Downtown 11/18/2012

"Think how much the Father loves us.  He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are."  1 John 3:1a

This was the last weekend of my vacation from work.  I was looking forward to this trip and had been praying for a deeper relationship with some of the new people I've been meeting.  The old 'regulars' are around (at least that's what I'm hearing from people), but I just haven't seen too many.  So it's time to take my relationship with people that I have been seeing these last few weeks to another level.  I have to remember that answered prayer rarely ends up looking like what you expected.  I was expecting to see people from the vacant lot adjacent to one of the barbecue alleys, but no one was in those alleys (again) and although there were still make-shift shelters on the vacant lot, I didn't see anyone 'home' there.  I drove around to some of the spots where I normally find people, but found no one.  It had been raining off an on this week, so some of the people may have found other places to ride out the weather.

Down on skid row I saw a large crowd of people and a lot of cars on the block just west of the police station on 6th.  Something was obviously going on there so after parking I walked over and asked around to see what was up.  It turned out that some church group had pulled up with a lot of supplies to give out.  These supplies included food, a bag of hygiene stuff and a sleeping bag.  Remember, this is the start of the winter months out here and the weekend before Thanksgiving, so it was good timing for the people living on the street. 

In case you ever wondered, I rarely give out food down on skid row.  Instead, I go to areas a couple of miles away from there.  The various missions provide countless meals for the people who live on the street in the skid row area.  Occasionally, church groups show up with food and supplies like the one above.  I can't help the numbers of people that they can help.  In fact, I don't look at what I do as a 'relief ministry' anyway.  Instead, I go to the surrounding areas and pray with people and use the food and supplies as a means to gain access to talking (and praying) with them.  Also, the surrounding areas give me more of an opportunity to be one on one with people.  This enables me to get to know them by name and find out about them on a personal level.  Therein, is the uniqueness of this ministry, one on one relationships.  So, my prayer at the beginning of this blog was to get to know the 'new' people in a deeper way.  A week or so ago, I referred to one of the guys at the vacant lot as Terrance.  I wasn't sure if that was his name or not, but I thought it might be (I knew someone down there in the area where I go with that name).  I asked him yesterday what his name was and it's Eugene.  Eugene also has a wife and they both live on the street around the Jack in the Box area.  Yesterday, Eugene found me as I was coming out of the Jack in the Box with the food I had just bought.  I going to have to get to know his wife.  I do have a lot of clothes for women I could give her.

My most memorable encounter yesterday was with Gary.  Gary is the guy living in the alley behind the auto parts store on the other side of Washington Blvd.  He was the one who gave me permission to wake him up if he was sleeping.  I found out he was originally from Galveston, Texas, but has been out here for 30 years or so.  When I pulled into the alley, I was met with the biggest smile you can imagine.  He told me he had been watching for me every time someone pulled into the alley Sunday.  I noticed he had a small barbecue grill.  He told me he had found a hunk of beef in a grocery bag in some trash heap and thought he was going to eat well that night.  He had rummaged around in the area looking for some wood to start a fire in the grill, but now he was thinking the meat was too old and spoiled.  He showed me the meat and I confirmed that it was no good.  I can only imagine if I hadn't have come by, that eventually he would have tried to cook and eat that meat when his hunger pains got worse.  I asked Gary if he needed some socks and he said yes, somewhat incredulously.  I got out and opened the back of the car and gave him a couple of pairs.  He lifted his pant legs and showed me he didn't have any socks.  By the way, there were at least three large pools of rain water in the alley right by where his shelter was.  He asked if I had some pants, but I didn't have any.  I did give him some shirts and a sweater.  Also, I had a double thick knit cap he could wear.  He had been coughing quite a bit and told me he thought he either had the flu or a cold.  I told him if his bones ached, it was the flu.  He said they ached.  Well, he had asked me to pray for him already, which I did, but now I felt the need to pray for him again, so I lifted my hands up and asked for a special blessing on him for relief from the flu and continued provision during the week.  I gave him a hug and told him I loved him and God loved him too.  Then he asked me if I had a bible I could give him!  I told him I didn't have a whole bible, but I did have a New Testament and then I dug around in the back of the car and found one of those "Daily Bread" devotional books and gave him that too.  He felt blessed....and I did too.  I told him I probably wouldn't be able to make it there next Sunday, but would probably be by the day after on Monday.  (I didn't want him to be looking for me again all day on Sunday and be discouraged)  Anyway, I guess that's the one who God wanted me to develop a deeper relationship with.  We talked a bit about some of the other homeless people around the area.  I think I'm going to ask Gary if he would ride in the car with me and show me where some of the other folks are on that side of Washington Blvd.  This could get really good, don't you think?  Don't you just love it when God answers prayer like this?  --Until next time.  John