It had been nearly eleven months since I did the last barbecue downtown. Yesterday would be the last Sunday of daylight savings time so I picked this weekend to do it again. I had told Willie and Tara Lee that this weekend we'd do it and to invite their friends to come. I even had to go downtown last Wednesday for a work issue and when I was done I drove by their alley to remind them again about the barbecue. Now just so you know, I'm a pretty normal person and I worried about the turn-out the rest of the week. It's quite a project to get all the stuff purchased and in the car and not forget something. Would anyone besides Willie and Tara be there? Would they even be there? It's possible they could be run-off by then. Would too many people show up and I wouldn't have enough food? Jesus may be able to feed the five thousand on five loaves of bread and a couple of fish, but I'm not used to hamburgers multiplying. "Oh Lord, please show up and make this go right!" Well, the day arrived and I packed up my car. I got half-way down there and realized I had everything but the charcoal briquets. Yes I had some at home, but not in the car. I had told them I'd be there between 2 and 3 p.m. Well I would have been there at 2 p.m. but now I was going to have to find a store and buy the briquets. I knew there was a Smart and Final store down there, but wouldn't you know it I couldn't find it now that I was looking for it. I decided to drive by the alley and tell my friends what was happening. As I drove down the alley, EJ was waving to me. Chris was there too and they had set up a coffee table with some newspapers on top of it for me to set up shop. I told them what was happening and they told me where there was a store nearby where I could buy the briquets. On my way out of the alley a woman was standing near a building and she asked me, "Am I too late?" I told her "No, I just need to go to the store real quick and I'll be right back." When I got back it was about 2:45 p.m., she wasn't there but about 8 or 9 men were there. A couple of them I didn't know, but most of them I did know. I had been a little concerned about how to do everything without a table, and the coffee table was a big help, but I could have used a much larger (and higher) table. Anyway, logistically it all worked out, a few other people came by and end the end there were about a dozen people served. You know I had always wanted to do this with a group of homeless folks, but figured that I would have to always set up shop at several different locations to reach people because they don't have transportation. Well, by getting the word out and letting the people that I do know spread the word to their friends it works out OK. We had potato chips, hamburgers, sausages, canned vegetables, cookies and chilled water and soda. Of course, before I left I gave out some chocolate candy for "Halloween".
OK, enough about the logistics....so what really happened? When we think about barbecues, whether they were with our families or with our friends, we usually remember them as being a good time. I so much wanted this day to be a good time and a family-type time for these people. Chris told me he was so looking forward to the barbecue all week that he had gotten there in the morning because he didn't want to miss it. I had wanted to video record some clips, but it just didn't work-out this time. I had bought a small camera on the way down there to do it, but we couldn't figure it out in time to do it. One of the guys yesterday, they call he "Dreds" because he wears his hair that way was able to figure out how to get the camera to take pictures so we could look at them. He told me I had helped him and his girlfriend in this same alley earlier this year. Some of the other guys who came by later I had helped out from time to time. They all knew me, but I didn't recognize all of them right away. When I prayed before we ate, I thanked God for always providing for us. I acknowledged that sometimes the provision comes later than we sometimes hope for and sometimes it isn't what we expected, but we're still standing (there were a lot of groans of acknowledgement at this point) and I still thanked God for that provision. When I finished Tara started singing the chorus to the song, "Don't pass me by". I wasn't real familiar with the song, but looked it up on youtube today. There are a few versions of it, including one done with a mime acting it out (yeah I know you don't like mimes). However, it was this version that finally got the message of the song through to me. It is basically the story of the blind man on the side of the road who won't keep quiet when he hears Jesus is passing by. He makes such a noise to get Jesus' attention that the people standing around tell him to shut-up, but he refuses to keep quiet. Jesus ends up healing the man as He passes by. From a homeless man's perspective it was quite a poignant moment yesterday. Everyone clapped. I told them the last song we sang at church yesterday was "everyone's" favorite song. Someone burted out, "Amazing Grace?" I said, "That's the one." I also told them about something I saw in church that morning that reminded me of them. Before the service starts there is a screen where the announcements are given about upcoming events. One of the screens was an announcemnt for a group for Moms where they get together to pray for their kids and each other. The picture on the screen was of a half a dozen small children with the line, "Mom will you pray for us?" When I saw it I thought of my friends downtown. I told them yesterday, that "I know the police can be your best friend and your worst enemy and so can other homeless people. They too can be your best friend and your worst enemy. I want you to know that I'm your friend and I always pray for you." They told me they knew it and always feel blessed when I come by. I was humbled.
It was about 5:30 p.m. when the last burger was eaten and I then started packing the car up. As is my custom, I prayed with them before leaving. I prayed about how hard the rules and scriptures in the Old Testament are to understand and follow, but how thankful we are that God sent His Son to show us, by example, how to live. It was a memorable day. Everyone ate till they were full, everyone enjoyed the time and there were no harsh words spoken by anyone. It was truly amazing. I give all the praise and glory to God, for without Him I couldn't do this. For it's times like yesterday, that I needed God's Spirit to show up and work on our hearts. I started this ministry because I just wanted to be near were God was working. My only wish is that I had started doing this years sooner. As I have grown spiritually during these last two and a half years, the goal now each week is to simply bring the Kingdom of God to these people, if only for a short time. Yesterday it really happened. --Until next time. John
P.S. I had three cooked burgers left in the end. I stopped by where John Stokes and David live under the freeway on Elwood St. They got the last of them. John has been sick lately and very weak. He didn't have enough energy to go to the Jack in the Box and hustle money for a burger. It's great when even the left-overs meet peoples needs. Below are some pictures from the barbecue.
The picture on the left is of Willie, Chis, EJ and Dred. The one on the right is Willie, Me, Chris and EJ in the front. Dred took the picture. The one below is of Prince and Chris.
No comments:
Post a Comment