Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Downtown 6/25/2012

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts. --Zech. 4:6b

Well this was to be the last opportunity to connect with people before the planned barbecue this coming Sunday, July 1. I needed to make the trip on a Monday and early enough to get to the wholesalers to purchase socks. I've just been pretty much out of them the last couple of weeks except for a used pair here and there that I've found. Anyway, I accomplished that part of the trip right away and then headed over to the alley where we had the barbecue last time. I had gone down it earlier, before I bought some food just to see if anyone was there. I found three people that I didn't recognize, although one of the men did recognize me. I gave out water and told them I'd be back later with food. When I came back, only Ricardo was there. He didn't speak much English, so conversation was limited. I then went over to the next alley down and found Rick and John Mellon. Rick asked, "Are you the guy that's doing the barbecue?" I told him yes and that it would be this coming Sunday on the next alley over. He indicated that the others would all be there. John Mellon wanted to know when July 4th was. He thought that was the date, but I told him it was next Sunday the 1st. I drove around to a couple of other regular spots and helped a couple of people that wanted to remain anonymous, and then stopped by 14th Place to see Ernest. At the spot where I expected to find Ernest, I found Kenny from San Francisco. I didn't recognize him, but he recognized me. He got up from the sidewalk and came over to the car and asked if I had any water or food. He said we met about a year ago at the Jack in the Box and I had given him (his words) a can of beef soup and bread and prayed with him. Wow. An encounter I didn't remember and he remembered it vividly. I ended up giving him some clothes and as we talked he said he was thinking of going back to San Francisco. He said it seems as though every time he's about to get his act together he makes a bad decision and everything unravels for him. Without being specific about what those "decisions" were he said,"You probably know what I'm talking about." I told him that I used to teach safe driving lessons to truck drivers. Part of the training was to teach them to not just look at the vehicle directly in front of them, but to look 15 to 20 seconds down the road for any potential problems. Life is a lot like that. We need to look beyond the immediate situation that presents itself and see what might happen later in 15 or 20 hours from now if I do this or do that now. I think he got the point without me having to tell him, "Don't do stupid stuff." The amazing thing was that I had never thought about using an example from my safe driving classes in this context. It just came out on the spur of the moment!

I ended the day stopping under the freeway at Hooper St to see Richard and Dave and let them know about Sunday's barbecue. Dave was at the last one. Both men seem to know a lot of others in the area. Hopefully, they will get the word out and there will be a turn-out. Please pray for this Sunday. --until next time. John

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Downtown 6/18/2012

I promise to take care of them and keep them safe, to look for those that are lost and bring back the ones that wander off, to bandage those that are hurt and protect the ones that are weak. --Ezekiel 34:15-16a

Once again this week I was hoping to reconnect with at least some of my friends who have been living in the alley off Hooper St where I hope to do the barbecue in a couple of weeks. But Monday evening, no one was there! Although it's still a little early, I guess I have to be prepared to adapt. After all, the barbecue may be what I want, but it may be God has something else in mind. I drove on down 16th and saw James pushing his cart towards me just past San Pedro Blvd. He was happy to see me and said the others (our mutual friends) were still around in the area. We talked about the barbecue coming up and he was looking forward to it (he was at the last one). I can't remember if he knew about it already or not, but he said he'd be there at the next one.

I drove on down to another regular stop under the freeway by Central Ave. I found a young man named David and not too far from him another man named Pablo--both needing a meal. I didn't have much conversation with either one and drove on around the block. I was about to turn left off Central Ave and on to 17th St and go east when a man caught me eye walking up Central. He was carrying a couple of bags and walking slowly south. I decided to get back across the street and see if he needed help. It turned out his name was Jose. While helping Jose another homeless man and woman were walking towards us and they needed help too. Jose ended up kind of hanging around after the others left. He asked for another burger for his brother Carlos. I ended up giving him a ride about 25 blocks away to 36th and Broadway. While giving him the ride I found out he had been in the US for about 8 years and arrived originally in New York from Mexico (go figure). He repeatedly said he couldn't believe someone was really helping him. He said he had been in the Mexican army and still had a bullet in his right leg and showed me his thumb where the end had been shot off. I can see why he wanted the ride. When I dropped him off I asked if he needed any clothes, so we ended up looking through the back of the car for shirts and a pillow and even a sleeping bag. He was very thankful and when I prayed for him he kissed my hand repeatedly and looked up in the sky and thanked God for sending me. It's always such a privilege to help people who are in such great need and who are truly thankful for the person who stopped to help them.

Well it was getting close to the end of daylight and I headed back over to another alley off Hooper St. At first no one was there, but then John Mellon showed up and then another man named Daryl. Daryl was by someone's stuff that I thought might be Chris' stuff because I recognized a sleeping bag I had given Chris a couple of weeks ago. He confirmed that it was Chris' stuff and that Chris would be back later. Before I left, a woman named Cindy showed up. John had gone on down the alley to his spot and he directed her to me for help if she was hungry. She hurried over to me looking for help. She looked the part of a street person, dirty, tired and worn-out with open sores on her face. She had on a shirt, shorts and shoes with no socks. She said her shoes hurt because they were so worn-out. I think I still had the back of the car open so I have her a sweater and a new shirt and some new shoes and socks. I found something she could sit on to change her shoes and a piece of cardboard she could put her feet on while she put the new socks and shoes on. During this time I had an opportunity to talk with her and pray with her. She told me she not only had a drug problem, but had hepatitis too (not really surprising considering her condition). She complained of a lot of aches and pains which she thought might be arthritis. I told her that sleeping outside sure would make the aches and pains worse. We talked for awhile about overcoming some of her addictions and I encouraged her to come to the barbecue in a couple of weeks. She said she would. I forgot to mention that John had asked me about it too. I hadn't told him, but somehow he knew about it. He told me he would be there so maybe word is getting around, we'll soon see about that. If it (the barbecue) doesn't go as planned and I have a day like I had Monday evening--that would be fine too.--Until next time-John

Monday, June 11, 2012

Downtown 6/10/2012

My friends be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. --James 1:2-4

After missing the trip last week, I really needed to go this week to connect with my friends about the planned barbecue the weekend before July 4th. When I got down to that alley off Hooper St, I only saw Terrance and his girl friend there. He told me that he had seen some people earlier that stayed further down the alley, but not recently. I told him to relay the info to them that I was still planning on coming down there on July 1st and he was invited to come too. I didn't see anyone else in the alley and I even went back later to check, but no one else was there. Bummer. We'll just have to see what develops over the next couple of weekends. In fact, a couple of the places where I usually find folks were deserted Sunday. However, I did find plenty of people in need and actually gave out the food and clothing supplies in near record time.

Nearby, on 17th by the I-10 I found Joe. Joe is from Illinois and I've helped him a couple of times. He had a odd request Sunday. He asked for a couple of dollars because he needed to get some new shoes. I asked him what size he wore because I had a few pairs in the back of the car, but he wore size 14's!! Well, I literally only had a couple of dollars to give him but I also remembered a cheap shoe store on the corner of Los Angeles St and Washington Blvd that advertised shoes from $7.99 and up. I told him he might check there sometime when he gets enough cash. I know that the selection of 12's (my size) is generally pretty slim in most stores and it has to be even worse to find 14's. However, a store like this might have gotten a whole bunch and at a cheap price and it might be worth checking into. About a hundred yards down the street from Joe I found another man lying on the sidewalk. His name was Paul and after I gave him some food he asked if I had any more so he could give it to the "woman who was living in the car" parked right in front of me. As I drove away he was knocking on the window of her car. Most of the time the poor are quick to remember and help others nearby in the same condition.

Well I had eight burgers left and ended up on 14th St between Griffith and Palamao. I saw Ernest lying on the sidewalk. He remembered me and asked where I had been. There are usually several homeless folks living spread-out on the streets around this area. While Ernest and I talked two others by the names of Coco and Larry had walked to the corner of Palamao and 14th and Earnest motioned for them to come over to us. Another young man by the name of Juan was riding his bicycle and he was flagged down too. By the grace of God they were all fed and clothing was given out. In fact, when I was loading up the car before leaving I was thinking how cool it would be to give away "all" the clothes every time I made a trip. Sunday was about as close as I've ever come to giving it all away. Awesome. When I prayed with Larry and Ernest (Coco had left already) Larry asked if I had a bible to give away. I only had the paperback one I carry in the car so I gave him that one. Earnest asked for one too, but all I could give him a Gospel of John booklet. Ernest and I talked for quite awhile, probably thirty minutes or so. Our constant companion was Pedro, the Rotweiller guard dog behind the fence across the street. I think Ernest is probably Pedro's only friend. Ernest was wearing some sandals that I had given him a few months back when he needed something to walk in, but open so his feet could remain dry. Ernest thanked me for helping the homeless in the area. It was high praise and humbling at the same time. I also knew the original source of the praise and He knew I needed to hear it.

So with all the food being given out, I headed down to the skid row area to prayer- walk before leaving. I prayed that God would give me someone to pray with. I parked in front of the police station like normal and got out and started walking down 6th St. I got to Central Ave and turned up the street towards 5th. Just a little ways up the sidewalk (which was crowded with homeless people) I was about to pass by a man who called out to me saying, "You look beautiful." He then repeated it. His name, it turned out, was Ron and I'm guessing him to be about a 40 year-old African American man. He was dressed casually in shorts, but very clean looking with glasses. I was thinking, perhaps he lives in one of the SRO buildings in the area (because of his clean clothes). He then said he noticed I was walking like I was in pain and he said sometimes you just have to ignore the pain and walk through it. Wouldn't you know it, but I had been thinking how painful it was to walk around because of all of my current health issues, just one of them being the sore left foot I have. When Ron finished talking I asked if I could pray with him. He agreed and I thanked God for reminding me through Ron that I need to "walk" and "walk through" my own personal issues with as much grace as possible. I thanked Ron again and as we continued walking on down the street I reflected to him that "I'm walking a little taller and a lot more pain-free!" Before I got back to my car I couldn't help but think about the tremendous opportunity for transformation that this area has. So often I think of all the despair and troubles that this area holds. The spiritual depression and darkness of these streets is sometimes overwhelming. I was glad to be reminded that God sees the potential of what it could be. --Until next week. John