Under The Overpass

By Mike Yankoski

This is one of the best books I have ever read.  I started it Sunday evening and finished it Monday afternoon.  I would have read it straight through if I could, or I would have stayed up all night reading if I wasn't already really tired.  I just couldn't put it down; once I started reading I had to keep going.  After I finished it, I contemplated reading it again--maybe I will.  It was so interesting and gave me lots to think about.


Under The Overpass is the story of a young man named Mike and his friend Sam who lived on the streets of Denver, Washington, D.C., Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix and San Diego for five months.  They were ordinary college students before God placed this idea on Mikes heart.  They only brought backpacks (packed with the bare essentials), sleeping bags and their guitars.  Before they could eat, they would either have to panhandle for money by playing their guitars and singing (Christian worship music), or wait in long lines at homeless shelters.  Sometimes nearby churches that would give out free lunches; but some of the time they went hungry.  Other times they dug through the trash or took other partially eaten food that would have been thrown away.  They slept on the streets and were often awakened by city noises, rats, rain, people telling them they had to move and sometimes thieves.  They met other homeless people who shared their stories and struggles and were able to witness to them and help them.  Many of those on the streets wrestled with addiction.  People were surprised when Mike and Sam told them they didn't smoke or drink and even more surprised when they discovered they were Christians.

Most of the churches Mike and Sam attended and visited while they were homeless rejected them.  Once they slept outside a church hoping that when the people came to the service they next day, they would see the two homeless men outside and offer them help.  But no one did.  Other times they were kicked off church property.  Or professing Christians would see their needs, but not do anything about them.  Now, there were some Christians who they met who were very kind and Christlike.  Once someone took them out to eat; others gave them food and money for the bus; and once they were invited to a dinner after a church service.

Mike and Sam learned what it meant to trust God completely.  Sometimes they didn't know where their next meal would come from, but God provided for them.  They began to look at homeless people differently and recognized that everyone is created in God's image, even the poorest of the poor.