Monday, May 27, 2013

Downtown 5/26/2013

 "Listen.  If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."  Luke 17:3

"Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him."  Luke 15:1

Repentance and forgiveness were two of the main tenets Jesus taught during His earthly ministry.  It's easy to see why 'tax collectors and sinners' would draw near to hear Him.  The outcasts of society are the ones experiencing little forgiveness from others, yet Jesus still loved them and treated them as people of worth.  A couple of days ago I 'shared' a post on facebook from the missionary group, Gospel for Asia.  It was simply a picture of a woman laying face down amid a lot of dirt and debris.  Yesterday, I found a man laying face down on a sidewalk that reminded me of the Gospel for Asia picture.  He appeared to be sleeping, although when I walked over to him and asked if he was hungry he immediately turned over and said, "yes".  When I gave him a couple of burgers to eat he started eating them right away.  If you look carefully at the picture, you can see he has no socks and only one of the shoes had laces.  I asked him about his shoes and he said they were too small.  Luckily, I had one pair of tennis shoes and I gave him some socks to go with them along with a couple of shirts.  The man's name was Alisio and he was from "California".  He didn't seem to want to give too many details of his life, so I didn't press him for details.  Where I found him was a bit of a walk from the skid row area where one can get a
meal.  I'm hearing that some of the missions aren't serving 3 meals a day anymore.  So it's likely Alisio hadn't eaten all day and at the time of the afternoon (about 5:30 pm) that I saw him, he wasn't going to eat until at least the next day.  That particular street was deserted on a Sunday.  No cars and no pedestrians around.  There was another homeless man about a quarter mile down the street who had set up his 'house'.  His name was Rafael and he was from Panama.  He had on a T-shirt that he had gotten at a shelter.  It was a soccer jersey with someone else's name on it and it was about 4 sizes too big.  I gave him a couple of new shirts that actually fit. Rafael was very happy to receive the help I offered.  When I prayed with him he repeated the words I said, it was very humbling.  When I was about to leave him, two other homeless people (a couple actually) were walking towards me.  They lived around the corner on the next street and had seen me.  Apparently, I had helped them before and they recognized me and came over looking for help again.  They got the last of the burgers and smoothies.  I only had a box of about a dozen or so smoothies, but they were a big hit with my friends downtown.  The woman was from Texas and they said they were leaving this next week to go back there.  I'm glad there was family available and willing to give them a place to go to.

At this point I was now out of burgers to give out, (I had helped a few other people before I saw Alisio) so I was driving towards the freeway onramp when I saw a couple of men working on a car.  One of the men looked up as I was driving by and we recognized each other.  I stopped the car and the one who looked up was Kenny, a man I knew.  He came over and we talked for a few minutes.  It turns out he was helping the other man change the water pump on the other man's car.  I did have some canned food left and some water which I gave Kenny and he also asked for some socks.  This area where we were is about a half mile or more from the BBQ alleys which is where I usually see Kenny.  So he asked about the other folks that we know from over there.  He told me that Gary, who was living behind the auto parts store on Washington is staying in a parking lot by the food bank on Paloma St on the other side of Washington.  I'll look for him next week.  So I had prayed with Kenny and before he walked back across the street to work on the car, two other men walked up looking for help.  Like I said I was out of burgers, but I did have some canned food left and some snacks which I gave them.  These other two men looked through the back of the car for clothes that fit and both found an armful they could use.  When I prayed for them I reminded God that He had their picture on His refrigerator, they both got a kick out of that image.  When I finished praying with them another man walked up looking for some help too!  I think this place, under the freeway, is where homeless people with cars live.  I think all these people stay/live there in cars.  Perhaps, this could be a potential BBQ site this summer.  I hope so.  I look forward to having an opportunity to give these people a nice afternoon and tell them about the Jesus I know.  --Until next time.  John      

Monday, May 20, 2013

Downtown 5/19/2013

"...All of Jesus' disciples left him and ran away."  --Matthew 26:56--on the night Jesus was arrested.

I guess the most troubling thing to me about being homeless is the incredible feeling of being alone and not knowing what will happen next, where the next meal will come from, where you will sleep and the main question,...when will this be over?  Sadly, for so many, it really never does end.  There may be no family safety net left, and if there is you've either lost contact with them, and/or burned the bridge that could provide the help.  I've met people who are fresh on the street and those who have spent two or three decades on the street.  The fear of the future is evident in either group, whether veteran or newbie.  Thirty years ago when I drove these streets during the day and would see 'street people', I had little compassion for them.  My attitude was 'get a job'.  I had no idea how difficult that is when you have no address or phone number.  How would you fill out an application?  There is a day laborer place on a street off Washington Blvd.  I think it's south of Washington Blvd somewhere around Flower St, but in talking with people who start their day there, there hasn't been work available for quite some time.  To be sure, many of the homeless are not good at structured living (getting up daily at a certain time and going to work).  Perhaps they had no role model when they were growing up or no one pushing them to succeed like I had.  I don't know if its the sole responsibility of the individual or the government's job to provide long term solutions.  All I know is people are hurting and need help today.  Today I have time and resources to help them.  Today God calls on  people to be his hands, feet and loving heart.  Today I can do this.  I don't know about the future, but for these folks today is all they see anyway.  I'm not sure where I was reminded of the story in the New Testament about the disciples by themselves in the boat when a fierce storm appeared and threatened to sink the boat.  Jesus appeared walking on the water.  It's one of the famous stories of Jesus.  Not only were the disciples fearful of the storm, but they thought they were seeing a ghost when Jesus was walking by.  Yet, he said to them, "Don't be afraid.  It's me, Jesus."  When Jesus got in the boat, the wind died down.  It occurred to me that when the storms of this life are raging, there is always an extra seat in that boat--and I'm claiming my spot now!  I want to be near Jesus always, because storm or not, that's the safest place to be even in the midst of a storm.

Yesterday, the first people I met were a couple in an alley.  Their names were LaShawna and Charles.  LaShawna asked me, "Can I have another burger?  I'm pregnant."  Think about that.  Homeless, pregnant and living in an alley.  What do you think of that baby's future?  Outside of these two and Leticia and Antonio everyone else I met were single men by themselves.  Since I've been seeing Leticia and Antonio nearly every week for the past couple of months, Leticia always asks me, "Aren't you going to pray for us?"  This is after the food and water and anything else that they may need is given to them.  I'm always happy to pray for them.

I saw and helped a couple of other homeless men I knew in the streets nearby, but two men a few miles away that I wasn't familiar with caught my attention.  The first was a man named Walter who was originally from Denver.  He was going through some debris in the gutter of Venice Blvd near Los Angeles St.  He was extremely thin and told me he had just gotten out of the hospital a few days before.  He didn't say what the health problem was.  He was hungry and quite happy to get a couple of burgers.  I prayed with him and gave him some socks.  He then returned to going through the debris in the gutter when he found two cans of food.  I'm not sure what they were.  I'm not sure if the cans were even cans of food, but he picked them up and put them in his cart.  When I saw that I said, "Hey, I've got something better for you than that.  I gave him some cans of 'meals ready to eat'.  These are cans with a top that you just peel off.  The cans in the gutter weren't even pop tops.  Unless you have a can opener, you'll tear up the can before you get anything out of it.  So the next guy was a guy digging in a dumpster for food.  He told me his name was "Joker".  I gave him some water and food and then dug around in the back of the car for some clothes too.  When I began to pray for him I referred to him as "Joker" when I prayed.  It was then that he corrected me and told me his real name was "Johnny".  When I first called out to Johnny (while he was digging in the dumpster) I guess I must have spooked him, because he dropped the lid to the dumpster and it made a loud bang.  I had prayed to find someone scared Sunday, perhaps this was the one, but I think most all of these men and women were scared to some extent.  One other thing about Johnny.  The dumpster he was digging in was in an alley off Maple St.  While we talked for the ten minutes or so I heard Spanish music playing nearby.  I thought it was from a club or some kind of eatery with a back door to the alley.  As I drove away, I saw that it was a Spanish speaking Pentecostal Church!!!  We were less than 15 feet from their OPEN back door.

I found a couple of other men in this area, one I had never met before, his name was Anthony and another man I've only met once before, his name was Willie.  Willie was the one I offered my shoes to a couple of weeks ago.  I noticed he still wasn't wearing any shoes.

Next I drove over to John Stokes.  I'm not sure how many times I'll be able to see him before he leaves for Atlanta.  I sat down on a milk crate when I got there and we talked for quite awhile.  I told John some of the stories and things I've learned in the four years we've know each other.  I began with a conversation he and I had when I first started coming downtown and I asked him, "What do homeless people need?"  I didn't know anything back then, we both laughed about that.  He was pretty riveted when I told him some of the stories and experiences I've had, in fact, he said I should write a book, that he would like to read it.  What a good friend he's been to me.  I'll miss him when he's gone.----Until next week. John



      





Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Monday 5/13/2013 Downtown

"After much prayer, ...Dave and his wife Lynn started Children's Hunger Fund out of their garage.  Six weeks after CHF was launched, in January of 1992, he received a phone call from the director of a cancer treatment center in Honduras asking if there was any way he could obtain a certain drug for seven children who would die without it.  Dave wrote down the name of the drug and told the director that he had no idea how to get this type of drug.  They then prayed over the phone and asked God to provide.  As Dave hung up the phone, before he even let go of the receiver, the phone rang again.  It was a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey asking Dave if he would have any use for 48,000 vials of that exact drug!  Not only did they offer him eight million dollars worth of this drug, but they told him they would airlift it to anyplace in the world!  ...Within forty-eight hours, Dave had the drug sent to the treatment center in Honduras and to twenty other locations as well.  It was then he believed firmly that God was at work, validating his calling to this ministry.  The testimony of Dave and Lynn Phillips from the book, "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan (page 135-6).  

Due to our family gathering on Mother's Day, I didn't make the trip until Monday morning.  Weekday trips are like drive-by mercy runs.  Your time with people is so brief that you're barely able to pass food through the window before your forced to drive away due to the traffic.  However, I knew that it was going to be well over 90 degrees downtown and chilled water would be most welcomed by everyone.  Locally, our grocery store had not received any ice in two days and one of the people working there told me that two major stores right nearby hadn't received any either.  I was able to  pick up some ice in another city on the drive into LA.

As kind of an example of how things go during the week, I happened to see a homeless man with a cart on San Pedro St.  I only had moments to talk to him before I had to move on.  This was under the I-10 freeway and normally I would have pulled in and driven down the alley around the warehouse that's there, but the alley was full of parked cars.  I asked the man's for his name and he told me it was Antonio.  He also told me he had lost everything.  I didn't realize until a few minutes later, after pulling away, that he was Leticia's husband, Antonio. I always see them together and that's why I didn't recognize him.  When the homeless lose 'everything', what generally happens is they have to leave their stuff for a little while and when they return it's all gone.  This is a recurring thing with homeless people.  Maybe, they have to leave their stuff to find a bathroom or get something to eat or even take stuff to a recycler.  Unless, your willing to lug your stuff everywhere you need to go, you will eventually lose it and have to start over.

I drove over to 9th St to see if I could find Patrick Morris from last week.  There were cars parked right where he had been laying.  I did see a piece of cardboard on the ground behind one of the cars, but no one was on it.  I'll check back next Sunday and see if he's there.  I did drive over to see John Stokes before I left.  He was there and we talked about when he's leaving.  He hopes to be in Atlanta by July 4th.  Apparently, his family always had a big celebration that day.  I hope he's not disappointed when he gets there.  Sometime around June 3rd he'll start receiving his Social Security checks and then he'll be gone.  I'll miss him.

Well, I gave out all the food and chilled water to go with it and then I had to leave.  This wasn't one of my memorable trips, yet I kept thinking about Jesus' words about giving a "cup of cold water in my name" as being worth something in and of itself.  Perhaps persistence and a life-style of obedience is worth something all by itself.--Until next week.  John

Monday, May 6, 2013

After four years-Downtown 5/5/2013

"Lots of people volunteered at the soup kitchen once we opened.  One Saturday I washed dishes with a new volunteer.  Henry said, 'I've been wanting to come for a long time, ever since I read in the Post how Mother Teresa brought you sisters here.'  He slung the wet dish towel over the handle on the oven door.  'I wish I could be here every day, but I'm too busy.'  He looked out the window and onto the street.  'My work--it takes too much of my time.  I'm out of town a lot.'  Turning to me, he spoke with frustration.  'What I do is so unimportant compared to what you do here [at a soup kitchen on the convent grounds].  You sisters do the work of Jesus and Mary.  You help a lot of people.  I envy you.'
  
'What do you do, Henry?'  I asked.

'I'm an adviser to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.'

I was floored.  This man with what anyone would call an important job recognized what I also knew--serving the poor, face-to-face, was the best job in the whole world."  --Mary Johnson from her book, "An Unquenchable Thirst"  (page 157) 

 This was one of those trips where I wonder where to begin to describe it.  It was simply wonderful, yet tragic; fulfilling, yet unfinished; rewarding, yet disappointing.  I can definitely say it left me wanting to go back as soon as possible.  Let me begin with something I wrote in last week's blog.  I had watched a message online last week by an evangelist named Mario Murillo.  In it he made the statement, "Your past does not disqualify you."  On a primary level this speaks to your past not disqualifying you from the availability to God's love and mercy on your life.  When I heard it I said to myself I have to take that message with me when I go downtown.  My friends there have got to know this---all of them.  So on my way Sunday I'm praying about the trip and asking God what can I ask for that will make this trip special.  Each trip is unique, and God answers my prayer for each trip in a very unique way.  I never know when I ask for something just what His answer will look like.  A few weeks ago, you may remember, I asked to find and help someone who was desperate, not knowing what to expect.  I think the first or second person I found that week was a woman in an alley with only a T-shirt on, pleading for a pair of pants.  I couldn't have foreseen that in a million years.  Yesterday, I prayed that I would find people who were desperate emotionally.  Basically, just people ready to give up on life and at the end of their rope.  So that was my prayer.  Let me tell you the story of what happened.....

By the time I got down there and purchased the food and was ready to start looking for folks it was 6 pm.  Kind of late to get started, but for some reason I wasn't too concerned because God has always led me to people no matter what and sometimes it can happen quite quickly.  Anyway, I was 'in' all the way until all the food was given out.

The first man I encountered was Dave.  I met him last week at the same place under the I-10 freeway at San Pedro.  He remembered me too.  I had gotten out to give him some socks from the back of the car.  We started talking and very soon he asked me (in a nice way) why I came down there.  I told him, "I love to help people."  He said he could see that in my face and pressed me a little further.  I gave him the short version of the interview I saw with the grandson of a missionary in China and how it inspired me to come down here and also in part was because I drove trucks down here thirty years ago (maybe a little more than that now) and I knew the turf.  We kept talking about our lives (I asked him if he had any family living nearby) and some of the experiences that have shaped our lives.  He was kind of astounded by some of the stories of things that had happened to shape where I was now.  I was also able to weave into the conversation stories about Moses and King David to show how both of them had to endure a lot of hardships and that without those hardships they wouldn't have been the men they turned out to be.  God doesn't like using us when we're full of ourselves.  He likes to use the banged-up and broken people of the world.  Well, we had talked for probably twenty minutes or more and I said, "Well, I'd better be going, you're the first person I've met with today and I need to get to some of the other folks who need help."  He then asked me one of those heart-felt questions that stops you in your tracks.  He asked, "Do you think I'll ever be able to get a job?"  Dave is in his late thirties.  I see no physical or mental issues that would prevent him from getting work.  He just needs an opportunity, he's a very likable man.  I told him "Yes, absolutely."  I gave him some advice on how to start, by asking shop owners in the area when he's out during the day if they need anyone to sweep up or clean up.  Then maybe it could lead to sleeping there on the premises.  "But let's pray about this right now."  We had already prayed once, but this was too big of an opportunity to pass up (for God and me).  This was faith in action.  We prayed and I told Dave I'd look for him again next week.  He told me there was another man around the corner (he didn't know who the man was) who was homeless too.  That man turned out to be named Steve.  When I started talking to Steve he said, "Boy, you are a blessing and an answer to prayer."  I had begun by asking if he was hungry.  He hadn't eaten in a while.  When he sat up from under his blanket, a bible had fallen from his chest to the ground.  I gave him some socks and a vest/jacket that he put on immediately.  The blanket he had was pretty small and I asked if he needed a new one.  He was so thankful for the help.  He told me he was married and his wife had kicked him out four or five times.  He admitted that some of the times he deserved it (time for the statement about your past not disqualifying you from God's love--the second time I'd used it Sunday).  We prayed and he told me what a blessing I was to him.  Before driving out on San Pedro Ave I saw Leticia and Antonio under blankets behind the concrete barricades where I saw them last week.  I gave them food and prayed with them too.  When I got back in the car and was driving onto San Pedro I saw that they were both eating the food.  I guess they had gone to bed hungry.  I'm glad I stopped to see them.

Gary used to live behind the auto parts store on Washington Blvd, but I haven't seen him in two months.  I still drive over there just in case.  It is also an area where there are a few other homeless people hanging around sometimes.  Sunday a man who I hadn't met before named Willie was there.  I had asked him if he was hungry and he told me he was.  I gave him some food and offered him water, but he told me he had some water.  He was very polite and I noticed he had on socks and some sandals.  I asked him if he needed some shoes.  He asked if I had size 12 or 13's.  Well, I don't have that size in the back, but I wear size 12's and I offered them to him.  He declined my shoes and said he had an old pair in his shopping cart.  Apparently, the shoes he has don't fit very well or he'd have been wearing them.  I prayed with him and asked if he knew Gary from the alley, but he said he didn't.  I drove back down Washington Blvd to Wall St.  This is the street where Willie, the man that I do know by that name, has been staying.  I didn't see his stuff or him there.  Last week I saw his stuff and figured he was still around, but this week there was nothing of his around.  Across that small street I found Guillermo.  He spoke very little English, but we did converse a little bit.  I gave him food and water, of which he was most thankful and I prayed with him too.  I asked him if he knew Willie.  He pointed to a small tent on the sidewalk on down the street.  The tent turned out to be the home of Louis.  Louis is disabled.  He said he was 'completely' disabled due to a head injury.  He talked coherently, and was extremely upset with God because his disability checks had stopped 10 years ago and he lost everything.  He allowed me the privilege of giving him food and water and praying with him, which surprised me a little.  I suggested that the government was the one that 'stopped' the payments, but he claimed that God could have fixed that.  Not knowing Louis, and not knowing his background I refused to get into a discussion of theological issues relating to bad things happening to good people.  I assured him that God loved him and told him how I know He does.  I also told him his past didn't disqualify him from God loving him either (my third time Sunday using  that one).  I told Louis I'd look for him again the next time I'm down there.  Perhaps we can build a relationship that can lead up to a better understanding of what God does and doesn't do and what 'others' do that lead to difficult times.

Well, I had two burgers left and I thought I'd go see John Stokes before leaving.  It was getting close to being completely dark and the last few times I've arrived where John is I didn't have enough to give to the others that seem to hang around where he is.  On the way to his place I was driving down 9th St after just turning onto that street from San Pedro.  I just 'happened' to see a man sleeping on a wooden pallet laying on  the sidewalk.  Something inside me said, "Go see that man".  He was on the other side of the street so I turned right on Town Ave and did a U-turn and came back to the signal at 9th.  I waited and waited at the signal to turn left and finally turned right and found a place on 9th to turn around.  I drove back down the street and parked at the curb in front of where this man was sleeping.  I got out and walked over by him and asked if he was hungry.  I heard him say yes and I went to get the last two burgers.  I asked if he needed some water too.  He again said yes.  I brought them over to him and started talking to him.  His name was Patrick Morris.  It turned out he had just been released from prison 3 days ago after doing 17 years.  He told me he had killed the man that raped his 13 year-old sister.  He also said the euphoria that he felt when he got out of prison was now totally gone!   He said he felt completely disconnected from society.  During our conversation he had put one of the burgers in the pocket of his jacket and had started eating the other one.  He kept asking me why I was being so nice to him.  I told him I was 'sent' to let him know that God loves him.  It was obvious that he was cold, the temperatures were dropping and even though he had a jacket on it didn't look particularly warm.  I gave him a small knitted blanket that he used as a pillow and eventually got out a full sized blanket, folded it in half and placed it over him.  He again asked me why I was being so nice to him.  I sat down on the pee-stained sidewalk next to him and we talked for twenty minutes.  He had no where to go and no money.  He didn't want to go to the missions, he made it sound like they weren't even an option.  It isn't the first time I've heard that.  He told me that parole violators now get sent to the county jail and not back to prison (probably depends on what the violation is).  Since he had no where to go and no money I think he figured he'd be picked up soon enough for vagrancy if nothing else.  At least he'd get fed and have a roof over his head in the jail.  It was a heart-breaking situation.  He had a cane on the pallet too.  During the whole time I talked with him, I'm not sure he opened his eyes wide enough once for me to see into them.  He made me promise to look for him again.  He said if he isn't in jail he'll be right there on 9th St.  Well, I hated to leave him, but there wasn't much else I could do.  I had given him what I had to make him comfortable, I even gave him a couple of dollars to get through Monday morning.  I prayed for him, I felt privileged to serve him, but I wanted to do so much more.  I had prayed at the beginning of the trip to find someone who was desperate emotionally and at the end of their rope.  I didn't know what that would look like, but here was as clear a picture of hopelessness as I could think of.  I didn't feel I had done enough to tip the scales in favor of hope.  Lord please help this man and help me to know what to do next time.  Until then. --John

PS.  There was one more quote from Mary Johnson's book (An Unquenchable Thirst) that I would like to share with you.  She was asked by another volunteer why she wanted to become a nun.  Her answer was simple and profound and expresses my own desire in helping these people downtown.  She said, "To me, life is about love.  I want to help people know that they are loved, that they belong, that God is with them."  I couldn't have said it any better than that.