Downtown 4/27/2014

"Faith is the only currency accepted in the Kingdom of Heaven." --Reinhard Bonnke

Yesterday, on the way downtown I was praying that I would be bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to people wherever I went.  I just had this idea of bringing a happy face and a precious time of 'relief' to people struggling on the street Sunday.  Although there wasn't that one "memorable" encounter yesterday, it seemed like every encounter was met with the 'relief' of "Oh, am I so glad you came by today."

I had worked all night Saturday night and didn't get to sleep until 9 am on Sunday morning.  I struggled to wake-up and get up at 2:30 in the afternoon.  I didn't make it down there until almost 4 pm.  That's usually a pretty good time to arrive on a Sunday afternoon, however, since I've been going to McArthur Park I usually try to start heading over there about this time to meet up with my Spanish speaking friends who preach the gospel.  I had decided before leaving that the part of the trip to McArthur Park would be optional yesterday and my main focus was going to be with my homeless friends for as long as I needed it to be.  I had packed up quite a few extra clothes and food with some razors, toothbrushes and toothpaste and took off.  Later I would regret that I forgot to take some blankets.....

Most of the encounters yesterday happened in the area around Central and 14th.  The first guy was sitting on the curb with his shoes off.  He had a bike and looked like he was taking a rest from recycling.  His name was Dwight and he was from Chicago.  I'm guessing he was in his sixties.  When I saw his shoes off I asked if he needed some socks ( I had already given him some food and water).  This got me out of the car and gave me the opportunity to pray with him before I left.  Down on the next block from Dwight were a couple of other men sitting on the sidewalk too.  Only one of them responded to my offer of food.  But when I helped another man and woman around the corner from them, one of those men, named Mike, happened to come by and he needed some clothes too.  I had already gotten out of the car to open the back up for Joseph and Misha.  These two both commented about how cold it has been and they only had the clothes on their backs!!!  Luckily, I had come by and was able to get them 'ready' for the cold weather Sunday night.  Although it's expected to heat up this week, that doesn't help people right now.  Joseph only had on some shorts and a t-shirt.  Misha only had on a short dress.  I don't know how they were surviving the nights lately.  It rained pretty hard here a few nights ago.  Joseph said they were from the area around Normandy Blvd.  When I saw what little they had I offered to give them some toothbrushes and toothpaste with the razors.  They gladly accepted those along with some canned food I had with me.  Yes, I got to pray with them too....

So right after leaving them, I drove over to one of the alleys where I've had the BBQ's.  I saw a man way down the alley working over a big pile of stuff in the middle of it.  This alley isn't paved, so I slowly made my way down it.  When I approached where this man was he was still going through the pile, but had started to drag some of the stuff to the side so I could get by.  Then he picked up a baseball bat, and at this point I wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with it, but he used it to knock the remaining stuff over to the side as well.  As I drove passed him I asked if he was hungry.  He didn't understand me at first, but when I said "comida" he understood.  I gave him some food and water and he told me his name was Daniel.  He turned out to be pretty thankful for the help.  You know I didn't notice what the stuff was that he was looking through, whether it was clothing he was looking for or stuff to recycle.  I should have been a little bolder and asked if he needed some socks or shirts.  I guess I was still a little apprehensive about engaging with an unknown man holding a baseball bat.  Around the corner from Daniel and on 16th St I met Derek for the first time.  He had his shopping cart and was bending over and reading a newspaper that he had spread out on top of it.  I was able to help him with just about everything too.  He was amazed that someone would come by giving out stuff to people.  He was 48 years old and although I hadn't seen him before he said he usually comes by this area about that time of the afternoon/evening every Sunday.  I told him "I do too" and after praying with him I said I'd watch for him next week.

The last stop on this part of the trip was to see Carlos behind some buildings by Washington Blvd and Long Beach Ave and I did see him and gave him some water.  I offered to give him the last sandwich I had, but he declined that.  There was a woman down the alley digging through some trash dumped in the alley.  The trash had been heaped up about 4 or 5 feet high in the middle and completely blocked passage through it.  I drove on down to where she was and offered her the last sandwich which she accepted.  Her name was Kimberly.  She appeared to be about 25 yrs old and was only wearing a short, but bright orange dress.  I offered her some clothes in the back but she said she had plenty of clothes (although I don't know where she was keeping them).  What she did ask for was a blanket.  I usually always take a couple with me, but I completely forgot them on this trip, probably because I was half asleep when I loaded up the car.  I told her I'd come back next week at this same time and bring her one.  I hope she's there.

Well it was now a little after 5 pm.  It seemed like a lot happened in only a little more than an hour, but all the sandwiches were gone.  I decided to drive over to McArthur Park and see what was happening.  I stopped and prayed by the "I am Legion" sign, but when I got to the park there wasn't anyplace to park within 3/4 of a mile from 7th and Alvarado.  I haven't been feeling too well lately and just wasn't quite up to walking that far.  So I drove back downtown to Alameda and Hunter St to look for my friends Maurice and Elaine.  I wasn't sure if I'd find them, because they were supposed to take a bus to Texas back in February.  When I drove up Maurice was out in front of their 'place' on the sidewalk.  He pulled out some chairs and I stayed and talked with them for an hour or so.  Elaine's dad had died since I saw them last and Maurice's dad has developed stage three lung cancer.  So 'things' had come up delaying their exit plan to Texas.  We got caught up with all the stuff that had been going on in our lives since I last saw them in February.  I gave them the last of the canned food I had and let them go through the clothes in the car.  We had a nice visit and a group prayer-hug before I left.  It was the perfect end to a good trip. --Until next time.  John