Downtown 12/16/2012

"If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves, you must help them, just as you are supposed to help foreigners who live among you." --Lev. 25:35  

After traveling all day I finally arrived downtown at 4:30 pm.  As you know, it's dark by 5 pm now, so after buying some food to give out I had less than twenty minutes of light left.  It was also cold and wet.  Although it really wasn't raining, it was misting steadily and the streets and sidewalks were wet.  I had even thought about not even stopping since it would be dark soon and I was concerned about being able to find and/or reach people in this kind of weather.  I decided God would put people in place where I could find and serve them regardless of the weather and circumstances.  I prayed about the conditions and obstacles and asked for God's help in reaching His people.  I left it all up to Him and would give Him the glory.  Somehow, I just knew it was going to be amazing!

I left the Jack in the Box at 4:40.  There had been two homeless men standing around when I arrived, but when I was ready to leave they had disappeared.  I even drove around the block and back through the parking lot at the Jack in the Box, but couldn't find them.  I drove through the two alleys where I've had the barbecues, but no one was there either.  I found one guy near one of the alley's, his name was Albert, but that was it.  I drove down a couple of the streets nearby, but still no one was around.  It was now 5 pm. and completely dark out.  Yes, I was beginning to wonder what was going on.  When it's wet out, the homeless usually find places even more remote and hidden than usual so that they can keep dry.  I decided to try under the I-10 freeway at San Pedro.  I used to see people under this freeway just about every week, but in the last 3 or 4 months, no one's been there.  Sunday night, there were five people huddled under this freeway overpass.  First there were Antonio and Leticia and then Elsa was just a few feet away from them.  They were all cold and hungry.  About thirty yards down from them was another couple.  They seemed to be doing better (they were under blankets at least).  His name was Jay Dean (didn't get her name).  What a joy to be able to help these people on a night like last night. 

I found another man on 17th St named David.  This street parallels the freeway.  He had a jacket on, but no other possessions.  I drove on over to the alley behind the Auto Zone store on Central and Washington Blvd.  This is the alley where Gary lives, however, he wasn't 'home' at the time.  A few  weeks ago I went ahead and left some burgers for him in his make-shift home, but he told me the next week he never got them, so I didn't leave anything this time.  The last time I was in this alley I had seen a couple of Latino men at the entrance to the alley.  There names were Jorge and Oscar.  They had that 'iconic homeless look' that I commented on and they were counting out coins at the time.  Well, I had seen a guy sitting on the ground up close to the roll-up doors of a store on the other side of Washington Blvd, when I crossed the street looking for Gary.  I drove back across to that man I had seen.  It turned out to be Oscar, remember it was totally dark by now.  He was all alone and didn't exactly have a good spot to keep dry for the night.  I ended up giving him not only food and water, but some socks and a blanket too.  I asked about Jorge and he told me he was close by and would be returning soon.  I had given Oscar the last of the food and prayed with him.  He was so thankful.  I was so blessed to be able to help him.  Maybe next week, I'll start at this location.

When I got back in my car and started driving towards the freeway entrance, I noticed it was 5:18 pm.  After a slow start, this all happened in less than 40 minutes and the first 10 minutes I didn't even see anyone.  All praise and honor goes to Him.  I just knew it was going to be amazing!  --Until next week. -John