Homeless Down Under

I raised funds in a few months ago that got me to Australia and New Zealand where I am experiencing homeless life. The experience is helping me become a better advocate for those around the world who are in need.

Now that I am Down Under, I am asking for your help getting home later this year. I bought the one-way ticket to the southern hemisphere in faith when I had not yet raised enough for a round-trip. I am now trusting God to meet that need and ask you to prayerfully consider if you are part of that provision. 

Thank you,

Alex

When I return, I look forward to sharing more with you about what I have learned by living homeless (or "living rough" as they say here).

Here is the vision I shared before my trip...

I have had a passion for helping the homeless for as long as I can remember. This is partly because my first memories include seeing lonely, hungry people sleeping in the stairways of our apartment building to survive the harsh winters in Moscow, Russia where my parents worked for Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) in Moscow, Russia when I was a young child.

In Russia, and in Orlando after our return to the States, my family would invite homeless people over for meals or even to live with us for weeks or months at a time. I grew up seeing first-hand the life-changing impact of my parents’ compassion towards others in need and that motivates me from the heart to do all I can to help the less fortunate.  In fact, I am preparing for a career that allows me to spend my life helping homeless communities around the world.

To prepare to truly help homeless communities with humility and integrity, I believe that I must personally endure the struggles that they face.  For this reason, I am raising money ONLY for a round trip ticket, a visa, and nothing else.  I will live on the streets of Australia, purposely far away from the familiarity of my American culture and with only a few basic items that I can carry in my backpack.    

My vision for living homelessly in Australia came from my friend Heno Head who learned a lot after spending the last four months living among the homeless along the west coast from California to Washington.  We have planned the August through December trip to Australia and invited four others to come along. We are all 19 to 20 year olds who will learn how to become better advocates for the homeless as we spend those months searching for food and shelter to get by day by day living on the streets of Australia.

Thank you for considering helping me so that I can learn how to better help others!  In response to your gift, I will keep you updated as we live and document the homeless life, sharing pictures taken with Heno's camera.  Any gifts that I receive in excess of my own flight and visa costs will be used to help my friend Adam who is one of the others hoping to come with us.