Downtown 9/22/2013

"Don't brag about your wisdom or strength or wealth, if you feel you must brag, then have enough sense to brag about worshiping me the Lord.  What I like best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth."  Jeremiah 9:23b-24

After missing last week's trip due to scheduling issues, I was looking forward to going this week.  I have really been having problems walking of late, but was determined to not let this interfere.  I have been challenged to use praise (of God) as a weapon in the face of obstacles, so I left home praising God and praying for victory in his harvest field.  I am still looking for a break-through at McArthur Park and that is where the struggles with walking are the greatest.

When I arrived downtown I was greeted by three homeless Latino men on a small side street near Los Angeles St and 16th.  Their names were Jaime, Jose and Paco.  Paco seemed to be the leader of the group and the one who spoke the most English.  He told me they were from Mexico and had been up here for 3 years.  He told me he struggles with a drinking problem.  Today they were hungry and very appreciative of the help.  They were overwhelmed at the opportunity to look through the clothes in the back of the car.  Paco told me I was an angel sent from God and kissed my hand.  That's the fourth time that has happened and it's a humbling experience each time.  When the four of us prayed he told Jose to remove his cap.  It moves me each time the amount of respect these folks have for the things of God.  There was another man named Jose who was standing near the corner about 20 yards away.  Paco called him over and he was helped too.  This Jose didn't speak any English, but I prayed with him anyway.  There was one other man just around the corner on 16th St.  I called out to him from the car, but he refused to look at me even though he was only a few feet away.  After a few attempts to get his attention he finally pulled his shirt up to cover his face.  I took the hint.

 Next I drove over to Trinity St and saw Antonio, Leticia and Felipe.  Alex wasn't there and they haven't seen him for a couple of weeks now.  I had given Alex and his friend the phone number for a contact that deals with Spanish speaking people when I saw them the last time.  I'm hoping they received help from them.  I was kind of hoping they would all hang around together so I could do a mini BBQ just for them sometime.  Well, we'll have to see if they return.

When I finished there I drove around the block to Wall St.  Outside of Willie, Dave and a friend of theirs I hadn't met before, Joseph, there weren't very many other people there compared to the large crowd that's been there recently.  Paul and Guillermo came by, but the place was surprisingly quiet.  I gave out the last of the food, prayed with them and headed over to McArthur Park.

When I got over there, unbelievably there was a parking place available and since it was Sunday I didn't even have to put change in the meter, although I would gladly have paid a couple of dollars to be able to park this close.  So I grabbed my bible and started walking in the park.  I walked a hundred yards or so to a street light in the park that had a concrete tub around it and sat down.  I rested there for a while and read my bible and kind of looked at the people laying on the grass nearby.  There was a group of a dozen or so twenty-something Latino men 20 or 30 feet away and a few parents with their little ones enjoying the late afternoon sunshine in the park.  Pretty much everyone kept to themselves including me.  I walked a little further close to the corner of 7th and Alvarado and sat down on a concrete retaining wall.  There was a group of men talking loudly nearby, but I didn't pay too much attention to them.  I was reading my bible when one of those men came by and asked me if I wanted to purchase his bicycle for $15.00.  I politely declined. He then asked if I had a dollar as he was in a 'difficult situation'.  Now keep in mind that I had been praying for an opportunity to talk with someone down here and now all of the sudden a man walks up and says, in short, "I'm in a difficult situation."  I'm thinking to myself, "Is this the opportunity God is providing me?"  (Sometimes I have to be hit over the head to see things)  I told the man, his name was Peter, that I really didn't have any money, but that I would pray for him.  I stood up and leaned over to him and while I was putting my hand on his shoulder he said, "No, you don't have to pray for me."  At this point, there was no stopping me and I just started praying for him and his "difficult situation". When I finished praying, he then wanted to start talking and asked me where I worked and stuff like that.  He reached his left hand out to shake my hand and I shook it.  He showed me his right hand and said it had been injured.  We talked a little more before he left.  It wasn't until I was driving home that I thought about the missed opportunity to have prayed for healing in his hand.  What a witness that would have been to the people standing around!  I think that would be the definition of a break-through!  Well, I'm still just getting started in this ministry at the park. I'll keep praising God and praying for victory in His harvest field and we will see what great things God will do.--Until next time.  John