Downtown 4/17/2011

Each Sunday since meeting Alisavel and Javier I have tried to meet with them again. The Sunday I met them it was about 10:30 in the morning and the last two Sundays it has been after 12 noon and they haven't been around. Even the two Cuban men living in the area next to them weren't around either, but all their stuff is still there, so I'm sure they haven't moved on, at least not yet. I was finally able to personally talk to Pastor Rodriguez at the Cloud Nine Church later in the afternoon and told him of their situation. He told me he would try and have one of the parishoners go by and see what they could do. I was grateful for his offer to help. I'll keep you updated as to any progress.
After leaving their place I traveled into town and ended up finding a man on a small street right near Alameda and 4th. He had a shopping cart and was picking up plastic bottles. When I pulled up to where he was and asked if he could use a bag of food I noticed he limped quite noticeably as he came towards the car. When I asked if he could use some water too, he said yes and added, "Water is #1". It was getting pretty warm by this time, probably at around 85 degrees. I asked if he could use some socks and he again said yes, so I pulled over and parked at the curb. He told me his name was Charles Medford and he was from Dallas, Texas. I'm guessing Charles to be around 65 years old. As we stood by the back of the car looking through it to see if there were other things he could use I asked how he was doing. His first response was, "I'm blessed." I noticed a walking cane sticking out of the shopping cart and he essentially used the cart as a walker. He told me as long as the Lord gives him breath, he feels blessed. He told me he has been out here in California for 22 years and so I asked him how that came about. The story that came out was difficult for him to express. He told me he had been married for fifteen years until his wife was unfaithful with a close relative of his. He said, "Some people give their all in a marriage and that's the way I am. And some people never get over it, and that's the way I am too." It was a very poignant moment, a relative stranger sharing a very personal tragedy that has affected him the rest of his life. I reminded Charles that he is still special to God, no matter where he is or what has happened to him. He had a daughter who was in her thirties by now, but talking about her seemed too difficult for him. We prayed together and talked for quite awhile before he said he needed to find a safe place to rest. He told me that when he takes naps during the day that often times his shopping cart is gone when he wakes up and he has to start all over. Please pray for Charles.
A couple of streets over I found Bill who was on a recycling hunt too. It looked like he had found the mother load of plastic bottles in one of the dumpters on that street. I had first met Bill a couple of months ago off Santa Fe. He recognized me first and then I remembered when we first met he was resting from going through a couple of dumpsters at one of the businesses nearby. Since I was fairly close to skid row I decided to go on down there. I looked for Jerry at 7th and Los Angeles but he wasn't there Sunday. I took a couple of photos of the corner where he usually is found. Perhaps he was going to wait until it cooled off before he started 'collecting'. The walk through skid row was relatively uneventful. There was one incident on San Pedro St. that was a little amusing. As I was walking up the street there was a woman who started screaming. She ended up stopping in front of a glass door to a business that was just like a mirror. She stood there screaming obsenities while looking at her reflection in the door/mirror. I pretty much ignored her and walked on by (albeit at the curbside of the sidewalk) but after I got a few yards passed her I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she wasn't about to attack me from behind (she had stopped screaming at this point). Anyway, she wasn't following me, but another woman who was lying on the sidewalk watching looked up at me and said, "That's the 'Exorcist 2'. You remember the Exorcist don't you?" I nodded, "Yes, I remember".
I left skid row and drove over to the alley where I usually can find Tara Lee, but there wasn't anyone living in that alley Sunday. Arturo, wasn't by his spot by the freeway either. However, another man by the name of Ruben was under the I-10 freeway by San Pedro. After helping and praying with Ruben I asked if he had seen Mary at all recently. He told me she is still in the area and has been moving around quite a bit (as they all do).
It was now time to head over to Cloud Nine Alley. As I mentioned earlier I was able to meet with Pastor Rodriguez, but before I did I walked down the alley and talked with Ray. Ray is quite talkative and ended up walking around the block with me. At one of the businesses on the block we went inside and he introduced me to the owner. This building has three floors, I'm not sure what's on the ground floor, but the second floor is a sewing shop and the top floor is a big room where banquets and receptions are held. You'd never guess from the outside, what goes on inside. Later, as Ray and I walked on down the street and came to the church, I was able to introduce him to Pastor Rodriguez. I guess this is what is called networking....I was happy to start getting connected with some of the other people in the block.
Before leaving downtown I stopped by the Jack in the Box. John Stokes was working the door again. I noticed he was wearing the clothes I had given him the previous week. We talked for awhile and he asked me to pray for him. He was trying to earn enough money to get another tent to live in. I told him it was Palm Sunday and at church that morning I heard a message that might be of interest to him. I gave him the 3 minute "Cliff Notes Version" of the message. Now I have read the account in the Gospel of Luke of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem many times. The uniqueness of this message that morning was the telling of the blind man receiving his sight and the tax collector, Zacheus, obtaining salvation (Luke 18:35-19:9) and laying the stories side by side (this is right before Jesus' entry into Jerusalem). In that day a blind man would be not only unable to work, but also was a burden to his family and in all likelihood a beggar (and therefore poor and powerless). The tax collector, was rich and powerful, but disconnected from society because everyone hated him for being a tax collector (and in league with the Romans). So you had the powerful and the powerless having an encounter with Jesus. I added to the message that although you would think that Jesus would be happy that day, the account tells of Jesus 'weeping' over Jerusalem during this triuphant entry. The reason given was that in a few short days they would reject their king and crucify him. I put the two thoughts together for John and told him, Jesus came for the poor and the rich, and not to reject him as your king. It was pretty cool to have heard a message in the morning and then put it to good use before the day ended. I'll have to try and do that again. One last thing, I drove by where I had seen Doug the week before, but there was no trace of him being there. I only hope he is being cared for wherever he is. Until next week. --John