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