As you walk down the road, you hear the door slam shut at the home of the quarrelsome family across the street. You see an elderly couple strolling back to the adult care facility around the corner. You watch a figure with slumped shoulders shuffle into the women’s shelter next door. Most neighborhood communities brim with people from all walks of life who have special needs.
Sometimes answering the call to the mission field will take you no further than the house next door. And it is these needy, next-door neighbors that one particular group of PUC students and faculty seeks to help — a calling that sits on the front lines of today’s mission fields.
This is what Fiona Bullock, PUC professor of social work, calls “practical theology" — following the example of Christ by seeking to better the lives of the less fortunate. It means following the commission in Isaiah 1:17 (Message version), which reads, “Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.”
A number of faculty and students take this commission seriously by teaching the community to become critical thinkers about what can be done. On campus, they educate students and faculty about California’s public conditions by organizing petitions and protests.
Locally, the social work department sponsors “Santa’s Workshop,” a place where people like Sara Jones, sophomore social work major, put together hundreds of packages of food blankets and supplies for the county homeless shelters. “I’ve always had a desire to help people,” says Jones. “Social work is a great field to help fulfill this purpose.”
The groups’ off-campus efforts are no less eventful. For instance, this month they are providing a free supper for migrant workers of the Napa Valley, many of whom are homeless and sleep on the steps of the local churches.
Perhaps the most memorable endeavor this school year consisted of an informative demonstration at the state capitol. Students and faculty protested cutbacks of provisions for children with disabilities. They got signatures for petitions and informed people of the political issues that impact their community. As Bullock explains, part of a social worker's responsibility is “being the voice for those without.”
They take to heart the admonition in Deuteronomy 10:17-19 (Message version), which states, “God, your God, is the God of all gods … He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing. You must treat foreigners with the same loving care."
“Our goal is not to convert people, but to model the life of Christ,” says Bullock. “In our profession, making a difference is the bottom line.”
Social workers take responsibility by being active; and they become active by taking responsibility for others. “In essence, Jesus was a social worker,” says PUC senior Maribel Lopez. “I’m looking forward to following in His footsteps.”
