Downtown 2/7/2011

I didn't know quite what to expect out of the trip yesterday. I knew it was going to be a lot different, with some slightly different objectives than usual. I didn't take any loaves of bread with me, but still took some bags of other food items and some water. By changing up the normal "provisions" and amounts that I take I was forcing myself to pay attention to the Lord's leading. Sometimes I think I've become too dependent upon the stuff I take with me. The main objective this week was to listen to any promptings I might receive as I prayer-walked down skid row. Although that wasn't the only thing I was going to do it is a new focal point in these trips. I also knew that the first trip might come up kind of empty on anything really specific as to future trips. It was almost like I was going on a test run of the turf I'd be working on for awhile. I decided to do the skid row part last and work some of the other areas that I've been accustomed to first.
Last week I had found some people that knew and had seen Phillip and Nancy recently, so I decided to spend some time trying to find them around the Lincoln Park area. I parked the car and got out and walked around the whole park area and asked a couple of different people if they had seen them. Both men were homeless and one of them indicated that he had seen them recently. However, he was a little wary of me at first(he wanted to know if I worked for the FBI). I understand that it's difficult for homeless people to trust someone they've never met, especially someone who isn't part of their "community". I think I got through to him that I was just someone who had helped them in the past and was concerned about them. The other man in the park was Miguel and he was sitting under a tree with a half empty bottle of beer next to him. It would have been easy to have passed him by and thought he doesn't deserve the help if he's drinking this early in the morning, but it occurred to me that although one of his weaknesses may be visible and laying next to him we all have weaknesses and we 'normal' folks are just able to hide our weaknesses better. I gave him some food and prayed with him. The look of thanks in his eyes was genuine when we parted.
On my way over to prayer-walk at Cloud Nine Alley I was able to help Bill on Santa Fe Ave off 7th and Brooks near 4th and Alameda. Bill was resting after going through some dumpsters from one of the businesses on Santa Fe. He was pretty surprised that someone would bother to stop and help him I think. He ended up with not only some food and water but socks and a blanket too. I'm guessing him to be around 60 years old. He stood up when I offered to pray for him before I left. Reverence and respect for our Lord was alive and well on Santa Fe Ave Monday!
When I got to the church on Cloud Nine Alley the doors were open. Lately, no one has been there on Mondays when I've been in the area. I went inside and there were a few people cleaning up. They told me Pastor Rafael wasn't there but would be back on Wednesday night. In a couple of weeks when I'm able to start going downtown on Sundays I hope to see him again. After prayer-walking the block I drove down to skid row.
I headed down Los Angeles St and turned east on 6th St (It's a one-way street). As I drove past the Midnight Mission there were probably a couple of hundred people lined up waiting for the mission to start serving lunch. It was about 12:30. I drove a few blocks past that mission and parked on the same side of the street. I grabbed a bag of food which consisted of a couple of cans of soup and a few packs of cookies and started walking towards the mission. I have to admit I was a little leery of leaving the car unattended, there were several people standing around on the sidewalk near the car. Anyway, I headed down where all the people were with this plastic grocery bag in my hand. It was probably five blocks to the mission. About the time I got there they were letting people in so the line was moving. As I was walking by, one of the men standing around (he wasn't in the line) asked me what was in the bag I had. I really hadn't expected a question like that and didn't feel too obligated to answer so I kept on walking. That netted me a few insults from the man, something about me being Caucasian. I looked back and smiled and kept walking. While walking I was thinking about two things. One was a line from a U2 song called "Where The Streets Have No Name". The line says, 'we're beaten and blown by the wind, Trampled in the dust,--I'll show you a place, high on a desert plain where the streets have no name.' All of the streets in this downtown area are filled with people beaten and blown by the wind. They're here because they have no place else to go, they're out of favors and out of friends. The missions downtown were started by men whose hearts were in a similar place as mine is now several generations ago. 'So where Lord do I fit in?" I kept thinking, "Where is your remnant Lord? Surely you have a remnant here among these homeless people. I can't help all of them, but certainly there's someone here." I walked on down a few blocks more and crossed the street. I walked past the police station and came up to Wall St. I took a few pictures with my cell phone (they didn't turn out) and crossed Wall St. There were a couple of people standing on the corner and a man laying down on the sidewalk. About 20 yards down from them was another man sitting on the sidewalk in the sun reading a book. I walked up to the man reading the book and said, "Hi, how ya doing?" I asked what he was reading and he answered, "The bible." 'Really." I said, "I read that book too." I sat down on the sidewalk next to him and took the opportunity to get to know him (He was reading from the book of Isaiah). His name was David and he was from Philadelphia. He's 33 years old and has been out here since he was 20. He was just up here from Long Beach and was hoping to get his "GR" and hopefully find a job (a GR is government assistance money). I took the opportunity to ask him where the homeless people in Long Beach hang out and he gave me some places to look (I've been wanting to start going down there on occasion). David was easy to talk to and had an infectious laugh. He couldn't believe someone stopped to help him! I noticed he had on shoes but merely some ankle socks and so I asked him if he could use some new ones and he said yes. When we finished talking I prayed with him before leaving and told him my car was parked several blocks down the street, but if he stayed there I'd drive back by and give him some socks. When I got back to the car I grabbed the last couple of bags of food I had and gave them to some people who were nearby. One of them was a man named Gary who was trying to hustle some bottles of perfume. He smelled of alcohol and laughed when I told him I was down here to pray with people. However, I think when he realized I was sincere about it he insisted on introducing himself and shaking my hand, which kind of surprised me. After giving out the last of the food I drove back to where David was. I had gotten some socks and a blanket out of the trunk and when I pulled up to the curb where he was, he expressed great surprise that I came back. I didn't know if he would want the blanket because it looked like he was traveling pretty light, but he was excited to receive it. When I pulled away I watched him in the mirror and he was looking skyward and thanking God for these blessings and I was thinking, 'There was God's remnant.' Unbelieveably, God blessed both of us at the same time in such an individualy unique way that satisfied both of us. God is awesome. I don't know what is going to happen next week, but I'm looking forward to it!!! --Until then. John