UNDER THE OVERPASS, A JOURNEY OF FAITH ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA
By Mike Yankowski
Multnomah Books
Review by George Pasley

Here is an amazing but simple true story that will both inspire and challenge Christians non-Christians alike. It is the story of two college-aged Christians (Mike and Sam) who decide to live on the streets, five months among the homeless in five American cities.

Their purpose was multi-faceted. To begin, the author was wrestling with the issue of how most Christians live in some form of hypocrisy, saying the right words of faith and love but not doing all they can for those in need. Living among the homeless became a way of entering into their suffering, identifying with their needs, and evaluating the response of the church. But along the way they came to understand much more about faith then most Americans, and they had to wrestle with many of their own stereotypes and beliefs.

“I sat there in church trying to remember a time when I’d actually needed to rely fully on Christ rather than on my own abilities” (p. 15)

They traveled together to protect their safety, still they found themselves in danger more than once. They kept their story a secret, yet at least one person figured it out. After all, what were two young, smart, sober people doing on the streets? Still, they found themselves being ignored, scorned, and verbally abused day-by-day. They came to love the people they met, regardless of their addictions.

Theirs is a journey few would dare, but there is much that we can learn from the risks they took. Here are just a few lessons:

The demographics of homeless differed from city to city. Black, older veterans in Washington DC made way to young whites in Portland.

The geographies of the cities made huge differences, and not merely because of differences in climate. In some cities it was easy to get around, but in other cities long distances between good places to sleep and sources of food made life difficult.

Real human contact between the homeless and those who serve them makes a huge impact on individual lives.

The author has a web site, undertheoverpass.com , where more information is available. I plan to lead a book discussion group on this book at my church, and would recommend it to pastors and teachers in churches, to persons outside the church working with the poor and homeless, and to persons studying social issues in any context. It is well written, simple to use, clear and insightful.