In January of 2010, I read Same Kind of Different as Me after hearing about it for several months. I breezed through it quickly since it is such a captivating story, but at the same time was deeply moved by the message and story of the book. (Yes, I also cried a lot in parts.) In fact, in a small way, the book was influential in my decision to move to Mexico as a missionary.
Recently, I read What Difference Do It Make?, the sequel to the first book. It tells the continuing story and also interweaves multiple stories of people's lives that were touched by reading Same Kind of Different as Me and their responses to the book. While I had heard this book did not compare to the first one, I was pleasantly surprised by the truths and inspirations this book included as well. In particular, I appreciated Denver's explanations of the dignity and love homeless people are desperately crying out for. Also, both Ron and Denver talk about the need for long-term commitment when it comes to making a difference. Ron writes, "Helping someone is when you find out how to help them move toward wholeness and then hang with them until they make a change." (p. 59). Denver adds, "..that blessin means you give a person a little gift to show 'em you think they matters on this earth, and helpin is when you stoop down with a person and stay there till they can climb on your shoulders to get up." (p. 170) This point reminds me of what Joel (my pastor in Bham) is always saying about what it really means to be "salt and light in this world"--where we are called to really work our ways into people's lives as salt is worked into meat, not just to the point that it is comfortable.
I could go on and on about other themes in the books, too, such as forgiveness, not judging, how one person really can make a difference in this life, etc. For the sake of time though, I won't. However, I did want to mention one other thought I had when I was reading a part in the sequel where it talked about homeless children...I thought about a little boy who was in my class my first year of teaching. He was very bright, wore glasses, and was well-liked by the rest of the class. He had several younger sisters that he helped take care of, and his mom was a single mom. I didn't know the mom very well, but she was supportive to the extent she could be in her situation and came to Parent-Conference Day, signed Friday Folders, etc. I could tell she was a good mom because my student was so well-behaved, respectful, and kind. I thought of them when reading this part of the book though because I think they might have been homeless, at least for a time. The kids always went home on the YWCA bus, and I don't know where they went after that (presumably to a house or apartment zoned for our district, but who knows for sure). My second year of teaching they officially moved out of our district, and I lost touch with them. I hope and pray that wherever they are now, they are doing well. Whether or not this family was homeless isn't really the point...the way it put a "face" on homelessness to me though does make a tremendous difference and encourages me so much to fully love and help each individual the Lord puts in my path...
"If all the Christians--I mean all of 'em--got outta the pews on Sundays and into the streets, we'd shut the city down. We'd shut down hunger. We'd shut down loneliness. We'd shut down the notion that there is any such of a thing of a person that don't deserve a kind word and a second chance." -Denver Moore
