For several weeks now, I have gone to Lincoln Park first to see if Phillip, Nancy and Luis have returned to the area. They have left some of their belongings there, but as of yesterday they still have not returned. I can only hope they have found a better and safer place to live. I did see a couple of men who I haven't had a chance to help recently. That would be Victor and Jose. The smiles on their faces were worth the trip down there. It's always good to give enough help to these people to take the pressure off of them in their efforts to survive for even a couple of days. As I left the Lincoln Park area and headed into downtown I was able to help Mark who was standing on the street corner leading to Alameda Ave. When I asked him what his name was I kept hearing "Martin" until he finally said, "Mark, it's in the bible! (and I know there are no Martin's in the bible)" As is typical of a weekday trip, I found these men in places where I couldn't stop for very long, just long enough to have the briefest of conversations and pass some help through the car window and then move on.
As I traveled on up Alameda I got to 4th St. and turned east. There is an industrial area there that is pretty much deserted on the Sundays but during the week it's fairly busy. Yesterday, I found two men off Alameda on a street called Seaton. One of them, Robert, I have seen and helped a few times back in the fall, but the other man, Brook, must be new to the area. After giving him some food and water, I asked if he needed any socks or anything and he told me, "No, they gave me enough of that stuff." Since this street is close to the missions on 6th, I'm guessing he just spent time down there and they gave him a fresh start. However, with no relatives or friends to stay with, these folks end up still on the street. I'll have to watch for Brook some more in the future and get to know him and his story.
Well, with only one bag of food left I headed over to where my friends Willie and Tara Lee live, in an alley of Hooper St. Both of them were there and we were all happy to see each other again. The last time I saw them was back on December 12th when I barbequed for them. They got me caught up on the perils of living in this alley in the last month. They have been hassled by several different groups of people including other homeless folks. When I saw them last month there was a group of homeless people living about 50 yards down the alley and they were involved in a lot of illegal activity. Luckily, these folks moved on and Willie and Tara Lee were very happy about it. However, there are still some groups of people who are giving them a hard time to the point where they are thinking of relocating to another city. I stayed and talked with them for probably 20 or 30 minutes or so and told them I would be switching back to a day schedule at work at the end of February and we would have another barbeque when I could start coming on Sunday's again. I told them when we barbequed last month that I also tried to meet with Billy, James and Will, but only Will was there that evening. I suggested perhaps we could pick a Sunday and we could all get together (Billy, James and Will don't live too far away). I said, "You could get all your friends together and we could have a good time." Then Tara Lee said something that kind of shocked me. He said, "I could just see us all gathered around, and other people (homeless folks) coming up and asking what's going on and we'd just say, 'Oh, that's just pastor John preaching to us here in the alley'." I couldn't envision a better barbeque with my friends than that. Pray for that day to happen!!
With that, I drove on over to the Church by Cloud Nine Alley making sure I didn't park by a parking meter! Yeah, I paid the fine from the last time. My friend Gary, who lives in the parking lot next to the church had told me a few weeks back that he was planning on moving out and getting into one of the missions. When I arrived yesterday, he had moved. I was disappointed to not see him, but hopeful that he will make it off the streets for good this time. I usually have a bag of a few cans of soup in the car as 'extras' just in case I run into someone after I've given out all the other bags of food. What usually happens is I take this bag with me as I prayer-walk down this alley. Yesterday, I met a guy named Robert in that alley. He had been told by one of the businesses who's back door is in the alley to come see them that day for some work. Well, Robert ended up with the extra cans of soup. Yesterday was also his 54th birthday. I hope it turned out to be memorable. Until next week. --John
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John,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your faithful service to God's Chosen People. I really like when you tell the details of your visits and the relationships you have built. I can tell they really look forward to your visits and they trust you. Funny how trust is something I am sure you had to earn but for all the people that have disappointed them it is no surprise.
My prayer is that your ministry will expand and you will get all the resources and support you need. I so wish I lived closer to learn from your experiences on how to reach into these peoples lives. You have a wealth of knowledge that needs to be taught.
My hope is to provide a way to communicate your message of "Love your Neighbor as yourself" to the majority of us Christians who do nothing to reach into the broken lives of God's Chosen People.