Project L.I.F.E. (Living Independent and Free Everyday) is L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry’s 6 month discipleship program. The goal of this program is to know and grow in one’s relationship with Christ and through that to live a completely transformed life
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After visiting the various shelters in Pittsburgh over the past 10 years, it was fairly evident that many of the people who found themselves homeless did not want to stay that way. They wanted to develop their relationship with God and others, and they wanted their life to have purpose and meaning. The problem was that these men and women did not have the means to go about acquiring these things. So all they had were unfulfilled dreams and aspirations with no hope of achieving them.
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Project L.I.F.E. is an initiative that seeks to change that cycle. This project will give men and women the opportunity to learn from Christian community, while receiving all the tools they would need to serve God to the fullest and utilize their gifts to the maximum.
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Initially, Project L.I.F.E. was to be a residential program where men stayed together in our ministry house. This program sought to eradicate the effects of homelessness by addressing the spiritual, social, and emotional needs of homeless individuals. This 9-month program addressed each of these 7 causes of homelessness as identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development : Unemployment, Substance addiction, Mental illness/impairment, Lack of access to educational and other resources, Domestic violence, Shortage of affordable housing, and Increase in urban poverty (by offering job and job readiness, participating in a 12 step Christian recovery group, partnering with mental health specialists, helping to train/provide educational resource like GED prep and tutoring, teaching proper roles in a Godly relationship, providing housing and helping to acquire adequate housing, and helping to remove 4 people from generational poverty).

Sounds good, huh? Sounds like the perfect program, huh? We started this program officially on November 2nd, 2009 with 3 men and a 4th was added shortly thereafter. Project LIFE showed some absolutely wonderful results…initially. The men got extremely close to their families. The men learned to live on a budget. The men experienced Bible training like never before. Then men participated in a health and nutrition regiment. The men were engaged in a church community run by a partner organization. But there were some challenges with the program as well. The men did not do well living together. The men accused each other, fought, and gradually did not want to participate in bible study or other activities. Soon, the men began focusing on their plan to ‘get out’, and were disinterested in being in the program. They all were screened, interviewed, and had filled out an application saying they were committed to discipleship, but soon the ‘cares of this world’ drowned out that desire, and 3 of 4 participants left the program early to pursue other things.

So what did we learn from that experience? Discipleship is hard!! There is no cookie-cutter way to do it. In 2010 we approached some other Christian ministries that serve and disciple the homeless and asked for some Godly counsel. They said keep working at it. Listen to God and follow where he leads.

Project L.I.F.E. is hard. While we want to see the homeless grow into a deeper relationship with Christ, it’s the ‘how’ we do that that is hard to explain. The first run of Project L.I.F.E. exasperated our staff at the time. In many ways it was not healthy for us or the guys.

So, what does discipleship look like today for the homeless? First, discipleship is cultivating a passion for the Lord. It is helping the men and women become people after God’s heart. Through Bible studies and relationships in the shelter, it is easy to see people who have this desire and it is relatively easy to help bring out that desire. The hard part is keeping the fire behind that desire burning, before the weight of the cold world puts it out. In 2011, we started a new version of Project L.I.F.E. which focused more on keeping this desire for God going instead of the desire just to not be homeless. In the first Project LIFE the loss of this desire for God caused people to want to quit. Having the right desire keeps them in the program even when their flesh was them to leave.

Secondly, it is vital to the success of discipleship to give the men or women work to do. Discipleship of the homeless CANNOT and WILL NOT work without meaningful tasks. This was perhaps the biggest failure of the first Project LIFE. There was nothing for the guys to do that would test them, challenge them, give them a sense of ownership, or even just give them responsibility. In today’s version of Project L.I.F.E. work is of extreme importance. Every day there are tasks assigned that range from yard and house work, to bible study prep, prayer for others, food preparation for others, phone calls for fundraising, leading of volunteer projects, etc. This work helps validate the lessons learned in the daily Scripture study. In other organizations it is called work therapy, and is proved to be hugely popular and successful across the country.

Thirdly, discipleship has to have an aspect of discipline. The men and women need the space to develop Christian disciplines that will serve them well when times get tough. These disciplines (prayer, fasting, listening to God, reading the word, etc) help develop and maintain Christian character.

Fourthly, fellowship and community is essential. This was evidenced in the first Project LIFE, and is evidence by the entire ministry. The homeless need (and even want) relationships. So it is intrinsic in discipleship to not just get them friends, but teach them how to make and keep Christian friends. They has been hard for the participants of the program as they have had to deal with a lot of their baggage which has distanced them from people in the past. But, as these relationships are formed, the burden is taken off of the ministry to be something that we are not supposed to be; their only friend. Also apart of this includes church attendance and involvement. This also was something that was not clear in the first Project L.I.F.E. and caused some issues.

Fifth, discipleship has to include service. This is not just work, but an aspect of giving back; helping those who have more (or different) needs than yourself. Again, this was not stressed in the first Project L.I.F.E. but has paid huge dividends in the current one. The men visit every shelter we frequent, and learn what it means to minister to someone in need. They find jobs for the homeless, give food and furniture to the homeless, and even just spend time building relationships with people who are in the position that they used to be in. This service cannot wait until they complete the program. It has to start from day 1, otherwise, it will never happen. This service keeps the participants humble, as they are constantly bombarded with the needs of others. It makes their needs seem smaller, and it helps them prioritize their needs better as they see themselves in others.

The last component of discipleship is discipleship. God’s command is for us to make disciples who make disciples. we were discipled, and now we disciple the homeless so they can disciple their family members, friends, or even other homeless individuals. In this way, their faith and knowledge are really put to the test. In our minds, there is no better measure for spiritual growth then when you are discipling someone else.

After taking a year to pray and reflect, a new version of Project L.I.F.E. started in May of 2011. Instead of a 9 month residential program, we tried a 6 month non-residential program. This meant that they 2 guys in the program did not live together in our ministry house, but in their own apartments. This proved very valuable as they has the space to reflect on the things that God had taught them without always being around the other people in the program. After 6 months, Rob and Eric graduated and have shown tremendous spiritual, emotional, and relational growth. They don’t see the world the same. They see it as God sees it. Every day they were stretched to the limit as they served and saw God in unbelieveable ways.

Now that we have a form of the prototype, we have started another round with 2 more guys, Doug and Gary. We also will be starting a prototype program for women this month. Monica has been eager to be discipled and will work with Jen and Jenna to further develop her relationship with the Lord.

After 10 years of ministry, we still by know means have figured out what discipleship exactly looks like, but we are trying. We are being faithful to God and doing whatever it takes to help others cultivate that intimate relationship with God.

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Check back often to see more updates on the progress of Project L.I.F.E.!