Downtown 12/28/14-Year in review

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."  Jeremiah 29:11-12

This was the last trip of 2014 and it was made at night again.  I was wanting to make a trip where I would be helping homeless folks who were alone.  I have the two spots, 25th and San Pedro St and the place a block from the Jack in the Box, where there are lots of people and if I stop there I end up giving out all the food and it kind of limits my ability to help those who are by themselves.  I love helping both, but for some reason I always gravitate towards those who are alone.  Probably because I can have deeper conversations one-on-one than with a crowd.  I had some stuff for Nicole's baby that I wanted to drop off at the spot she seems to drop by occasionally so I waited to go there at the end of the trip.

So between the first guy and the last woman I was able to help and pray with about eight people.  All of them seemed to be very needful of a meal.  One of the last guys was Derek.  He knew me and I've seen him several times around 14th and Essex.  This night he was in an alley were I had a couple of BBQ's a few years back.  He told me Keysha, a homeless woman we both know, is in a 'program' down on skid row at the Weingarden facility.  Derek was doing the best he could in this spot.  Other homeless people keep taking stuff when he leaves, so he's constantly having to start over.  He needed 'anything' warm and I was happy to be able to help him out.

There were a couple of others over on Venice by Los Angeles St on opposite corners.  One was a man named Jaime.  He was very grateful for the food and the pair of socks and he told me about his brother on the other corner.  I'm not sure if his 'brother' was actually related or just in spirit, but I went over and helped him too.  His name was Hector.  Hector was in pretty much the same situation everyone else was Sunday night....cold and hungry.

One other woman I helped was Angel, who lives in an alley off Pico between Olive and Hill St.  She called me by name as I drove up.  She was listening to the Laker game that had just started.  She needed a pair of pants and I just happened to have put a pair of women's jogging pants in the car before leaving the house.  She was pretty happy to get them.  She too complained about losing stuff when she's away from her spot.

So looking back on this last year there are three or four really memorable times for me.  As the year started I was getting an opportunity to preach the gospel in MacArthur Park until about April or so. That was probably one of the more exhilarating things I've ever done.  Impromptu preaching I had never done before.  Along with that opportunity was the praying in front of the store door where the words "I am Legion" had been painted.  By April those words were gone from the door and  coincidentally, the preaching opportunity ended also.  Then there was the BBQ in August.  The biggest BBQ I had done up to that time.  Along with my wife, daughter, sister-in-law and niece we not only served a lot of people food, but because I had help (and an extra car) we gave out lots of clothing too.  Then back in November I was able to put on the lasagna dinner on the corner of 25th and San Pedro.  I probably served more meals on that day than on any other BBQ day.  In addition to that, because Nikki helped serve a lot of the people, I was able to talk and pray with many others.  It was so cool praying with people that otherwise might not ever go to a church.

On a more personal level there were two encounters that really stood out for me.  I had prayed before a trip back in June or so about  helping someone who was really desperate emotionally.  About fifteen minutes later I was helping a man on Petaloma and 14th.  After giving out some food and water to him we got started talking somehow about his situation.  He ended up telling me he was ready to end his life.  I stayed and talked to him for quite a while that day and ended up giving him a card to the Dream Center hoping he would take the opportunity to not only get some help, but change the direction of his life.  I never saw him again.  I pray he sought help there or somewhere else.  The other person was Elva.  I met her through the people at 25th and San Pedro.  She lives in the residential area east of San Pedro Ave.  I prayed with her and found out her husband had just died a short time before.  A couple of weeks later I spent an hour or more in her home as she showed me pictures of her wedding forty years before.  She just needed someone to share her grief with and I was very privileged to be the someone chosen.  How fortunate it was that her son-in-law was there to translate for us!  It may have been the most important moment of this ministry during the whole year.  However, I realize that I see things from my perspective and there may have been many other moments that from the perspective of the person I helped it was much more valuable that I could ever know.  All in all, it was a very good year and I look forward to 2015 and the possibilities that lay ahead.  --Until next time. --John