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$5.00
#80

Homelessness gave me a new
outlook on human life.
—Marie

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My name is Marie Bright and I’m from Texas.

I was homelessness back in Dallas before I came to Charlotte.

It’s been a challenging experience. I will never forget it. I have re­
alized that God uses homelessness to draw people closer to Him.
Even though the world may see it as a negative instead of a pos­
itive—there’s nothing positive about homelessness in the world’s
view—homelessness has actually drawn me closer to him.

Homelessness gave me a new outlook on human life.

God taught me how to appreciate people more and see people the
way He sees people. He also gave me a level of brokenness that I
can’t put into words. He broke a lot of things off of my life that do
not reflect God Himself, like pride, anger, bitterness, or trying to
play the victim role. It gave me a level of responsibility that drew

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out a lot of things that I never thought were in my heart or in my
soul. There were a lot of things that were hidden inside of me that
God was able to cause me to place on the altar and die to it through
homelessness. It caused me to care about people on a deeper level.
It allowed me to minister to people in the midst of my suffering.
My suffering caused me to die to myself.

Homelessness helps you to not take anything for granted–like wa­
ter, food, or even wanting friendship or a conversation with some­
body, someone seeing you as a human being.

Homelessness also shows you the superficial sides of people as they
see you as inferior or they belittle your value because you’re not
living up to the standards that they think you should be living in
life. You’re labeled. It was heartbreaking for me to see that behav­
ior and stereotypical behavior and prejudice. My heart went out to
them because God showed me that they were basically in a prison

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themselves. They were putting on this show as if they were better
than me because of my situation.

God also placed some beautiful people in my life.

Some people reached out to me and actually showed that they cared.
I’ll never forget that as long as I live. This whole experience has re­
ally shown me that God values us on levels and dimensions that
our own human logic cannot even understand, especially through
homelessness because there is so much wisdom hidden in home­
lessness, and He will use such a situation to pull out the beautiful,
hidden treasures that are in us.

It will even cause you to be blessed, to be drawn to people who have
had such an experience, and you will see how God has beautified
them in His character and His nature. It gives you hope.

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When you have a relationship with God in homelessness, God will
do some awesome things even in the supernatural.

I’ve had some amazing supernatural encounters with God even in
my homelessness.

I have been experiencing the presence of God in my homeless­
ness—the way He provided for me. He used uncommon people
to take care of me. I’ve experienced His love in a lot of ways that
I never thought I’d be able to experience His love. Being able to
shower up in the bathroom without having any interruptions, I
thank God for that.

The small things like that when God shows you that His hand is on
your life. He cares about what you care about. He’s not this harsh
God who doesn’t care about our needs and care about our desires
but, even through nature, God has spoken to me. There are many

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intimate ways that let me know that He has been there for me in
the midst of my experience with homelessness. It’s been a journey.”

I sleep in my car, which is a blessing.

I had met a young lady who gave me her car. That’s how I ended up
with the car. God put it on her heart to give me the car. I came here
on the Megabus, I’ll be leaving in a car.

My family didn’t understand my process at first, but I know they
miss me and I miss them. It was a little challenging at first because
they understand the assignment on my life. Since my assignment
is up, I am looking forward to going to Texas. I am excited about
going back to Dallas because I have kids there.

I met a young lady who had experienced homelessness for a few
days when I met her. She was referred to me by two other young

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ladies that we go to church with. They brought her to my car at 2:00
in the morning. I let her live there for four days.

There’s nobody like Jesus.

Without Him, I would have lost my mind and be mentally chal­
lenged right now. If it wasn’t for Him, I would be mentally gone;
because sleeping in that car can challenge you. If it wasn’t for God,
I would be out of my mind right now… Not everyone can see the
beauty of God in the homeless when they are so stereotyped. They
are seen as inferior when they used to live in nice homes and drive
nice cars too. That’s why I’m glad I’m able to see human life through
the eyes of God and not through my own eyes because my own eyes
will be judgmental and would show some prejudice, and I don’t
want that.

I’m glad I went through this.

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SPEAK UP MAGAZINE

Speak Up equips remarkable people facing homelessness with a
magazine that releases their voice and give them a chance to work
and earn money. As they buy and sell Speak Up magazines (and
keep the profits), they discover dignity, develop skills, accomplish
goals, and get off the streets. Speak Up is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, rely­
ing on your generosity.

FACING HOMELESSNESS?

If you are facing homlessness, you can for the magazine, tell your
story and get paid. You can sell magazines and earn immediate
income.

IN CHARLOTTE, NC — Call 704-900-1836.
ELSEWHERE IN THE USA — Go to speakupmag.org/partner.

PLEASE GIVE

SPEAK UP
501 Hawthorne Lane
Charlotte, NC 28204

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