forties. He said his is best of friends with his son in law. Charles had told me he was from Mexico and I found out Sunday it is a border town called Piedras Negras (it means 'black rocks') and they are actually of Native American descent. The border town is north of Loredo, Texas. I had left him with a gospel of John booklet a couple of weeks back which he told me he had been reading. I asked if he wanted a bible and he told me the Jehovah's Witnesses had given him one. I didn't think about it until later that the version would be the old King James version--not exactly conducive to picking up and reading when you have spare time! Charles told me he prayed daily and I've found that many homeless do. He felt he had a relationship with God that most "regular" people didn't have. Those that depend on God daily for their needs usually do have a closer relationship than those who don't. I was very happy to have finally had the chance to talk with him at length. We shared many similar experiences in life and have been to many of the same places. He thanked me especially for the can of soup that was in the bag of food I gave him a couple of weeks ago saying, it was "really good". I told him I had given his daughter 3 cans of it earlier so they all them could enjoy them together. I was sure glad I had done that now.In between seeing Vicky and Charles I had driven down Vignes St by the county jail. I found three men there sleeping in different places along the sidewalk, Andrew, another guy from Cuba who I'll call Carlos and BB. Andrew had almost no
possessions at all (see photo) and was reluctant to accept any help, I'm not sure why. Carlos looked like he had been living under the bridge there for years judging from the considerable amount of trash he had around him (see photo). He didn't speak very much English
and the little that he did speak was difficult to understand. I wondered if he knew Roberto and Jesus from a couple of weeks ago. They were from Cuba too and lived not too far from there. BB had been sleeping under a tarp he had strung up alongside a chain link fence. He had a mattress and a collection of odds and ends with him. He was just getting up (it was about 9 a.m now). He declined my offer to pray with him saying he had just finished praying and that he prayed every morning. I told him I came down once a week to help people out and perhaps the next time he might want to look through the trunk of my car for clothing items he could use. I always try to leave these folks on a positive note with something to look forward to the next time we meet. Since there was no parking on Vignes St I had to park a ways away and make a separate trip from the car to each man. I wondered why they would end up so close to the jail. You would think they wouldn't want to be that close to the presence of police. Anyway, there they were and in need of help.The last two men I encountered were Tyrone, sitting on a bus bench at Hill St. and Washington Blvd and Howard at Hill St. and 39th. You might remember Charlotte from a couple of weeks ago. She had told me that she lived in a shelter at 38th and Broadway so I decided to check out the area. She also said the area wasn't very friendly. That may explain why these two men were so surprised to receive help from someone. I do like to surprise people. I'll have to explore this area a little more in the future. 39th and Hill St is usually referred to as part of South Central LA. I really didn't even see too many people on the streets there. Perhaps it was too early on a Sunday morning still. Until next week. --John
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