The video was created to help individuals and congregations know how to respond to panhandlers, homeless persons, walk-ins who ask for assistance from a church or business, and other persons in deep poverty. Anyone who has struggled with how to compassionately and appropriately respond to "Jesus in street clothes" will benefit from the superb advice in the videos. Some key features:

• 5 video segments, from roughly 7 to 14 minutes in length. $39.95. Designed for young adults or adults, though I could also imagine using it in certain situations with youth.
  
• Includes dramatizations to show ways of responding to requests, tours of places homeless persons live, interviews with homeless individuals, examples of ways churches and individuals have built relationships with the poor, and much more.
  
• A bonus session includes a conversation with Jan Snider, the producer, which provides additional perspective. This segment is certainly interesting and could be used when a group wishes to continue the conversation.
  
• Each session ends with questions for group discussion. (Note: the questions come rather quickly in succession, so you may need to be ready with the pause button if you wish to discuss them one at a time.)
  
• An 10-page study guide (PDF and DOC formats) is included on the DVD and can be reproduced or modified. The activities are fun and thought-provoking and will enable good discussion about the topic, though they are weak on providing further solutions or "next steps" for participants. That's not all bad, though — the goal is for each individual and church group to find ways of responding that are appropriate in their unique situations.
  
• A companion book, Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People in Poverty, is also available separately. (Portions of the video came from the book. We have not reviewed it. A review is available on our site here.)
  

As one who has been involved on a number of levels with this topic (working in shelters, serving on the boards of assistance agencies, helping individuals directly, etc.) I am extremely grateful to have this resource available to use personally and professionally. The emphasis in the video on compassionate empowerment of the poor, and on attention to individual needs, is certainly on target. I would highly recommend the video for class use, social action committees, youth or college groups going on urban trips, and staff members who frequently engage drop-in visitors who need assistance.

Recent statistics make clear that poverty is increasingly moving from rural areas and cities to the suburbs, and the economy is disrupting families in every community. Please, make this the next resource you purchase.

(And, if you think of it, please write the words "Different Voice" in the "Special Instructions" box. Thanks!) 

~ Tim Gossett