The homeless have been considered a social issue since the economic crisis in 1999. Even though the government and many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have provided lots of policies and supports to solve the problem, they still remain underdeveloped in many areas.
The first problem is to approach the issue without rigorous preparation, and the second limitation is that the support policy to the homeless for the past 10 years has been simply to approach the issue by concealing homeless people from the public eyes.
In the process of support for the homeless, government took the initiative steps eliminating the participation and/or opinions of the scholars, and activists, which is the third problem. These policies and assistance have been temporary and non-systematic, so their effectiveness has been questionable.
Although we have set up a principal support system for the homeless, the continuation of the assisting project becomes unstable due to the decrease of its dynamic and a drop in social interests caused by the economic difficulty, which is the fourth problem.
The key point is to try to solve the problem by thorough preparation through sufficient discussion and research with the expectation of the origination of the problems and to plan and support in solving the issue in order to establish long term policies, instead of the shortsighted consideration. The long term solutions can be drawn by strengthening the cooperation between the government and supporting NGOs, by promoting the efficiency of policy, and by enhancing independence and creativity of the NGOs.
Finally, it is important to enact a law to support the homeless. The present shelter operation has limitation since it cannot present substance enough to assist self-support of the homeless. Therefore, it is urgently required to enact regulations to support homeless people, which enables to frame and execute the budget systematically fit to the objects of the policy.
While I have been practicing for the last 10 years through free lunch service and delivering to them the love bestowed by The Heavenly Father, I have realized that the homeless issue cannot be solved without healing their fundamental problems. In addition, through the system of the seven steps of self-support for the homeless provided by Shinsaeng church, they have not only received the treatment for their body and mind but also recovered their health by abstaining from alcohol. Also, through the religious life they all have learned the fact that the Father should dwell in their inner self so that they can live in the absolutely perfect house of Him.
All assistance is absolutely difficult without the help of the members of the society. It is high time to throw out prejudice on the homeless people, and to carry into practice the teachings of Jesus Christ in sharing their agony, which is the only way to stop the problems of the homeless in this land.