Downtown 11/24/2013

"So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave,"Suddenly a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."  Then the LORD said to him:....(18) Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." --1 Kings 19:13-15a,18

"Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phillipians 2:9-10

If you've been wondering where I've been, rest assured, I've been making trips downtown every week, I just haven't had time to write about them for one reason or another.  A week ago I even went on a Saturday instead of Sunday.  I remember this because I got a parking ticket.  You don't have to feed the parking meters on Sundays, but you do on Saturdays (bummer).  So the last blog I wrote was for the BBQ (Oct 20) I did for my friends living under the freeway at Wall St between Washington and 16th streets.  It was a couple of weeks before the end of daylight savings time.  Since that time I've made the trips and helped lots of people, but nothing truly special happened that was particularly noteworthy to write about.  There were a few homeless men I met and helped who were sleeping or sitting on sidewalks or in alleys alone that I always feel privileged to help.  In fact, one of them named Derek I just now thought of and I realize I forgot to go by yesterday where he's been staying.  I had stopped to help him the last couple of weeks.  He's staying behind the auto parts store on Washington Blvd.  Yesterday, was actually a pretty full trip and when I suddenly realized I was out of food, I ended up going to the Jack in the Box to cover three more guys I met towards the end.  I had purchased 10 big deli sandwiches and a bunch of bottles of water and in three stops I was out of food.  The first stop was with Antonio and Leticia.  The last two weeks, Antonio hasn't been there.  Leticia told me he was around, but was gone for the day both times.  I was glad to see that he was back with her yesterday.  I had been given a small hooded light-weight tarp from a friend at work before last week's trip.  When Leticia saw it in the car she asked if she could have it.  With all the rain last week, it was perfect timing for her.  I'm going to try and buy about twenty or thirty of them for the winter this year.  Next I stopped over by the BBQ spot.  The last three weeks Dave and Willie haven't been there and so I didn't stop, but I stopped on the other side of the street yesterday.  Lee was there and he told me that Dave's stuff had been stolen a time or two so he's moved on and Willie decided to move on too.  Paul was there yesterday and after he and Lee looked through the clothes he told me about someone living on 17th St.  I drove on over there and saw some homeless folks, but they were sitting in chairs by their tent and seemed to be doing OK on food.  I kept driving east weaving my way down side streets until I was about fifty feet before the stop sign at Central Ave.  A woman had just turned the corner and was pushing her shopping cart down the street right in front of me.  I grabbed a sandwich and held it out the window, which initially seemed to startle her, but when she saw what I had she looked up in the sky and said, "Thank you Jesus".  After giving her some water bottles I got out of the car and opened the back up so she could sort through the clothes.  She was so happy and thankful for the opportunity.  She went by the name of Lenny.  I don't know how long ago it happened, but it must have been years ago, she told me she had been pushed out a window and was badly injured.  Her hips and legs had been broken, her jaw was broken (she had no teeth).  She pointed to a couple of indentations on both sides of her jaw where she said screws had been put in to hold it together.  Yet, she was thankful to God that she was still alive and able to enjoy life.  She said it was "meant to be that I came this way today".  Apparently, she didn't take that route very often, in fact, I don't take that street to much anymore either.  But, remember Paul had me looking for someone on 17th and that's why I was there too.  So after taking her picture and praying with her, I got back in the car and two more men came up who remembered me and asked if I had any hamburgers.  I told them I had sandwiches today and gave them both one, then they asked, "Are you going to pray for us?"  After I prayed with them, another woman was walking by.  She was not homeless (I could tell by the way she was dressed), but she wasn't well off either.  Her name was April.  She told me where she lived in a very low rent place by the produce district and said she only had enough money to buy a muffin (which she had in her hand).  So now, with one of my sandwiches and the muffin she actually had a full meal.  We talked for a while together and I prayed with her too.  When we were about finished talking two more men were walking by.  One of them noticed and remembered me.  They came over to the car and it was then I realized I was out of sandwiches, April and gotten the last one.  She was still nearby and offered to give it up for them (remember she had the muffin), but I told her, "No, I'll go get something to cover these guys."  One of these two men's name was Solo.  I know I've mentioned his name before in these blogs, but it's been at least a year and a half since I saw him the last time.  You wouldn't believe how happy and excited he was that I remembered his name!  Well, I told Solo and his buddy Larry, that I'd go over to the Jack in the Box and I'd be back.  They told me where they'd be and I took off.  As I was going through the drive-thru, I decided I'd get three large burgers and I'd have one with them while we talked.  When I got over to where they were there was a third guy there by the name of Peter.  So they all got to eat (and they ate the burgers right then too).  They all got to go through the clothes and in the back of the car.  I asked them how they got through the rain from last week (I think it was Wednesday that it really poured rain out here).  I prayed with the three of them asking God to protect and provide for them.  I'm sure I'll see them again.

So now I was out of food and the second part of the trip begins.  You will remember I used to prayer-walk down Cloud 9 Alley (no one lives in that alley anymore) and even Skid Row.  But, the last 2 or 3 months I've been focusing on the 7th and Alvarado area and McArthur Park.  This used to be called the West Lake District.  It was 3:45 p.m when I left downtown and headed over there.  First I stopped in front of the shop door on 7th and Columbia St where the sign "I am Legion" appears.  I mentioned in my blog on Oct. 6th that this phrase appears only in the new testament and in the story of the man possessed with demons who lived in a cemetery.  Jesus cast out the demons (The man said his name was Legion because he was filled with many many demons) and they entered a herd of pigs and ran off a cliff and drowned in the Sea of Galilee.  So for anyone to purposely paint this on something is very intentional and not a good sign (no pun intended).  So I first stopped by and prayed on the corner where this sign appears and then drove on down to the park.  As I drove by the park I saw three police cars stopped and they were picking up shopping carts that some of the homeless people had there.  I drove around to the far west side and parked (this is where I got the ticket last week).  There was a group of people in that southwest corner who had set up chairs and were preaching the gospel in Spanish.  Some of them smiled and nodded to me as I walked by when they saw I had a bible in my hand.  I approached one of the policemen who was working on the shopping cart detail.  I told him about my experience a couple of months ago seeing the street fight right there where we were standing.  He told me, "Yes, that happens sometimes."  When I asked if it was gang related he told me that there are three gangs whose turf borders the park and they sometimes get into it.  I introduced myself to the officer and told him that I started coming down here after that incident to pray for people.  He said, "Well, this area needs a lot of prayer!"   He told me his name was Joe and I told him I'd be praying for him and his buddies too.  He then told me, "We need a lot of prayer too!"  I walked on down to the east end of the park.  There was another small group of about 6 people who had a microphone and a small speaker and were preaching the gospel in Spanish.  I then noticed a statue that I hadn't seen before a short distance away in that corner of the park.  Apparently, it was dedicated the day before to a Monsignor Oscar Romero from El Salvador.  From what I gathered from the plaques he was killed in the 80's which was a very turbulent time in Central America.  A lot of Central Americans migrated to this area during that time.  I took some pictures and then started walking back towards where the small group was preaching.  I saw a man standing by himself reading what appeared to be a bible, but in Hebrew.  I asked him if he was reading the same book I was reading (I held up my bible).  He told me how much better the bible was in it's original language.  His name was Ramon Reyes and he was from Puerto Rico.  We talked for quite awhile (there was a small language barrier, but we did OK) and he told me that the small group preaching there were Pentecostals.  Although he was not part of their group he talked with them and they gave me their microphone and I was given the opportunity to speak for a while to the people.  I didn't speak too long, only about five minutes or so and I have no idea how many people standing around could even understand English, but I was happy to take the opportunity.  I spoke briefly on Luke 15, one of my favorite chapters in the bible, and stressed the point that one's past does not disqualify you from the kingdom of heaven and that Jesus wants and loves you.  I ended by praying for them.  After I was finished, I wandered back over to the sidewalk by the bus bench.  There were a couple of men sitting there and one of them started a conversation with me.  He spoke enough English for us to communicate.  He seemed to have a christian background, although he didn't claim to be with any of the people there, he just was asking me questions and about how and why I ended up there.  His name was Jordan Nelson and the other man's name was Juan.  Before leaving I prayed with both of them.  I started walking back down to the other end of the park where my car was.  The group of people that were having the service when I first got there were gone by now, although there was one man sitting on a bus bench waiting for the bus.  He had a guitar case and apparently he was with that group.  I recognized him from the week before when I was walking back to my car.  We had made eye contact then and we recognized each other last night (it was now dark out).  He never did tell me his name, but said he was with Pastor Hector who I'm assuming leads the group of Christians in that corner of the park.  This man told me about their commitment to reclaim this turf for Christ.  He told me about some very disturbing and violent things that have happened while they have held services there, but they believed this is now 'holy ground' and they are committed to persevering and preaching the gospel in this area.  He said it is of the utmost importance due to the amount of violence and evil in the area.

A couple blogs ago I mentioned that I had been praying that God would use me as a weapon of light in a dark place.  Well, I'm finding out that this is indeed a 'dark place'.  I'm also finding out that others are praying for this area too and are willing to be used for this harvest field.  Jesus said in Luke 10:2-3, "He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  Go on you way.  See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves."    Well, I think I have found the 'turf', now I must work on my 'light' and the gifting to be used here.    Please pray for me to be used here.  --Until next time.  John

PS.  I had been a little distracted when I walked around the park area.  I realized I had my cell phone, but had forgotten my wallet in the car.  When I got back to my car and was unlocking the door I saw I had left the window down on the back passenger door.  My wallet was still there though.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!