Yet, they seem closer to God than many of us who have all those things. This book is about Love. It’s about community. It’s about giving. It’s about relationships—first with God and then with all His children.”
“The ministry Alan Graham has launched is nothing short of life-changing. His chronicle of the stories of the people he serves helps all of us see the homeless with new eyes and as God Himself sees them.”
“Welcome Homeless is a book that rattles you to your spiritual senses and awakens the awe you’ve been missing in your relationship with God by inviting you to love your neighbor as yourself.”
“This is one man’s journey of discovering how most stories that have gone offtrack are a result of hopelessness. As a pastor in Austin, Texas, I am proud to witness firsthand the impact that Mobile Loaves & Fishes and Community First! Village is having on our city. My prayer is that this book will ignite your heart to be a part of something that only God can pull off where you live!”
“Welcome Homeless is a gift that takes down the walls of isolation and shows us the power of empathy and action. The real-life stories that Alan Graham shares over the course of his journey could stop a speeding train. It stopped me. The most compelling lesson Graham retaught me is that when we breathe new purpose into our own journey—when we stop, listen, connect, and share, even just for a moment—that mighty pause for humanity is one of God’s most generous endowments. Thank you Alan Graham for your life’s work.”
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