Hello and welcome to Van Life Devotions. It’s early morning here on the streets of Southport, the Business District of the Gold Coast and while most Australians will be waking up in warmth and comfort of their beds in their homes, thousands will wake up from the cold, sometime wet streets much like this one or in parks or in their cars ready to move on and face another day wondering when will their state of homelessness end.
Today is World Homeless Day. According to the Australian Census, 122,494 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness on Census night in 2021. Males made up 55.9% of people experiencing homelessness; females made up 44.1%. 23.0% of all people experiencing homelessness were aged from 12 to 24 years. Of significance is the increasing number of women over 55 who are homeless.
I thank God for the many organisations that actively feed and house the homeless, many of which are Christian. I remember with fondness growing up at my mum and dad’s church Wesley Mission in Sydney which has an amazing ministry to the homeless and people like Rev Noreen Towers who ministered to Sydney’s homeless for over 40 years. What an incredible woman.
Today I want to share about a young couple who decided to do something to help the 45,800+ Aussies who will sleep on our streets this year (ABS 2021). They are Tony and Lisa Clark and they founded and designed the life-saving Sleeping Bag Hypothermia Pack and the Backpack Bed® (emergency swag) to give dignity to homeless people who are without shelter.
Tony and Lisa have been faithfully making and distributing these Sleeping Bag Hypothermia Pack and the Backpack Bed since 2007 and since then they have distributed 36,316 Backpack Beds and a further 14,135 Fire Retardant Sleeping Bags through 843 Homeless Agency Partners.
Their Backpack Bed for Homeless charity which employs the two of them and one other, provides a homeless person without shelter a Backpack Bed every 2 hours. But the need is every 11-minutes. Their burning desire of bringing dignity to the homeless saw them awarded Australia’s highest honour - the Australian Human Rights Award for Best Community Organisation in December 2011. They have also been recognised by several other awards and interviewed on major television shows.
Due to demand, the success of the Backpack Bed emergency bed program has also reached New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Canada, and USA.
How did they come up with such an idea? Well Tony was sitting in a church when he came up with the idea. That sometimes happens when you go to church. God gives you ideas. Lisa didn’t know anything about homeless people and their need but now she can’t stop doing what they’re doing because she knows that they’re making a difference. I love how Tony refers to the homeless as Jesus’ best mates.
The amazing work of Tony and Lisa reminds me of Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and the Goats when He said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me'” (Matthew 25:35-36 NIV).
May God grant us wisdom and compassion to help the least in our communities.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father. We pray today for homeless people who have no place to call home will be guided to places of peace and security. We pray that you will help people experience dignity, warmth, and protection through organisations like Backpack Bed for Homeless. Thank you for Tony and Lisa’s work. O God, preserve us who travel; surround us with your loving care; protect us from every danger; and bring us in safety to our journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
David Moyes
To donated to Backpack Bed please go to https://backpackbed.org/au/donate-online
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