Downtown 10/23/2011

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, don't go back to get it, it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings. --Deuteronomy 24:19

Last week was my first week with my new day schedule at work. This means I finish my work week on Saturday night and actually have a normal sleep schedule. So I had't quite decided what to do about this week's trip. Whether to continue to go in the evening, focusing on the streets near skid row and buy food when I got down there or revert back to the way I used to do it and buy bags of food supplies to last someone several days (instead of just one meal). While resting in the afternoon (I'm still used to sleeping in the afternoons) a friend came by with some loaves of bread and other food supplies like I used to bring! Well, that settled it. I still didn't make it down there until close to dusk, but I went with the loaves of bread, cans of soup and cookies supplies. He also had three jars of peanut butter and that proved to be a hit with some of the folks too. With peanut butter and a loaf of bread, one can eat for several days.

I arrived shortly after 6 p.m. but there wasn't going to be much daylight left. I started by going to Lincoln Park (I hadn't been there in months) and saw Ceasar begging on the corner by the park. He got the first bag and I noticed when he thanked me that his english is improving. He immediately walked away and started eating stuff from the bag. It looked like he probably hadn't eaten all day. I looked for Phillip and Nancy and even Luis, but no one else was around the park area that I knew. I left there and drove back into the downtown area and found Robert on 4th St. just off Alameda. He was just standing around there, kind of shuffling because it was starting to get cold. He had on two light-weight jackets. I asked him if he was hungry and he told me he was. After giving him some food and water I asked if there was anything else he needed. He told me he could use a blanket if I had one, but all I had were sweaters. I looked around in the trunk for the largest one I could find and put that around his shoulders. Usually, I've been passing food through the window to Robert, so since I was standing outside next to him I took the opportunity to pray with him. I asked what size pants he wore and told him I'd start looking for a pair his size to bring to him. Robert lives across the street from a very small gas station/truck stop and exists off the generosity of the people passing by in the area. On the weekends, it's pretty deserted. I'm sure he goes without food a lot.

I drove across town using 14th and Pico streets to get to Olive St. I gave another bag of food out to a man named Rodrick on 14th. When I got to Olive St, I didn't see anyone at the spots where the homeless usually hang-out so I went on down to skid row and parked in front of the police station. A block before the police station I noticed at least a dozen cars parked on the left side of the street with their flashers flashing and crowds of people on the sidewalk. After parking I walked back there to see what was going on. As I got out of the car, a man was just walking up from that area and said, "They're giving out stuff!" He had only gotten a couple of nutri-bars and so I asked him if he needed some food, his name was Art. He told me he did, (I'm still not certain why he didn't get more from the people on the other block) so I gave him a bag of food. This was one of the bags with a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. When he saw the peanut butter he got so excited you would have thought I'd given him a hundred bucks! I told him I usually don't give out food without praying for the person, so he gladly accepted the prayer too. I walked on down to the other block to see what was going on. It looked like a church group had brought down a bunch of supplies to hand-out to the homeless people. They were pretty much all college-age people. After standing around and observing for awhile I walked back to where my car was. I had seen a man sitting on the steps by the police station when I first pulled up and now I slowly started up a conversation with him while continuing to watch what was going on back down the street. His name was Terry and we talked for probably thirty minutes. He was originally from the Hollywood area, but moved to the Detroit area as a child. He had been back out here now for over 10 years. It turns out he had been to college, including some bible colleges back there that I wasn't familiar with. He had even been involved in missions work through these colleges. Somewhere along the line, he became disillusioned with the directon these organizations were going. I don't think he lost his faith, but he certainly lost faith in the institutions. We prayed together and hugged. I think he felt a lot better when I left.

As I left the area I gave out the last two bags of food to some homeless people on the corner of Wall St and about 9th St. The man's name was Derek and the woman's name was Jamaica (probably not her real name). The man was obviously homeless (he had a shopping cart, right?), but the woman, really didn't look the part. It's at times like this that I think about motives and how pure my own motives are when I pray and ask God for him to get involved in whatever it is I'm asking about. Does he look at me and my requests the same way I looked at this woman and her request? I'm sure I've given away food and other items to people who just wanted to know what they could get from me. Hopefully, in most of those cases the items ended up in the hands of people who did need them. In my case, I wonder if the silence I experience from God, is really not so silent. Is he answering in a way to draw a deeper and more engaging conversation/relationship with me and I just go on about my life unaware? I think these encounters with the homeless take on a more far-reaching importance than what I see in the moment.

Before leaving the area I prayer-walked on Cloud Nine Alley. Ray's spot seems to be unlived in for a few days. Pastor Rodriguez was preaching, but I didn't go inside. I did stop by the alley where Willie and Tara Lee live. Since there is only one more weekend of daylight savings time we set up this next weekend to do a barbecue. I told them I'd be there between 2-3p.m and to invite their friends. We'll see how it goes. Please pray that I can reach a group of people with God's love. Until next week. John