Downtown-Monday-11/26/2012

"What if your legacy was, thousands of people loved God because of you?"  --Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California

Yesterday's specific prayer requests on the way down were, please Lord let me find one of the 'regulars' and lead me to those who need to hear from you.  This has been somewhat of a regular prayer request each week lately.  The thing is, each week is different and this prayer has been answered in different ways each week.  Yes, in ways I didn't expect either. 

One of the 'regulars' I saw yesterday was someone I actually hadn't seen in about a year.  I wrote about him at length on April 11th, 2011 (you can look it up on that date) and included a picture of him too.  His name is Don.  I saw him yesterday in the exact spot where I found him that day a year and a half ago.  He has been in and out of the hospital since then due to his diabetes.  His mental outlook is so much better now than before though.  When I got out of the car he brought me a bible and asked me to point out to him some scriptures for him.  I thought he was looking for something specific, but instead it turned out that he has been sharing scripture with other homeless people and using the 'Bible Bingo' method of just opening it up and picking out something at random.  What's amazing about that is that Don isn't very knowledgeable about the bible.  For example, one of the scriptures I wanted to show him was the first verse in Luke 15.  Luke 15 is the chapter which includes the parable of the prodigal son.  But Don wasn't familiar with that story so, I read the story to him and we talked about what it meant.  Then I briefly told him about the other two short parables in that chapter of the lost coin and the lost sheep and then pointed out the first verse which sets up the telling of these three parables.  That first verse says, "Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him."  This is such a valuable verse to people who are homeless because they can identify with this group of people.  I suggested that Jesus couldn't have been telling them that they were sinners (which they already knew) and going to hell (which they already suspected), but He was more likely encouraging them to live better and follow God's ways and that God loves them.  You see the religious leaders in that day wouldn't even talk to these people because they considered them worthless.  Yet, here is Jesus not only talking to them, but they were "gathering around to hear Him".  That would indicate that Jesus was engaging them and they were actually seeking him out.  He wasn't condemning them (John 8:11), he was telling them they were people of value to the Father.  Another verse I pointed out to him was Romans 8:38-39.  This is the verse that tells us 'nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus' (my paraphrase).  How often do you think this group of people feels alienated from God and that they are somehow being 'cosmicly punished' for past sins and that's why they are where they are?  Now whenever you are in Romans 8 you get a chance (and an excuse) to point out some of the other great verses in that chapter like verse one and verse 28.  I told Don Romans 8 is considered the 'high water mark' of the New Testament.  Anyway, we talked for 40 or 45 minutes before I left.  I prayed with him twice (and he prayed for me), we had an absolutely great time together.  He's actually sharing with others the things I've shared with him.  Amazing!  I hope I see him again soon.

There were several others, in need yesteday, that I was able to help with food and water until I came up to a man and a woman on a small street on the east side of Alameda.  They turned out to be a married couple and were sitting at a make-shift table with all their possessions on the sidewalk around them.  As I pulled up I asked if they needed any food.  The man said yes they did and they both then came over to the car and I passed some food and water through the window to them.  He said "God bless you" and I took the opportunity to tell them that I had just read that morning that "Dios, la bendiga" means "God bless you" in Spanish.  After all this time I had no idea.  Most all of the latino speaking people who accept food from me know the equivalent in English, yet I didn't know how to say it in Spanish until that morning.  I prayed for them through the window and then asked them if they needed any socks.  Caseem, (that was his name) said they did, so I pulled over to the curb and got out and opened the trunk.  It was at this point that Caseem said something that kind of floored me.  I've actually heard it a few times from folks living on the street, but it always points out a truth worth remembering.  He said, you can tell the people who really care are the ones who actually get out of their car and talk to you, instead of just giving out food and saying "God bless you" and driving away!  This truth points to the giver, but even more so to the needs of the ones receiving.  They need to be acknowledged as a person of worth and not just something to be fed.  Well, we talked for a while.  It turned out that Caseem was from New Jersey and had come from a very religious background, including a long line of pastors.  He had rebelled from that upbringing and had gotten involved in the drug culture and had spent time in prison over it.  I told him I knew exactly what he was talking about because that culture had dogged me for quite awhile too in my twenties.  He then told me that his wife had just had a miscarriage due to being beaten up while he was locked up.  I guess it had happened quite recently while she was living on the street.  They now were looking for an inexpensive place to live and he was looking for work.  I told him that he might look around at the truckers coming into the warehouses around those streets.  Sometimes they are looking for someone to unload their trailers and will pay 'lumpers' to unload them.  I prayed again for them, especially for God to heal the hurts inside them as well as providing for their needs.  It was an honor to intercede for them.

Well, after just these two encounters that I've written about (there were a half dozen other people I met), do you think God answered my prayer on the way down there?  Until next time.  John