Late Night Operation Bless

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It was nearing bedtime for some, but for me and my cell group mates, it was time for one last briefing before embarking on our late night operations. Right after the Christmas service, we gathered at our church's roof terrace to be briefed on the reason for the operation, our car allocation, assignment of contact persons, a run down of the target group who we are blessing and the cut-off time. Thereafter, we are deployed to the respective cars...

Together, we will be setting off in 4 squad cars to comb various parts of the island, to find homeless and bless them with a small "care packs" we have prepared the day before. Inside each pack, we packed in towel, biscuits, mineral water and some muffins (which was kindly donated by the church).

To Bless or not to Bless
Frankly, when I started off with the operations, I was a little apprehensive and didn't quite buy the idea of providing these care packs to the homeless. Somehow, I feared verbal and/or physical attacks by some of the homeless and most of all, I didn't want to provide them with another incentive to stay on the streets. But I must say that as we went about the night operation, I reckon that whether they are homeless intentionally or unintentionally, they are humans after all and they have basic human needs too. Anyway, we have all been blessed and what is blessing them with a little care pack worth no more than $2? It is not much but it might just make the night's stay outside a bit more bearable, especially during this cold season. In fact, when we arrived at Chinatown, we saw some uncles trying to sleep on benches in the rain while some took shelter at the shop-house corridors nearby.

Being Observant, Thinking Like Them
Looking for the homeless was a real challenge because you can hardly find them around, since they have to avoid being found and taken away by the beggar squads from the MCYS. In order to find them, it really takes much patience and we had to be observant and also think like them. It wasn't an easy task as we take to the parks, void decks, playgrounds and car parks. We climbed stairs, looked behind construction partitions, comb corridors and every little nooks and corners. There was also one time when one of our friends saw an uncle who was limping in a distance, carrying a hand-carry bag. I had to run across all the way to him to pass him the care pack. Too some time to talk to him and realised that he has been homeless since 1997 when his wife died. He is on his way to find a place to sleep and usually hangs around Bedok. In fact, her later asked me for some money for him to travel back to Bedok. Unfortunately, I do not believe in giving money so I just told him that we will just be able to bless him with the care pack. He was nonetheless still very appreciative and smiled at me, saying "God bless you".

Usually, cardboard boxes on the floor with personal belongings placed on small ledges on walls and the occasional hint of the smell of urine were clues that this might just be home for someone. For example, there was this person who slept under this big piece of cardboard. If one of our friends did not alert us to it, we would have walked on. As my friend was parking the car, he observed personal belongings, plates and crockery being line out nicely near to his car. This made him suspect that someone might just be sleeping below the cardboard and so we left the care pack nearby. If we suspect a place to be home for someone but yet do not see anyone, we will leave the care packs near their personal belongings. If they are sleeping, we will leave it near them without waking them up.

A Unique Experience
The whole experience was such an eye-opener because I got to see the kind of circumstances the homeless has to put up with while the majority of us sleep in the comfort of our own homes. They are easily the forgotten ones who roam the streets and bear with the cold weather with whatever they have on them. Although we tried our best to distribute the packs to those who are needy, there were a few instances where we could not ascertain if someone was needy or not. The decision was nonetheless to bless them because it is always joyful to give. And I thank God for watching over the whole operation and that everything went without hiccups; that most of the homeless were appreciative of the kind gesture and there was no reports of aggression towards our volunteers. In fact, I remember approaching this guy who was sleeping in Chinatown and who reeked of alcohol. I remember approaching him precariously and my hands trembled as I quietly left the care pack besides him; I was afraid he would wake up and turn violent. Thank God, everything went well. I also thank God for blessing us with just the right number of cars, enough male chaperons, social workers and for volunteers who were able to speak the different dialects and who knew the areas well.

Interestingly, while we went about, we also came across two youth who were doing something similar, but they were blessing cats. Throughout the 3 hours, a total of 60 care packs were given out to locations including York Hill, Chinatown, Beo Crescent, Bukit Ho Swee, Tanjong Pagar, Chai Chee, Bedok, Hougang and Jurong. Towards the end of the operation, we had a number of care packs left. We all congregated at Chinatown, randomly chose a floor at one of the blocks and quietly hanged the care packs on the iron gate of the homes.

The operation ended with us volunteers blessing who else but ourselves. Just before heading home, we treated ourselves to a simple meal at Maxwell Food Centre nearby. This year's Christmas outreach is indeed special.