Eight hours outdoors an eye-opening experience for street missionaries

Every year St. Mary’s Street Ministry and Catholic Street Missionaries join forces to host a Sleep Out, an annual event where participants spend a night outdoors with little more than cardboard and sleeping bags to raise awareness of homelessness and experience life in their shoes. But this year, due to the pandemic, there was no way we could have a Sleep Out.

Thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the idea of a “Stay Out” came to my mind. Since our homeless brothers and sisters are forced to leave shelters and stay outside all day long, it’s meaningful for us to stay outside for eight hours to experience the hardship they face every day.

Rain or shine, we launched our first-ever Stay Out March 20. After a period of prayer and reflection on the Gospel of the day, and a blessing from Father Guy Rivard, OP, of St. Mary’s Parish, 20 participants left home and spent most of the day outdoors.

While some participated with members of their households and planned their own routes, most were solo participants strolling alone in a loop in a busy area in downtown Vancouver. Knights of Columbus from St. Mary’s Parish provided security by parking a van outside Holy Rosary Cathedral, giving their phone numbers to participants, and waiting on standby in case of potentially dangerous situations.

Participant Atiaia Barreto said at first, she thought it would be easier to spend eight hours outdoors during the day than at night.

“But when I was getting home, I was feeling so exhausted. I was drained. I even missed my (bus) stop because I realized I couldn’t think,” she said. “At least I have a place to go back to. But those brothers and sisters who are homeless do not. I’m thankful for all the graces that the Lord has given in my life.”

Lioba Na said she expects if she were homeless, she would use drugs to forget her own suffering. A member of the Focolare movement, she joined the Stay Out because she wanted to encourage the young members of her community to do something for the homeless down the road, and she wanted to experience it first.

Also a member of Focolare, Giulia Levrini said it was helpful to mediate on the Gospel of the day before going outside. She felt Jesus was reminding her not to judge those she met on the street.

What Susan Diewold reflected on most was how the elements could affect older homeless people.

As she walked, her knees started to hurt, and there was no place to sit down and rest because everything was wet. “Of course, there was no place to stop. Even when we did, I was standing. I was constantly moving around, trying to get comfortable … and then my feet were hurting.”

“It’s quite a humbling experience for sure,” Bowen Tang said. On the cold, rainy morning, Tang quickly started feeling uncomfortable. He said he realized the emotional burden a homeless person could feel on a rainy day, feeling wet, uncomfortable, and lonely.

The highlight of his walk was when he met Tim, a homeless man, who was being moved to a hotel on Granville. Tim sang Tang’s group a hymn and led a prayer for others in need. Bowen felt humbled by Tim’s joy, gratitude, gentleness, and faith.

Tang met another man on the street, who was angry and crying for help. People passed the man by without looking at him. “This gave me a new perspective on how we need to be more mindful and be aware of the people around us, how we can serve in different ways, to spread the Good News and love out there,” Tang said.

Milena Bebic shared similar feelings. She imagined herself as a person living on the streets and realized that most people passed by the homeless without looking at them. She imagined how she would feel if she were to sit at the corner alone. “It’s becoming normal to see people lying on the ground. No one turns head to look at them. Not even little kids.”

Michael Mendonca called it an eye-opening experience. “I intentionally started this by myself, just to get a real feeling of what the homeless would feel like because most of them are by themselves,” he said. “One of the first things that hit me was, as I was walking I see all these shops and all these different clothing accessories, the homeless would be thinking … ‘I can’t get any of that.’ They see so many things that they cannot get.”

As he walked along, he met an elderly woman who had been walking alone, and prayed with her.

By the end of the day, “My legs were hurting. I was tired and hungry. But at least I got to rest my legs and I got to eat, and I have a warm place to be in. So I’m very grateful. I learned a lot.”

Beverly Orfiano was initially afraid to join the Stay Out because she’d recently heard reports of a young Vancouver woman being followed around by a stranger for 40 minutes. In the morning, as she set out on the walk, solo, she saw a man who made her feel afraid.

“Street people are fearful of their lives. They are not just thinking about what to eat and where to go. They are fearful of their safety as well, especially women,” she said.

Before the walk, she had prayed, “May God let us experience all the emotions and feelings that God want us to feel.”

“I’m sure God wants me to experience those (emotions) so that I can be more helpful and understanding of our brothers and sisters who are homeless.”

On the same day, in a different time zone across the Pacific Ocean, Connie Tsang joined the Stay Out from her hometown in Hong Kong. Our first international participant, Tsang said she was exhausted after spending the whole day outside. She walked past places where homeless people are usually found, including under bridges and in subway walkways.

I hope more people from around the world join our Stay Out next year.

Catholic Street Missionaries is a registered charity in B.C. that reaches out to people who are homeless, addicted, prostituted, or suffering from mental illness. Missionaries are aged 19-39 and from across the Lower Mainland.

Sleep Outs are held by various Lower Mainland groups. St. Mary’s and CSM held their first Sleep Out in 2015. At the inaugural event, Archbishop J. Michael Miller joined dozens of other participants in spending a cold night in the parking lot at St. Mary’s.

Each year, the groups also raise funds for various needs, including purchasing coats or sleeping bags for people who live on the streets. This year’s Stay Out participants raised $5,000.

Mildred Moy is the founder of Catholic Street Missionaries and a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver. CSM is holding its next next homeless outreach training session April 25. More information at catholicstreetmissionaries.org.

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