Downtown 9/26/2010

Rarely, have I had a trip where so many of the folks I met with expressed such pain and sorrow in their lives to me. This was probably one of the most heartbreaking trips I've made, yet I count it as a privilege to have been there to offer comfort and prayer. When I arrived it was 103 degrees at about 1:30 p.m. I tried to find Marsela (and her dog) but didn't see them. I headed over to the Lincoln Park area to find Phillip and Nancy. Before I found them I found Luis. He lives in a gulley by the side of North Main St. about a hundred yards from where Phillip and Nancy live. When I approached Luis I asked him if he needed some water (since it was so hot) but he told me he had the water container that I gave him the last time and he refills it at the park across the street. He asked if I had some bread though. I told him, "Of course, I do." and got him a bag of food out of the car. I asked how he'd been doing since the last time I saw him and he told me he was doing OK but he had just worked for a friend for three days helping him move and then the guy didn't pay him. He was hoping the guy was going to come by Sunday and bring him some money. I thought he was going to ask me for money when instead he asked if I'd pray for him!! I told him that what's I'm here for and asked what the "friend's" name was. I then prayed for Luis and asked God to work on the friend's heart to prompt him to pay Luis what he owed him. With that he pointed across the street to where Phillip and Nancy were. As I started across the street Luis looked into my eyes and said, "Hey, keep doing what you're doing. You're really helping people." I was so humbled.
I crossed the street to where Phillip and Nancy were laying on a blanket in the park. I called out to them and they immediately got up. I asked if they had gotten the food I left for them a month or so ago and they told me they did. I could tell when they stood up they were both pretty high. I told them I had some more food for them and something special I had gotten just for them. Nancy took off toward their "spot/home" and Phillip and I walked back across the street to the car. I gave him a bag of food and then gave him the can opener I had gotten for them. Phillip had told me the first time we met how difficult it was to open up a can without a can opener and how you have to beat on one end of the can against a sharp corner to get it to open up. I'm sure some of the contents of the can are lost in this process. I had also gotten some cans of corn and green beans for them that will need the can opener. Nancy had rejoined us at this point so I prayed for them (it was a group hug when we prayed). When I finished Nancy asked me a question that still shocks me. She said, "Would you pray for us that we could get off drugs!!!" "Absolutely.", I told her and I again put my arms around both of them and prayed that the Lord would be merciful on them and help them to make good decisions in their lives, that this (addiction) is a daily and moment by moment issue that they need help with. When I finished praying, Nancy told me about one time praying to God that He would take away the desire and how she wanted to start the next day fresh. When she woke up she was clear headed and had no need or desire for drugs, but that in the course of the day someone offered her drugs and she relapsed without even thinking about it. I encouraged her to start each day fresh and try to make the best decisions possible each moment and whenever possible--exercise. It really does help. She then picked up the bags of food and left while Phillip and I talked some more. It turns out there is a methadone clinic right near the park. Also, when I left the food for them the last time I wrote that there was a woman by the name of Edith who was reading her Bible directly across the street from their 'home'. I had spoken with her briefly about Phillip and Nancy at the time. I didn't think that she was homeless because she didn't have any 'stuff' with her. It turns out she is homeless and lives in one of the bathrooms at night at the park. I'll look for her next time too.
After leaving Lincoln Park I drove back to the downtown area on Main Street. As I got closer to L.A. I saw a young Latino man sleeping next to his shopping cart in the shade at the far end of one of the buildings along the way. I pulled into the driveway and parked near him. It took a little doing to wake him up and he
immediately started speaking quietly in Spanish. I really couldn't understand much of what he was talking about. His name was something close to Arturo. I think, because I know a few words and would ask him if he needed "comida" or "aqua" that he thought (see photo) I understood him. I was really disappointed that we couldn't communicate better. I gave him a bag of food and showed him the can of soup and that he could pull the top off and that there was a spoon in the bag too. He pulled the top off and wanted to share the can with me. I told him, "No, no...it's todo para usted." (No it's all for you). I gave him a jug of water and a T-shirt and some socks. When I prayed for him he kissed my hand repeatedly. Before I left I'm pretty sure he said in broken English, "You are God come down from the sky for me." Once again, I was so humbled.
I continued on towards downtown crossing over to Alameda Street. Between 2nd and 3rd streets I saw a man sleeping at the edge of a dock in the shade of a tree. The building looked abandoned so I turned around and pulled in and parked next to where he was sleeping. As I got out of the car a man from the other side of the street called out to me asking for some water. I motioned for him to come on over to the car. His name was Noel and he was from Haiti. When I found out where he was from I asked if he had been back there recently. He told me he was there right after the earthquake and everything was flattened. He lost and his uncle and his neice in the earthquake. He was going back there soon because there was no work here. I prayed with him that God would comfort him in his loss and help him to find work. After he left I gently woke up the man sleeping on the edge of the dock. His name was Rick and he was 60 years old. I asked him if he needed some water and he said "Sure,anything that's wet!" It was still very hot. I gave him a bag of food too and said I had some cans of Slim Fast on ice in the car. He said he had been out recycling but it had gotten so hot that he started to feel faint and had to lay down. He had a cup with a little bit of ice left in it and I was able to refill it with ice from the ice chest I had in the car. We started talking and I learned he was from St. Louis and had been out here since 1968. He had been back there twenty five years ago and during that trip his mother, brother and sister all died within a three month period. He told me he hadn't been back there since. Then he told me he had a girl friend here (I think she was homeless too) and about three years ago she had been hit and killed by a tractor trailer truck just up the street. He said at times he could still hear her screams. It was so heartbreaking to hear what he had been dealing with. I prayed with him that God would comfort him in his sorrow and give him the "abundant life" that Jesus promises for his followers. While we talked I noticed he didn't have shoes on and that his socks didn't match. I said, "Hey, do you need some socks?" He said yes and that he really lucked out earlier in the week and found six pairs of shoes in a dumpster and that they were all his size. I had purchased 20 pairs of socks at a local K-Mart store Sunday morning so I could help out people just like Rick. We talked about some of the other folks I knew who lived around in that area. Rick knew them too. Before leaving, Rick said, "Thank you for talking with me. Thanks for the food and stuff, but really, thanks for just talking with me." Once again, I was humbled and privileged to just be there for him.
I figured it was about time (I only had one bag of food left) to head over to the alley between Los Angeles St and Main St. I got over there and parked and walked up Los Angeles St. When I got to the parking lot where Gary lives he greeted me warmly and said, "I was almost about to leave and figured you'd show up just after I left." I was glad to have gotten there just in time. He told me that the group of people who rented out the building next to him had their first church service that morning. I'm sure happy they moved in and pray that they not only have a presence there but perhaps I can partner with them in reaching the men who live in that alley. Gary told me a lot about the two men he knows who live in that alley and how they live very unproductive lives. Perhaps this new church there can be a light for the surrounding area. Gary told me to come earlier next week and he'd wash my car. He said he has a killer stereo and he'd put on some gospel music. I'm looking forward to it. Before leaving I walked around the block and down that back alley. I found one man passed out and another man (I think his name is Charlie from what Gary told me) listening to his I-pod. He acknowledged me but didn't look up as I walked (and prayed) down the alley. Maybe next week we'll get a chance to talk if he sees me with Gary. As I got in my car and started to drive away I saw a young woman and her daughter walking down the small street where I parked my car. The woman bent over and picked up an empty glass liquor bottle off the curb and continued walking. Another homeless man with a backpack had been sitting on the curb down the street. He had gotten up (perhaps to go get that same empty glass bottle) but had started to walk back to where he had been sitting. I ended up giving him (his name was Manuel) the last leftover cans of food I had in the car and drove on home. What an amazing afternoon it was. --Until next week. John

P.S. It was three Sundays ago that I started prayer-walking down that alley. In that time I met Gary and a church moved in to one of the buildings there. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next three Sundays. I only have 3 Sundays left before I switch back to working nights. I may have to start going on Monday or Tuesdays then. That would really change the dynamics of the trips alot. We'll see what happens.