Cheryl and I attended Thursday night the premier of Broken Down, local filmmaker Harold Joe’s documentary of the inside story of those who live outside, the homeless. The film introduces us to three homeless (or formerly homeless) men from the Cowichan Valley, and one homeless man and three ladies, two currently on the streets, from Vancouver’s East Side. The movie’s production quality is rough-and-tumble, but it is a powerful depiction of the brutal hardships and daily struggles of those with no fixed address. And it is a stark reminder of their basic humanity.
Some of the scenes are heartrending: a beautiful but ravaged First Nations girl who lives in an alleyway in Vancouver, mourning the loss of her girlhood, craving her next fix. Or bracing: Brenda, a former heroin junkie who lived on Vancouver’s streets for 30 years, warning youth, “Don’t even think about experimenting with drugs” Or touching: Red Beard, a Cowichan man who scrounges cans and bottles for beer money, taking the time to twist the openers off the mouths of cans so that he can contribute toward wheelchairs for disabled children.
Harold’s movie, I think, will become a catalyst for both deeper compassion and more concerted action in our community. The language is coarse in places, but never gratuitously so. It’s not suitable for young children, but I think everyone 12 or up should see it. I’m going to make sure my own teenaged children see it.
The documentary’s title, Broken Down reminded me of verses from Isaiah 58:
If you do away with the yoke of oppression….
and if you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like noon day
Your people will be rebuild the ancient ruins
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings (Isaiah 58:9,10, 12).
Whatever the causes, many and varied, that lead to broken down lives, God has one solution: his church and his people. When we live in Christ-like compassion, God names us and makes us Repairers and Restorers. In the place of ruins, homes. In the place of desolation, dwellings.
By Mark Buchannan
used by permission