Downtown 5/23/2010

I was fortunate again this week and made the trip downtown on a Sunday. Traveling down Olive St. near 12th I saw a man lying on the sidewalk and decided to drive around the block and come back to him on his side (Olive is a one-way street there). While driving around the block I passed an alley and saw another man sleeping so I pulled down this alley to meet him first. His name was Jaime (see picture). When you think of how much "stuff" we have in our homes and then see someone like this, sleeping on a piece of cardboard, and using a small bag of fruit as a pillow it just amazes me. Needless to say, Jaime needed the food and water and a blanket. It was actually kind of breezy and cool (61 degrees) at 5 p.m. Night time was going to be even colder. You can see from the picture he had no blanket and only an overshirt and that was it. Around the corner and back on Olive St. I met Hernando. He was pretty much in exactly the same condition, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. The only difference between the two was he had no piece of cardboard to sleep on. He was so thankful for the help. I prayed with both men but after praying with Hernando he looked up at me thankfully and pointed up to the sky and said, "Jesus prays for you." I guess that was his way of saying "God bless you." How can one not be touched by such a heartfelt response.
I kept going down Olive St and then turned down 7th. This is part of the skid row area as you go east on 7th. After passing Alameda I looked for shoeless Marie and found her. She was just walking down the street with no shoes on and a small blanket wrapped around her. It really is shocking the condition of her feet after being barefoot for probably the last fifteen years. Someday I'll try and get another picture of her. I know this woman needs someone to take care of her. Giving her a bag of food to help her get through the next few days seems so inadequate, I just don't know what else I can do for her. Since she seems to live near the skid row missions, I'm sure she frequents them and they are aware of her condition. She is difficult to help because she seems to want to be alone or at least on her own all the time. That may be because she doesn't trust anyone. Pray for Marie.
Back on the west side of Alameda on 7th I found another man with a shopping cart (we're moving up in the world) sleeping on the sidewalk. He was using a large plastic container of water as a pillow. When I walked over to him and bend down to talk to him I could see the bottle of beer laying next to him. He sort of woke up when I started talking to him. His name was Carl. There was a time when if I saw a man in his condition I would have been disgusted and just walked away. But here I am trying to bring the love of Christ to people who are outcasts of society for whatever their reasons may be. I can't refuse to help even the least of these. God loves Carl too. No matter his condition, he was made in the image of God and I am here to bring the presence of God to this man. His response was pretty much what you would expect from someone who had been drinking. Before I drove away I was amazed that he was able to even stand up (and then urinate on the sidewalk). This is life on the street in the skid row area.
After the encounter with Carl I drove up Central Ave towards the I-10 freeway. When I got near Pico I remembered Ben and Kevin from last week and decided to drive down there and see who might be there today. Well I didn't see either of them but I saw a very neat and orderly arrangement of possessions positioned for privacy and warmth (remember it was a little breezy). It turned out this is where Johnny was living. Johnny was a very polite man. While he accepted the bag of food I offered him, he declined the water and blanket I offered him saying he was OK on that. He also declined my offer to pray with him. In the last year I have prayed with
hundreds of people living on the streets of Los Angeles. I have only had two before Johnny decline my offer of prayer. One man I've seen many times and developed a good relationship with and the last time I saw him he wanted to pray for me. The other man I never saw again but I think he was afraid I was going to preach to him which is why the first guy originally declined. Johnny is now the third man to decline. I suspect there are other issues involved concerning his lifestyle that prevent him from feeling "worthy" of prayer. He said, "Maybe another time." I was disappointed. Of course, I prayed for him anyway when I got back to the car. I wondered if he understands the words of John 3:16 that begin with, "Whosoever believes in Jesus..." It doesn't have a disclaimer about the sin in our lives. It simply says, "Whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life." Jesus makes this claim because "God so loved the world that He gave his only Son.." There is no fee or conditions to this gift other than accepting the gift (believing in the One He sent!). I don't want to be the kind of Christian that just runs over these people, for the most part they get run over enough. But next time I'm praying for Johnny anyway, loud enough for him to hear.
Before leaving I wanted to see if I could find (downtown) Richard Brown. He is now situated under the freeway at Hooper St right about where I first saw him a year ago. He was setting up his "house" for the night. He commented that he can't get too cozy or the police will roust him around 4 or 5 in the morning. We had quite a conversation about his difficulties living on the street the last month or so. While talking with Richard, Raul from last week appeared too. They are both living under the freeway there (just like they were a year ago). Raul was very thirsty and needed the water I had. Richard wasn't thirsty at all, because he had been drinking (and was quite talkative because of it). I was glad to see them both. --Until next week. John

Downtown 5/16/2010

It has been quite a while since I was able to go downtown on a Sunday, but I finally got the chance yesterday. What a difference it makes. The pace is so much more conducive to talking (and praying) with people than on a weekday. I mentioned last week that my friend Richard Brown has moved and I've been unable to locate him. I looked yesterday but still haven't found him. While looking for him around the I-10 and Hooper I did see Raul, who I hadn't seen in probably six months or more. He was under the freeway there on Hooper but hadn't seen Richard in a while either. Raul is a very small frail man and it's difficult to know how old he is. He was living under that freeway just a few yards away from Richard the first time I went downtown last year. We talked about him making it through the winter. Apparently, he spent some time at the missions on skid row, but doesn't like to make a habit of staying down there. This seems to be consistent with a lot of the folks I meet on this end of the town. Put simply, anytime there is a large congregation of homeless people (even the general public at large) there are inherent problems.
While driving around that area I came to 16th St and Central. As I passed Central Ave. I saw a man with a shopping cart on one of the corner lots. I pulled around and came back to where he was and called out to him as he was about to try to cross the street (not at the intersection). His name was Mario and he was having great difficulty pushing his cart around. I got out of the car and went over to talk with him bringing a bag of food with me. He had, maybe, a half a dozen or so empty plastic bottles in his cart. With his limited ability to walk I can only imagine how long it must take him to find enough stuff to recycle. He literally was taking six inch steps pushing the cart. I gave him some water and shirts and socks and prayed with him. He thanked me for helping him and started to go his way (trying again to cross the street). While he was making his way, another man by the name of George came by asking where the closest recycling place was. Where we were was a recycling place but it is closed on Sundays. The nearest ones that I knew of were several blocks away in either directon. He was quite disappointed to hear how far away they were but perked up when I offered him some food and water. As he left I turned my attention back to Mario who was still trying to cross the middle of the street with his six inch steps!!! Some cars were stopping but in the lane furthest away vehicles, including a transit bus, were continuing to drive by. Finally, I heard a siren coming from down 16th St. It turned out to be a paramedic unit. They turned onto Central and came around blocking the traffic with their vehicle so Mario could continue crossing the street. One of the paramedics got out and helped him across. After getting him and their vehicle across the street I saw them pull into the corner lot there (directly across from where I was). Apparently, someone must have called 911 because there was a man lying down there near the front corner of that lot (it was an old abandoned gas station). Yeah, never a dull moment downtown. Maybe fifteen minutes later I was again driving down Central Ave at this location and Mario had stopped and was sitting on a milk crate eating some of the bread I had given him. I can only imagine what challenges each day must bring for him. For now, he has enough food to get by for a couple of days.
Just down 16th St at San Pedro there were a few people living under the freeway. There was one couple who I had seen there the week before and then another man by himself and a woman by herself not too far way. I was able to pull up fairly close to the single man and woman and walked back to them with a bag of food. The woman's name was Laticia and the man's name was George (not the same George from down the street). I gave the bag of food to Laticia and asked if George wanted one too. He said he did and they both needed water also. So I went back to the car and got some for them. This is the same location where I last saw Mary a couple of months ago. I told them it is supposed to rain on Tuesday and to be ready to move around the corner under the freeway to stay dry. I prayed with both of them and as I turned to leave I asked Laticia if she could use a sweater. When she said yes I told her to come over to the car and take a look and see if there was one she could use. Both of them were quite appreciative of the food and water but when she saw the trunk of clothes and I showed her a couple of the sweaters she was absolutely thrilled! I gave her a couple of sweaters (she commented about how warm they looked) and a blanket and a pair of shoes and socks. She thanked me again quite profusely. I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder and I said that's what I'm here for is to help. She took my hand and kissed it several times thanking me again. Looking to comfort her I put my arm around her and gave her a hug (she then kissed my neck). Needless to say, I haven't encountered that reaction before. It was quite humbling to me. I told them both that "I come down here cada semana (each week) and I will look for them again." When you encounter people with needs so great, it's hard to just get in your car and drive away even though you've given all you had to give.
Well, at this point I had one bag of food left and three gallon jugs of water left. I ended up finding Ben sleeping on the corner of Paloma and Pico. It is a very small street, in fact, this is where Pico Blvd ends at Central Ave one block east of Paloma. Ben needed the food and water and prayer. He's probably around thirty years old. While talking with Ben, Kevin walked up and asked if I had anymore food. While I didn't have another bag of food, I did have a couple of cans of soup left and gave them to him. I also ended up giving both of them shirts and blankets. I also had a pair of shoes that seemed to fit Ben. Kevin was a fairly large man and none of the shoes I had fit him. I must have given out 3 or 4 pairs of shoes on this trip. I am so grateful to all of you who have given clothes that I can give out to these needy folks. On their behalf I thank you so much. It was a great trip, what a difference it makes going on a Sunday. --Until next week. John

Downtown 5/10/2010

I arrived downtown at around 11:00 a.m. It is interesting to me that some homeless folks you can find in the same place for several weeks in a row and others you don't. I have driven down Olive St. for several weeks now in hopes of seeing any of the four men in front of the abandoned auto body repair shop from several weeks back, but to no avail. However, I did see Gerald from last week sleeping on the sidewalk again, just a couple of blocks down from there. Gerald is very young, I'm guessing under thirty years old. I asked if he had any family that could help him out and I could tell from the hesitation in his answer that family relations were strained. At this point, his family is probably still his best option to getting off the streets.
A little while later, I found Willie in an alley off Hooper street where he usually lives. I hadn't seen Willie in a couple of months so we talked awhile and got caught up on things. Apparently, he had most of his stuff stolen a few weeks ago. I was able to give him another jacket, a blanket, shoes and socks along with some food and water. Willie told me he was hoping I'd come by. I wrote last week about the man who several months ago answered, when I asked if he needed help with, "I'm hungry and thirsty." Well, it was this man, Willie. Since he lives in an alley, I nearly always get to spend time just talking with him. He is always nice and polite with me and is someone you wouldn't mind having as a neighbor. I gave him a couple of "Guidepost" magazines which he really appreciated. He also told me that my friend, [Downtown] Richard Brown, who lives a couple of streets away had all of his stuff stolen too. I noticed last week that Richard's stuff was not there where it normally is and I wondered what had happened. I'll be watching to see where he ends up.
In between where Richard normally is and Willie's alley I found another man named Willie living under the freeway at 14th and Hoooper. This Willie is a new arrival to this area. I was able to help him with some food and water but couldn't stop there for very long and had to keep moving. He had seen Richard Brown recycling the day before but didn't know where he was staying now.
After leaving this area, I turned on Central Ave and headed up town. Along the way I saw Matthew walking down the street. You may remember him from a few weeks back. He was the homeless man with the toothache. I asked him how his tooth was doing and if the Hall's cough drops had given him any relief from the pain. He told me his tooth had been hurting some lately and that the cough drops did help. I just happened to have a half a bag of them with me so I gave them to him along with some food.
From there I headed towards Lincoln Park. Along the way, I found Abel Martinez pushing a shopping cart at Mission Blvd and Cesar Chavez Blvd and was able to help him with some food. When I got to the Lincoln Park area I saw probably a half dozen shopping carts semi hidden in bushes. You can see as these people are out "working" (recycling) they leave their stuff behind. That's when it gets stolen. It's a lot harder to take all your stuff with you as you go recycling so they try and find a safe place to leave it. This leads to endlessly having to start all over when they return and find their belongings pilfered. This gets to be very demoralizing for them and there's little they can do about it short of taking it all with them wherever they go. I walked through the park and found Marcos lying on a piece of cardboard. He needed the bag of food I gave him and was very glad to get it. As always, it was a privilege to serve these men. As much as they need the physical items I give them, they need a friend just as much. --Until next week. John

After one year of going downtown-5/3/2010

It was an overcast Monday, a year ago in May, that I started making these trips downtown. Few people know what inspired me to start making these trips so I thought it was time to share with you my personal story of how it all began. A year ago, late one Sunday night in March I was watching a documentary film a man by the name of Darren Wilson made on a $20,000 budget. It was obviously a low budget film, but the subject was fascinating. Mr. Wilson and his film crew started in their home state of Illinois and ended up going around the world filming God working. You know, like supernatural stuff. There were interviews and bits and pieces of film of underground churches in countries where Chrisianity is forbidden as well as footage of the gospel being preached to villages for the first time in Africa with miracles right there on camera to validate the message. It was all so "first century" book of Acts type stuff. In the film there was a part about a church up in Redding, California and the prayer and healing ministry they have. It was a real eye opener and the next day I went online and ordered the DVD. I must have had some extra money at the time because I ended up ordering the deluxe version that included the movie and 4 DVD's of stuff that didn't make it into the final movie cut. Boy was I glad I did. On the fifth DVD there was an interview with a man by the name of Rolland Baker. He is the grandson of a missionary to China. He told the story of how his grandfather had gone to China as a missionary for a few years and came back to America totally disillusioned. Within two years he felt led by the Holy Spirit to go back to China. He ended up in Southwestern China with an orphanage of about 15-20 very young kids. He found these kids after they were dumped and left to die by mine owners. Most of the ones they found died within a few days, they had been literally worked to death by the mine owners. After a while, these kids over a two month period, started experiencing visions (all of the kids!) by the Holy Spirit and were now asking questions about stories in that "Black Book" (the Bible) that Rolland's grandfather had. They didn't know anything about the Bible so when they started asking specific questions about biblical stories that they had no knowledge of it was pretty amazing. So the grandfather, H.A. Baker, ended up writing a book about these kids and the experiences they had. The book is titled "Visions Beyond the Veil". I remember the interview was 33 minutes long and in the middle I stopped the DVD and ordered the book online. Towards the end of the DVD Rolland told about how he and his wife Heidi are experiencing much of the same thing at their orphanage in Mozambique, Africa. They now have an orphanage of over 8,000 kids. So at the end of the DVD Rolland made this statement that really got hold of me. He said if you want see God working, find the most unlikely group of people you can think of and go there! I've been in the trucking industry for over thirty years now. As soon as he said that I knew who the most unlikely group of people were for me. In the early eighties I used to deliver freight in the downtown area and I saw street people every day. Those people immediately came to mind. I knew I now had to go to these people. I really wasn't sure what to do but I had to go. The night before the first trip I felt led to buy loaves of bread to take with me. So the next morning I bought eight loaves and took off downtown totally clueless as to what I was going to do. I hadn't even been downtown in probably 10 years or so. Anyway, that's how it started. I didn't even tell my wife until I had made two or three trips, I didn't know what she would think about this totally out of the box adventure. I think I shared a month or so ago about a guy the first day who said the prayer I prayed with him, "was better than the bread". You can imagine how important it was for me to hear someone say that the first day!
Since that day I've experienced many wonderful blessings as a result of working with these folks. I've learned things about the character of God that as Bill Johnson, the pastor at that church in Redding, California says, "truth that is experienced is not forgotton." I've experienced a deeper understanding of God's love through forgiveness and mercy. I've learned that God's forgiveness is a total gift. There is nothing we can do to earn it. I've come to know that real thankfulness is for a Person, God, and not just for temporary good fortune. I've seen the suffering of these people up close too. One man who when I asked if I could help him simply said in a quiet voice, "I'm hungry and thirsty." You cannot help but be changed when you sit with someone in their cardboard box "home" and just talk with them for awhile and pray with them. Yes, many of these folks have character flaws that manifest in obvious ways, but my calling is just to try to bring the presence of God into their lives if only for a brief moment and not to judge them or tell them what to do. If I can ease their pain and be a friend when they are in desperate need, then that's something I can do.
When I started this I was perfectly content to make my little trips downtown and tell some of my friends about experiences I was having among the homeless. I was then encouraged to write these things down and share them with a wider circle of friends. I had no idea that it would trigger the response that it has. I could not have helped these folks nearly as much, especially this winter, without the outpouring of help and support from these friends. I received blankets, clothing, shoes, jackets and financial support from so many people that was completely unexpected. I just couldn't have done it without the help of others. You can't imagine the relief on the faces of people when you give them a blanket or a jacket during the winter when they have none. It's a total privilege.
About a year and a half ago, well before I starting making these trips, I was reading a book by Hudson Taylor, the famous missionary to China in the 1800's. In his biography it told of his time of medical training in London before he left for China. He decided to go and live in the down and out section of London and preach the gospel to those people. He felt it would be good training for when he got to China. I thought about that and felt I should do something similar. So I prayed about it and inquired of a couple of friends (one a pastor friend) about opportunities to preach the gospel in non-church settings. Unfortunately, no opportunities developed at that time. Then about six months ago I was reading a book by Richard Stearns, CEO of World Vision. In his book, "The Hole in the Gospel", he quotes St. Francis of Assisi as saying, "We must preach the gospel at every opportunity and when necessary use words." It suddenly dawned on me that, by his definition of the gospel, I had been doing just that. God had answered my prayer and I didn't even realize it until then. In that moment I felt like Jacob in the Old Testament who said, "Surely, God was in this place and I did not know it." (Gen. 28:16)
What will become of all this? I do not know. How long will I do it? I hope as long as I'm able. All I know is that today, downtown, I was able to help, Gerald and Jessie on Olive St near 9th, Hector at Temple near La Fayette Place, Alphonso by the Jack in the Box on Alameda and 14th St and two others, Oscar and Allen, on a side street near there. As always it was a privilege.
I couldn't end without a dose of reality. Anytime one endeavors to do anything on behalf of our Lord the enemy will come. His favorite targets are your health and your family. The wonderful experiences of the last year plus have not come without cost. Yet, may God be praised through it all. I ran across this quote from Charles Dickens the other day that sums up very well my prayer despite the difficult times. He said, "Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." --Until next week. John