ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- The tragic fatal stabbing of a man by a homeless person will bring up yet another round of concern about violence and the homeless.

The victim had picked up the suspect from a local homeless shelter and taken him home a few days prior to the incident. Local police told media that at some time Saturday, the suspect “became enraged.”

According to a criminal complaint (reported by Albuquerque's KOB TV),  the suspect became angry when the victim allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old boy.

KOB reported that the suspect said the incident brought back memories of when he was molested.

Other local media reported that Albuquerque police found about the murder in an unusual fashion – from the suspect. Police were called to a convenience store in the middle of the night where a man was selling property out of a stolen van.

A police spokesman said that during the investigation, the homicide suspect said they needed to handcuff him as he had just murdered a man. Media reports said that the suspect provided additional details and a location, and when police arrived they found a man lying dead with a knife wound to his throat.

However, as horrific as the incident was, it was nonetheless an aberration.

My heart goes out to the victim’s family in their time of grief. However, I hope everyone won't start ducking or running when they see a homeless person. Then we've started homeless profiling.

There are thousands of homeless people in Albuquerque, and only a handful of violent incidents in the last few years. That is not to minimize in any way the seriousness of the occurrences that took place, just a reminder that they have to be kept in perspective. It's been my experience after helping New Mexico's homeless for the last quarter century, that most homeless people are able to opt for the solutions offered by community agencies rather than resorting to violent encounters.

I strongly caution Albuquerque residents against personally sheltering the homeless. It's impossible to adequately screen everyone you see on the street asking for money or a job, so our advice is to NEVER take anyone – including a person you meet at a homeless shelter – into your home. In fact, never give someone you don't know your home address or your residential telephone number.

And it’s usually best, unless you feel specifically directed by the Lord to do otherwise, not to give money to people on the street.

The most important advice I have for people worried about being attacked by the homeless is to practice extra caution, and be aware of their surroundings wherever they are – whether or not the area is one frequented by the homeless.

We must take steps to ensure our own safety because people from all walks of life can be unpredictable – not just the homeless.

So What Can People Do to Help the Homeless?

The victim's neighbors said he was always helping homeless people. (http://kob.com/article/stories/S293713.shtml?cat=516). Sadly, this time there was a tragic outcome that has the potential of causing people to be more suspicious than ever of the homeless.

So what can be done to safely help the escalating number of needy and homeless people who are walking Albuquerque’s ever increasingly dangerous streets, and seeking assistance from area homeless shelters?

There are still many ways to help the homeless. For example. If you see a person who is asking for money for food, you can point him or her to the nearest fast food restaurant and buy a meal. Joy Junction Chief Administrative Officer Roseann Vona Page and I have done that on a number of occasions, and have always been thanked for doing so.

I remember a few months ago, Roseann and I began talking on the streets of Albuquerque to a woman and her physically challenged daughter. The mom was hungry, because she had just spent the majority of her monthly check for a month’s shelter for her and her daughter, and that left her without money for food. That’s a choice no one should be forced to make. It was our privilege to be able to buy her supper.

One option is to buy meal coupons from a fast food restaurant, and give them out to people standing on the streets asking for help.

Another safe and effective way to help the homeless is by directing them to a local ministry such as Joy Junction, which also provides transportation to its South Valley facility.

An Appeal

Even after this terrible killing, I hope that you will not be frightened of the homeless, or ignore them, but if at all possible take time to get to know them as individuals. Just like every person with a home has a life story, so does every homeless man, woman, boy and girl.

Though it may seem like it, the homeless people you see on the streets of Albuquerque (or in your city) aren’t there because they want to be. They’ve usually ended up without a place to stay because they’ve experienced a series of emotionally and physically catastrophic events that have rendered them unable to hold a job. It’s easy for us to say what we would do if we were “them,” but we’re not. That line of thinking allows us to evade responsibility for carrying out the Biblical mandate to help the needy.

But with more and more homeless people in Albuquerque seeking help from Joy Junction – up to well over 300 a night from 150 just over four years ago – and apparently more homeless people on Albuquerque’s streets as well, it can no longer be business as usual.

With that in mind, would you pray and ask the Lord what He would have you do to help the homeless in Albuquerque or in your city? Such a prayer will be pleasing to the Lord, definitely time well spent, and could quite possibly end up changing your life.
 

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.