The first question that the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But the Good Samaritan...reversed the question "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ---Martin Luther King,Jr--from a speech--April 3, 1968
Exactly two weeks ago, Monday, during a trip downtown I was leaving the skid row area at around 8 pm. and was driving over to Cloud Nine Alley. I was traveling south on Wall St. just past 7th St. The sun had gone down and it was the beginning of the night. I'm not sure why I hadn't noticed it before, but in the doorways of the closed up shops homeless people were bedding down for the night. In doorway after doorway there was a person under a blanket getting ready for the night. For some reason this image stuck with me for days until I decided that my next trip was to go to these people. My plan was to buy a bunch of hamburgers and go down there and give them out and pray with them. I had no idea how it would turn out or how well I would be received at night time. Sometimes, people just don't want to be bothered at night and that's why they sleep a few blocks away from the actual skid row area. So two Sunday's ago I started getting ready for this trip. I wasn't going to buy the hamburgers until I actually got down there so they would be hot, but I had a couple of stops to make before leaving town. After my last stop, just as I was about to leave I noticed coolant leaking from under my car (and a lot of it). So at the last minute I had to postpone the trip and go home. Not only was I disappointed at not being able to go, but I ended up with a large repair bill too (the third one in six weeks). That was the only week since my last write-up that I haven't been able to make a trip downtown. So Monday night was my second attempt at making this special trip and this time it went off without any car trouble. For a couple of days before this trip, I kept thinking about the story of the first Passover. As most of you know, the Hebrew slaves were to put the blood of a lamb on the door posts of their homes so the angel would "passover" their home. Well, this was passover in reverse. I was to "stop" at the doorways where someone was sleeping and bring a piece of the Kingdom of Heaven in the form of food and prayer (invoking God's presence). It was a simple plan, hopefully, it would have a positive impact on these folks.
Well, the first person I encountered-the Enemy was waiting there for me. I usually start the conversation with, "Hey, are you hungry? I have some food?" Usually, they will answer yes and then I ask them their name and where they're from and go from there. This guy, although he said he was hungry, told me, "I have no name." With his attitude it was obvious he didn't want to talk to anyone (but he took the food anyway). I went on to the next shop doorway about twenty feet away where two men were there. One was sitting, his name was Dennis from Texas and the one standing was Greg from New York. When I asked them if they were hungry they both said yes and Dennis said he was really hungry. I gave them both a couple of cheeseburgers and we talked for a while. When I asked if I could pray for them before I left they not only said yes but, Greg said, "Absolutely". I had noticed he had on a sweatshirt that said, "Azuza Pacific University". For those of you not familiar with that school it is a private Christian college. While we were talking a woman walked up. She knew both men and, apparently, was friends with Greg because he had saved one of his burgers for her. She had said how hungry she was so I gave her a couple too. I ended up opening up the trunk of my car and gave out some socks and shirts and a couple of pairs of pants to them. Did I mention how dark it was? There were no street lights on this street. Directly across from this group I saw someone else laying under a blanket with a few bags around them. When I got over there it turned out to be a man and a woman laying there. When I asked if they were hungry the woman said yes but the man was kind of quiet. I gave them some hamburgers and prayed with them. The woman was open to talking, but the man I could sense was uncomfortable with me being there so I didn't stay and talk longer.
Now I usually take six full bags of food with me for six encounters and some extra cans of food just in case I need extras. So I had already met with six people in about twenty minutes right there and hadn't even gone down half the block. So let me tell you about what happened before I even got there.
I had purchased twenty cheeseburgers at the Jack in the Box on Alameda. As I walked out the door there was a woman in the parking lot, it wasn't quite dark yet, but almost. Her name was Valerie and she was from Alabama. She had her shopping cart and was hitting up anyone she could find for some money. I gave her a couple of burgers and urged her to eat them while they were still hot. I prayed with her and she seemed so grateful. I think she was stunned that anyone would do something like that for her and ask for nothing in return. I drove a couple of streets over to where John Stokes and David live under the I-10 freeway. I gave John some burgers and the last blanket I had, he also needed some socks. While John and I were talking David walked up and he and I started talking. I gave David some burgers and some clothes too and while we were talking I looked over at John who was laying down on his stuff and eating one of his burgers. The look of contentment on his face was so obvious that I commented to David, "That is the face of a happy man!" We all started laughing at that point. If it wasn't so dark out I would have taken John's picture with my cell phone. As I left them and drove down Alameda I stopped off where Robert lives across from a gas station. He was just standing around (in the dark). I gave him a burger and a small bottle of water. I had some bottles on ice in a chest in the back seat, so everyone got food and cold water too.
Well that was what happened on the way down to the 'doorways'. After meeting with the people downtown I had two burgers left and was hoping to find Ray on Cloud Nine Alley. On the way over there I saw a man walking quickly down one of the streets off 14th. He was going through the trash cans looking for recyclables and had two bags with cans and plastic bottles in them. As I passed by him I ended up giving him one of the two remaining burgers. When I got to Cloud Nine Alley it looked like Ray was there but he didn't answer when I called out. The last two trips down there it didn't look like he had been around for a while, but this time it did. Anyway, when he didn't answer I ate the last burger (it really wasn't very warm by then) and parked the car and went into the Cloud Nine church there. Often times when there is a church service going on there I will simply sit in the back near the front door and pray for a while before leaving. Monday, someone was sitting in that spot already, so I sat in one of the pews along the left wall. I try to be as inconspicuous as possible so as to not be a disruption to the service. But a tall white man does stand out in this congregation. One of the leaders of the church who speaks english, a man named Florido, came up to me said hello and sat down next to me. He occasionally would point out the scripture verse the speaker was speaking on at the time. He was very helpful. Remember the services are totally in spanish. I ended up staying through the whole service and at the end I think every one (there weren't a whole lot of people there on a Monday night) came up to me and shook my hand and said "God bless you." I don't think I have been more welcomed and at home in any other church I've ever been to. I pray for that church every week that I'm down there and have a special relationship with it's pastor and it's people.
Well that was the special trip. I need to find a way to store food to keep it hot. There must be some kind of device I can buy that plugs into the cigarette lighter that could do this. I'll start looking for one. In the mean time, please pray that this new focus will bear fruit. The days are getting shorter, so my window of opportunity here will be shortened. Let's see what the Lord will do. Let me finish this blog with a quote I read yesterday from, of all people, Shakespeare......
"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a [dark] world". ---William Shakespeare, 'The Merchant of Venice'
--Until next week. John
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