Blessed with the Poor

Our ministry is in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, an area in Montreal “blessed” with poor. Poverty comes with disgrace according to Proverbs 14:20 “the poor is disliked even by his neighbour.”  Even their opinions are not taken seriously.

Denis, a contact of mine, has some problems and he must take all kinds of pills to function. Two things are important to him: his dog, that is his best friend and confidant, and his apartment. Nothing else, except his clothes, belongs to him.

Unfortunately the dog died last summer. That was really hard for him to go through. He came to our home just to talk about his dog. I was surprised to see how much he was attached to that dog.

In October the building owner decided that he wanted the apartment and told Denis he had to move. Because of his financial situation, he couldn’t find another apartment. He’s now on the street. What will happen to him? I have not seen him for several weeks.

This story is the same, or similar, for many others. These people don’t trust life, they don’t trust people around them, how can they trust Jesus Christ?

To proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to these people is a challenge and can’t be done without the Spirit of God.

To connect with these people at risk we have two food banks; one connected with the Church in Rosemont, the other at home in our garage. The garage is also a meeting place. All kinds of the most marginal in our society come in. Some come to study and others to get physical and material help.

Pro. 31:20 (with some modification) says “open your hand to the poor” and that we take seriously.