Former Homeless Man Turned Pastor Sleeps in Dumpster to Collect Goods for the Less Fortunate

By Jessica Martinez, CP Reporter Friday, October 25, 2013

A Houston-based pastor has decided to sleep in a dumpster where he will remain in until Saturday to raise awareness of the homelessness issue in his city and the country, with hopes that people will stop by to drop off items for the needy which he will then distribute throughout his community.

Pastor Langdon Cassidy of the Matthew 25:35-40 Ministry, a ministry solely focused on helping the homeless in Houston and its surrounding communities, took on the challenge to "walk in a homeless persons shoes" after having a series of dreams about it. In his recurring dreams, he constantly found himself inside of a dumpster while trying to grab onto everything that people would hand to him.

Speaking on his behalf was his wife, Jessica, who told The Christian Post that his ministry began in 2004, and said her husband's mission is simply to let the homeless know that he cares about them.

"We believe that if everyone did what they could, many homeless would benefit," said Jessica. "All donations raised with this mission will go to benefit Houston homeless men, women and children."

In addition to Cassidy's dream, he felt the need to embark on this experience because he knows firsthand what it is like to be homeless.

"My husband's compassion for the less fortunate is because for a time he was also homeless and relied on the kindness of others for daily food, drinks and clothing," said Jessica.

Cassidy has currently set up his temporary shelter at a green Waste Management Dumpster on the property of a friend's gas station in the city of Pasadena, Texas. Since he began to camp out there on Thursday, many have stopped by to donate blankets, clothes, food, and water among other items, which was enough to fill two trucks full of donated goods.

Aside from Cassidy's current effort to help the needy, his commitment to them is evident in a video posted on his ministry's Facebook page last month in which he is shown standing under an overpass bridge on the back of a pick-up truck encouraging a few homeless individuals that they too can find a way out of their situation.

"If you want prayer, you stop here and ask somebody, you need your social security card prayed in, you need your ID prayed in, you need a library card to use the computer to get you a job, you pray, that's what brings it in," says Cassidy in the video.

In the video, he also tells the crowd of a few dozen who are waiting to eat a hot meal after his message that his testimony is similar to what they are living and if he told them his story, "the food would get cold and have mold."

He added, "I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything. You want out of here? I was here once, you just have to ask the man upstairs. Don't feel bad for yourselves."

After his stay in the dumpster ends on Saturday, Cassidy will hand out all collected items to the Houston-area homeless over the next few weeks.