Open Doors
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Billy and Lesley McCallion, a married couple with four children, from the prayer group at St Mary's, Great Yarmouth, tell the story of how a decision to fast on Wednesdays eventually led to a whole ministry to the homeless in their area
Their own sufferings made them even more sympathetic to the homeless people around them, however, and following a challenging sermon from their parish priest about the need to help those that suffer in the wider community, they decided to do something about it themselves. One of the Medjugorje messages that had struck Lesley had been about the importance of fasting. So it was that the couple decided that they would fast on Wednesdays and with the money they saved, they would cook a meal for the homeless. Lesley continues, "I was thinking that perhaps we might start in the summer, but Billy is a man of action, and he told me he had talked to the parish priest about using the church hall and we would be starting the following week which was a few weeks before Christmas." Billy interjects, "We were determined, however, that it would never be like a soup kitchen, but that it would be like coming to our own home. So we made sure we put white table cloth on the table, with flowers and a little reading from the bible. There would be no queuing but we would serve them and use the best cutlery and plates and food that we could afford." They were joined in their venture by Rosemary, another parishoner and her 17 year old daughter and a member of the prayer group came to help with the washing up. In the beginning they didn't even know how to contact people to let them know of the initiative. They started off by putting up posters in the local McDonalds. Only three people came the first night. Among them was Maggie, a hopeless alcoholic. Billy remembers "The first time she came, she was a mess. Her hair was matted and she stole all the fruit. It fell out of her clothes as she was leaving. We told her it didn't matter and that she could keep it. She became our greatest supporter and helped us out for about three months. She knew everyone on the streets and would bring them along. Helping us gave her a new purpose in her life and she cleaned herself up and tried to stop drinking. But then we went away on holiday and when we came back we found she had gone out on a huge drinking binge and had died." Lesley adds, "That was our worst moment. We felt like giving up and really wondered if it was all worth it. But Fr John our parish priest really encouraged us and reminded us of how Maggie's life had changed for the better in those last few months of her life - how she had come back to Mass and made peace with her family." Billy continues, "Because a lot of the people who came to us were addicts of one kind or another we had often debated about whether what we were doing was right or not, and whether we were just feeding their habits, but somehow after Maggie's death, everything seemed to fall into place and we just knew we were doing the right thing. It's not so much food that we are giving people, but family and a sense of belonging." For the first year when those coming were under a dozen, they funded the project out of their own housekeeping money and personal donations from Rosemary and the other volunteers, but as numbers grew to over a hundred this became impossible and they started to fund raise. Their parish helps them, as do other churches in the area. The ministry is unashamedly Christian. "It's really run on the power of prayer," insists Billy. "If you don't have prayer nothing works." He has all kinds of stories of divine providence and of money and food turning up when they most needed it. The most striking being the time, when the family had used their mortgage money to pay the butchers' bill for Open Door and the exact amount turning up a few days later. The place has very much a family feel about it. Many of those who come, the couple say, are not necessarily sleeping rough but are in dismal bedsits and living very lonely and isolated lives. For these people Open Doors, over the last six years of its existence, has become very much their home and their family. All kinds of people come including 12-14 children and even one whole family. Unlike some of the official projects where people have to prove they are homeless or on the dole, Open Doors, as its name suggests, is open to anyone and no questions are asked. This does of course leave it open to abuse at times but helps keep its unique spirit of hospitality. As well as giving material food, the people who come receive friendship and spiritual support. Part of Billy's ability to relate to the addicts lies in the fact that he himself is a recovering alcoholic. He grins, "They know they can't bullshit a bullshitter." However he knows everyone by name and they obviously love him and come to him with all their problems. " I listen to them. Then I tell them "I don't have an answer. I can't solve your problem, but I know a man who can." Then he marches them into the church and leaves them in front of the crucifix. He dispenses advice,charm and rosary beads with equal abandon, and with God's help, many of the men have their lives turned around. "We have about 7 people back into full time jobs," he comments proudly. Some of these will then help out at Open Doors or give small donations in gratitude. The weekly meal has extended in recent years into a Friday drop in centre where there is opportunity to learn computer skills or art therapy. Billy's dream is to have a community house for addicts like that in Medjugorje, where with peace, prayer and hard work, addicts can leave their addictions behind. In the meantime God seems to be opening up other doors. When a convent building they had hoped to obtain fell through, the nuns gave him all the furniture inside which led to the setting up of charity shop. This provides work for some of the people from Open Doors, who now man the shop and has supplied the funds for one of the workers at the shop to put a deposit down on a flat. Billy hopes that in time the shop will fund the Open Doors project entirely. In the meantime they rely on donations and people's generosity. He tells how he was invited by a school on the Barracks estate, one of the toughest areas in the locality, to come and talk about his faith and the project. Afterwards he was overwhelmed by the children's kindness. "It was really the poor giving to the poor" he says. The highlight of the jubilee year was a day out Billy organised for
21 of the Open Doors family to go to Walsingham. The Lord provided
everything he recalls. Sainsbury's provided everyone with a packed
lunch, the local college lent them their mini-bus and someone gave
them £50 for candles and teas and coffees. Billy remembers,
"You could feel the peace. It was wonderful. One of the men Mark,
was really moved. He is a drug addict but is trying to come off. He
is searching and came to our Alpha course in the parish. He told me
that it was the best day of his life. He said, "I have had lots
of fixes but this was the best fix ever." |
Over
the years Billy and Lesley McCallion had been involved in all kinds
of different small businesses around the seafront in Great Yarmouth,
but things were going really badly. In desperation Lesley decided
to go to Medjugorje, the marian shrine in Bosnia, to ask for divine
help that things would improve. She remembers, "I just knew I
should go, although I didn't know why. I prayed that the business
would turn around but instead things just got worse. I now realise
that Our Lady took me there to prepare for this and losing everything."
