Fallen Angels: Stories Inspired by the Urban Homeless

These stories are fictional but based on street people the author met while serving on the pastoral staff of the First Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon. The church had a feeding ministry to the homeless and the poor people who lived in some of the decrepit apartments in the downtown area. Over three hundred people would be provided a hot, substantial meal twice a week, and as staff liaison to this ministry he would often help serve and then visit the people while they ate. By sharing these short stories, he hopes to help readers see homeless people as people, people who are in some respect just like them. The title is based on one character's insight that "everyone on the street has fallen from something higher." When we see a homeless person, we should ask, "What have they fallen from, and how can they get back to what they were created to be?"