When I walked out to the car after church this morning at about 9:30, the heat was already starting to be oppressive. I thought, "This will be a great day to take extra water and ice to my friends downtown." I certainly got that one right. With temperatures pushing a 100 in the early afternoon, it had cooled down some by the time I arrived at 6 pm, but everyone I ran into was pretty much fried from the heat of the day. Before I get into the trip there were two things about the morning that set the tone for today. One was a story that the pastor giving the Sunday morning message told. He talked about spending a day with an autistic woman that he knew and that when she asked him for something to eat he realized he was going to have to feed her himself (she was a paraplegic). He initially was totally uncomfortable feeding her, but then he realized through the Holy Spirit that this act of service was more Christ-like than preaching to a thousand people. It's amazing to me how simple, personal, one-on-one acts of kindness always seem to teach us more than the information we can gather from reading a stack of books. The other thing that impacted my day was a short video I watched on facebook about someone going to a chemotherapy session. It was set to the music of TobyMac's song, Speak Life. I had never heard the song before, but the message the song conveys is pretty much what I do with the people I meet each week downtown. It's a very catchy and inspiring song, you can check it out on the youtube link below.
Earlier in the week, I had washed a bunch of clothes to take downtown and had the car loaded with, perhaps, as many clothes as I had ever taken on a trip. The second stop about six or seven guys went through them and not much was left over. In fact, one of the guys (Chicago) started getting upset with one of the other guys for taking too many for himself. I thought they were going to come to blows over it, but I was able to explain to the one man that he was welcome to take what he needed, but not more than he needed.
Chicago, who also goes by the name of Kenny, understood that I make several stops each week and other people can use the help too. Overall, this stop was a great time. I was greeted warmly (no pun there) when I first arrived. Kenny showed up a few minutes later and while I was leaning into the car to get something out he hugged me from behind. Several homeless people walked or rode bikes by and were welcomed with cold water and an opportunity to get some clothes too. I decided that this was the place where I'll have the barbecue next week. They are all looking forward to it. I got to pray at least two or three times with different groups of people as they came by. I had prayed beforehand that this trip would be a blessing and a happy time for the people I encountered. That prayer was answered at every stop, but in a big way at this one.
Last week's trip I didn't see Antonio or Leticia, nor did I see John Stokes. Since the week before the last trip was Father's Day and I didn't go that week I hadn't seen these folks in three weeks. So Antonio and Leticia got the first crack at the clothes and Leticia insisted that I pray for them. Now the scripture I quoted above, from the book of Romans, is a great blessing/benediction. I had prayed this over each group today. When I got to John Stokes he asked me if I would write it down for him! Well, I had it on a card already so I just gave it to him. Then he wanted to borrow a pen so he could write down the author (the apostle Paul). Can you believe how real the message from that song Speak Life came true! Now John had received some very disappointing news since I saw him last. He told me that the Social Security people are now telling him that he'll have to wait until he's 67 before he can start receiving benefits. I'm sure you can imagine how he's feeling when he thought he was on the brink of getting off the streets and now they're telling him he'll have to wait two more years.
One of the last stops was around the corner from John where Maurice and Leticia live. I had thought this was going to be the place where I'd barbecue next, but after everyone living there had been run-off, Maurice and Leticia are the only ones who have returned. Maurice said he had seen Gabriel and told him that I was hoping to see him again. Supposedly, he's staying near 14th and Central, but I drove over there and didn't see him. Maurice and his wife are doing fine, we talked for quite a while. Leticia asked me to explain what agape love is. Apparently, they have been reading a New Testament bible! I used it to read the Romans 15:13 verse to them. They loved it. Speaking life and words of encouragement, that's pretty much what I do down there. Throw in some water, burgers and clothes and peoples' lives are impacted. It really isn't that complicated. Until next time. --John
PS. Pray for the barbecue next week!
Here's the link to the Speak Life song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rK6O0YtBRY
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