"For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat." Isaiah 25:4
It's was a beautiful Southern California afternoon (sunny/70 degrees). Yet despite the beautiful weather, there are still many people on the street in need. I only interacted with a handful of folks and the relief on their faces made me glad that I made this trip. I had prayed beforehand that I would bring joy and peace to people today and it's always an honor when this happens.
The last couple of trips I haven't seen Antonio and Leticia and then the last two Sundays I haven't been able to go either, so it had been well over a month since I've seen them. Leticia's first comment was, "Long time, no see?" They both seemed to be doing OK, but Leticia really wanted me to pray for them before I left and she held me tightly while I did. There have been trips where I've seen her alone and she says Antonio is 'off'. I've also seen him away from her sleeping on the sidewalk. I think she gets very worried about him when he leaves for several hours. I can really only think of one reason why he'd be sleeping during the afternoon. During my time with them another man named Robert walked by and I was able to help him too.
I drove a few blocks away from them on 17th St and found another man named Robert sitting on the sidewalk with just a backpack in the shade. He told me he was from the Atlanta area and everything he owned he had with him! I gave him some burgers and water and asked if he needed some socks. He had a pair on, but he probably had worn them for quite a while. While getting him the socks, he saw a couple of blankets on the seat and asked if he could have one. "Of course" I told him. Seeing his need I asked if he could use some canned food. He told me "Sure" if it wasn't too bulky and hard to carry. So I gave him some cans and had a bag for him to carry them in. He was pretty happy about that. I had asked him if he was an Atlanta Braves fan since he was from there, but he said he was a Dodger fan. I told him the pitcher for the Dodgers had thrown a no hitter earlier in the day. We chatted for a while and I prayed with him asking God to protect and preserve him. He had told me that he found out his uncle had died the day before. He also told me I made his day. It was my favorite encounter of the day.
I stopped one other place off 14th and Paloma. Youngsta (remember him?) and a tall skinny woman were there. A couple of other men, Tyrone and Lee, came by. Everyone got to look through the clothes in the car and got something to eat. While I was there another car, a Cadillac Escalade, drove by and handed out some food too. I had initially noticed Youngsta having great difficulty walking. When I drove up he was sitting on the sidewalk with his shoes off. When he walked over to the car he limped badly. His right toes seemed to be swollen. He lifted up his pant leg and his right leg is really crooked. He said he had been hit by a tractor trailer rig a long time ago. It looked like it had been run over at some point and never healed correctly.
Well, all the food had been given out and I started to drive down towards McArthur Park. As I drove down 7th I noticed the roll-up door with the "I am Legion" words on it not there. Then I saw that the door had been rolled up and the 'store' behind the door was visible. Actually, there were a couple of glass walls behind this door, but no stuff and no one was in there that I could see. Perhaps someone's getting ready to open up an new store there. I'll keep you posted. When I got to the park my Spanish speaking friends weren't there. However, some other groups were there. In fact, there were three different guys preaching in Spanish. I prayed and talked with each one of them before leaving. I actually never did get to preach, but I did get to pray for the people listening. I was a beautiful day at the park with lots of people. A perfect day for open air preaching. --Until next time. John
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