"The best fruit is not shaken from the tree, but picked by hand, one by one." From the memorial service of Jerry McAuley (d. 1884), founder of the McAuley Water Street Mission in New York City now known as the New York City Rescue Mission.
In our travels helping the homeless, we have realized that to produce any real fruit, we must develop real relationships with the people we are serving. While providing food, clothing and shelter to those in need is on the surface a good thing, we must refrain from "drop and run" ministries. True compassion requires us to come alongside people and walk with them.
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