"..everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I will not turn any of them away." ..He sent me and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost." --John 6:37,39
Last night in a church service I watched online I heard the line in a song, "He will embrace the broken ones." I tried to find the song on youtube, but was unable to. However, that line stood out for me and encapsulates the message I try to bring to the people I meet each week downtown. I ran across this quote from the famous evangelist D.L. Moody this morning. "No matter how low down you are; no matter what your disposition has been; you may be low in your thoughts, words, and actions; you may be selfish; your heart may be overflowing with corruption and wickedness; yet Jesus will have compassion upon you. He will speak comforting words to you; not treat you coldly or spurn you, as perhaps those of earth would, but will speak tender words, and words of love and affection and kindness. Just come at once. He is a faithful friend-a friend that will stick closer than a brother." And then I remembered the scripture verse quoted above from Jesus. One of the most important things about that verse from Jesus is that it ends with a period. There are no conditions added like, 'unless' or 'but' or anything else, just "I will not turn anyone away." Period!
Most every man I encountered yesterday was alone (and broken). The first man was Ricardo. I met him last week, although I thought he said his name was Carlos last week (I've been having hearing problems lately). Anyway, he speaks very little English, yet he was able to communicate that the police had run everyone who had lived in that alley away. Ricardo was on a bicycle and moves around quite a bit. I haven't been able to pin down exactly where he stays at night, but he is forced to keep a low profile with the police I'm sure. One day he will probably just disappear from the area and someone will find and take his bicycle. In another of the alleys near where Ricardo was I found Loren. He was wearing a shirt, shorts and shoes. He was hungry and accepted some food and then seeing the clothes in the back of the car asked if I had any pants. I can not imagine how he was surviving at night with only those clothes. I wondered, "Doesn't anyone else care about this man?" I didn't realize until this morning that, indeed, God cares and that's why He sent me. I could only find one pair of pants in the car at the time and he was about to try them on when I left. I sure hope they fit. I also gave him some socks and a heavy sweater with a hood. There's supposed to be another storm coming our way in a couple of days, I know I could smell the moisture in the air later Sunday night.
I had brief encounters with Octavio (I hadn't seen him in ages and he looked pretty ragged), TonCarlo (I think that's what he said) and Ronald. They all needed a meal. I had also driven down the alley where I saw Shawn last week. He wasn't there at that point, but a woman and a man named Ed were there. Ed was very suspicious of me and why I was there. I asked if Shawn was around and the woman said he'd be by later. I told them I'd try and come back a little later. At the time I hadn't picked up any food yet, mainly because it was a lot earlier than I usually go. I think it was about noon right then. After prayer-walking on skid row and seeing the people above I pulled over to take a prayer break. I hadn't "felt" anything special about any of the encounters so far and wanted to feel the Spirit's presence more. I didn't realize until today my "feelings" are not what matters in these trips. You know I pray every week that I reach people in need. Every week I find them. After the prayer break I realized I was just down the street from the alley where Ed was earlier. I have to admit that I was a little uneasy about going back. Nobody wants to go someplace where they aren't wanted, yet Ed wasn't the only one there and maybe Shawn would be back. Well, when I drove up, neither Shawn nor Ed was there. The woman may have been there, but she wasn't visible inside her 'house' she had set up. However, a little ways down the alley I found Howard. Howard was fifty five years old and originally from South Carolina. He knew Shawn and had seen him a little while earlier in one of the other alleys around there. We talked for quite a while, during the course of our conversation I told Howard the same story I told Shawn the week before about how God had spoken to me about forgiveness in such a specific way that I immediately was able to forgive a person I had been very angry with. I explained that since God knows where we've come from and everything about us, he knows exactly how to speak to us through circumstances to reach our hearts. I could actually see I reached Howard with this story by that look of "Ah ha, I get it" on his face. I hope that understanding translates into seeking after God in a new way for him.
Before leaving town I looked for Gary behind the auto parts store, but his stuff was completely gone. Ray still isn't around on Cloud Nine Alley either. I found a guy on 18th St by the I-10 freeway sleeping on the sidewalk. His name was Kevin. He had one blanket to lay on, but nothing to cover himself with. He was also pretty tall, and we had to dig around to find a sweater big enough to fit him. I just love praying with people in this situation. Think about it from their perspective. You're laying down on the sidewalk. You're hungry and trying to sleep so you don't feel the hunger. Someone drives up and offers you a meal, gets out of their car and gives you some warm clothes, a blanket and some water, prays with you and drives away...asking nothing from you! You lay back down thinking, "What just happened? It must be my lucky day!" And then you're hit with the realization, that God really hasn't forgotten about me!!!
I saw Mel and John Stokes as I left town. In the world of the homeless, mistrust of others and out and out dislike is just as prevalent in their world and on this little street as it is in our world. I gave out the last of the food to them and then dug around the back of the car for another pair of pants for John. He had on jogging pants, which aren't very warm unless your jogging. You may remember he had another man named Dave living next to him last summer and actually for about a year or so. One day, Dave left to go to the recycler (with some copper I think) and never came back. All his stuff was left behind. John never found out what happened and it has troubled both of us. I had already prayed with John, but when we got around to talking about Dave I said, "We need to pray for Dave." John immediately said, "yes" and bowed his head, so I prayed again right then. Where we were praying was next to a fenced yard with four small dogs in it. I had mentioned the dogs while praying for Dave and then for John's protection, more for humor than anything else. After all, two of the dogs were puppies anyway. When I finished, the first thing John said was, "You know your right on about those dogs. They have alerted me to danger and someone coming by in the middle of the night more than once." What is it the bible says about the Spirit interceding for us when we don't know what to pray for? God is awesome! --Until next time. John
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