When James Barnett became disillusioned with the church, he knew he needed to go find Jesus elsewhere — by living in the margins. After having chosen to live homeless for two years, James founded Neighborly, a relationship-based poverty relief organization advocating for biblical justice. Their mission is to deinstitutionalize charity by helping you become friends with those at a disadvantage.
In this episode, you’ll hear James’ personal story of intentionally living without a home for 2 years, why he chose to do so, and how that lead him to found Neighborly. You’ll also learn what he’s discovered through it all - which is how to lovingly engage with those living in homelessness.
In this conversation James’ helps us answer a lot of our burning questions about helping those living in the margins.
- What is their perspective? Where are they coming from? What is it like to be them?
- Did you make friends? What were they like?
- Do you still happen to be friends with anyone you met during that time? Do you keep in touch in any way?
- What did it feel like to be homeless? Were you treated differently?
- Did you ever feel unsafe?
- What would be your advice to people who want to engage with the homeless in an appropriate way? How should we talk to them? How can we help them?
- What do you think people who are homeless wish we all knew or understood?
- What’s one thing you’d like us to understand about those living in the margins?
Topics discussed in this episode:
- James’ personal story of intentionally living without a home for 2 years
- Why he chose to do so and how he actually took steps to do it
- What it was like to live a day in James’ shoes when he was homeless
- How he and others were treated when he was homeless
- The distinction between panhandling and homelessness
- How his experiences lead him to found Neighborly
You might want to grab a pen and paper for this one! It’s full of good nuggets to ponder. See you there!
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