Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man is homeless.

 

A homeless woman, God only knows how she feels

In the Bible, Jesus spoke in parables, using stories and illustrations to speak to his followers. He once said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” His teachings and parables may be rejected by non-believers or atheists, yet his teachings reflect on our lives today.

Do you know that in 2005, a global survey by the United Nations, estimated over 100 million people were homeless worldwide and as many as 1 billion people lacked adequate housing?  In Europe alone, there are 3 million homeless people, while Columbia registers 9.5 million and 24.4 million in Nigeria. There are also hundreds of homeless people in Canada, Australia and the United States of America.

There are certain factors contributing to homelessness. Physical disabilities, depression, mental illness, drug abuse, broken homes, domestic problems and lack of employment, are some of the causes leading to homelessness. At times one may be free from the mentioned problems, but certain factors can push someone to live on the street.

That’s my story. As illegal immigrant in Europe, trying to survive, I slept at rough places in Rome, including the central train station and an old abandoned Pasta factory called ‘Pantanella.’ One crossing the street or seeing a homeless person might wrongly judge the victim, but problems too tough to handle often push them to be homeless.

Like many Africans, my dream was to make it big in Europe, by going to school and take the opportunity to integrate, but soon I realized that not all that glitter is gold. To avoid being a drug addict or a thief, I took the situation as life challenges to educate and shape my life positively. While I saw friends taken over by drugs and some of them immediately going back to Africa, I remained in Rome and fought those life obstacles squarely.

Today, the man who was once sleeping at the central train station in Rome now lives with his wife and children in Europe as European citizens. On immigration issues, I consider my books to be special because they are emotional, inspiring, adventurous and educative.  ‘Overseas Chronicle,’ is a book I will recommend to every reader who loves books in the genre of non-fiction. It’s a  book that captures a reader’s attention to figure it out if the contents really took place or just an exaggeration.

http://www.amazon.com/Overseas-Chronicle-Joel-Savage-ebook/dp/B013SLNWFC

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