Christmas Day downtown-12/25/15

"The LORD is pleased with his people, and he gives victory to those who are humble.  All of you faithful people, praise our glorious Lord!" --Psalm 149:4-5

I didn't expect to have today off from work, but when it happened I was totally excited about the prospects of getting a trip downtown in between the morning time with my family and the afternoon gathering of our extended family.  I cooked up some food and left the house at about 11:30.

It was a beautiful sunny day and clear due to the windy conditions.  It was even more windy in the city and if you were in the shade it was downright cold (low 50's and windy).  You'd better have a jacket on (I didn't) if you were in the shade for very long.  I had a pot of hot pasta and several blankets to give out.

Now the last couple of times I've made this trip I've ended up at the parking lot at San Pedro Ave and 9th.  They had gotten the last of the leftovers and I was determined that this time I would start down there and make sure all my friends there ate first. Also, they had told me that the owners of the parking lot were getting ready to kick them all off the premises, they just hadn't been told when yet.  Well, I'm not sure when it happened (I was there the last time on the 13th), but they've all had to leave.  I found out a lot of them have moved on.  Red got out of the hospital and is in a transition home in the city of Bell and Shorty took a bus to Detroit.  Natalie was there with her boyfriend (not sure what his name is).  Remember she was worried about having to move outside the fenced parking lot.  So below is a picture of the parking lot from across 10th street looking towards 9th, remember you can click on the photos and they'll get bigger:

and behind me is where Natalie and her boyfriend were staying and here is their picture below:

While I was there with them, several other people came by and I was able to help them too with food water and sometimes a blanket.  If you look behind Natalie's boyfriend above, there were two people on the far corner.  One of them came over to us, but I ended up driving down and meeting Carla on the corner.  Here is her picture:

This photo was taken over the roof of my car.  Carla's kind of hard to see, but that's her wrapped up in that light blue blanket.  It was really windy on this corner and she was cold even in the sunlight.  You can only imagine what it's going to be like tonight when the sun goes down.

So there were a few others that I helped, one was Jesus and he was walking by right there where Carla was.  What I'll never forget was the parting conversation with Natalie before I left there.  She had told me that she was from El Salvador and had no family here in America.  What's surprising is her English is perfect, like she's been raised here all along.  Anyway, when I left I had been noticing that she had that blanket wrapped around her that you see in the picture.  I asked her if she had a jacket to wear and she told me she had a sweater (she might have even had it on under the blanket). Well I had a big heavy jacket on the floor of the front passenger seat.  I didn't put it in the back of the car so that someone seeing it might take it just because it was 'better' than the one they had.  I wanted to give it to someone who really really needed it.  So I told her that this jacket I had saved just for her and handed it to her through the window.  She told me, "I'll remember this always."  Of all the presents I could receive or give away, this may have been my favorite ever.  --Until next time.  John 

Sunday night-12/13/15

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."  --Anne Frank

My wife and I have sponsored a child for many years in an underdeveloped country.  Yesterday we received a letter from this current child (this is now the second one) who is only 4 or 5 years old. This "letter", since he's too young to write, (let alone in a foreign language) was simply a sheet with 5 categories of living conditions.  One was 'my house is located' and the options were, on hills, near a river or on plains.  On plains was the option chosen.  Another category was "In my house I share a bed with..." and the option chosen was 'my parents'.  Another category was "Animals we have at home are"...and written in by the translator was a pig, a cow and a dog.  Having a pig and a cow generally indicates the family is fairly well off for that area. However, the "sleeping with parents" indicates most likely a one room dwelling for the family.  I bring this up merely to point out the varying degrees of poverty throughout this world and how fortunate we are.  I often get stressed out over the deficiencies in my life and then I see how my friends downtown live each day and then through letters from around the world I'm reminded how most of the world lives.  How I pray that I would be really content with the abundance that I do have here.  It's always such a wake-up call when you see and hear how desperate others lives are.  If you've seen the videos on the internet or news of all the refugees pouring in to other countries because their homeland is caught in a war zone and it's no longer safe to live there, then you know how tragic family situations can get. There's not a lot we can do for the people on the other side of the world, but we can help the ones in front of us.

Well, this was my first trip downtown since Thanksgiving and I was really looking forward to going.  I decided to make another big pot of pasta to take with me.  I had hoped and planned to arrive just before it got dark, and that's pretty much the way it happened.  It might have gone better if I had arrived a little bit earlier.  The only reason I say that is because as I started to leave the first stop it started raining.  It made it a little more difficult to serve people, but no one really stopped coming up to the car when they found out I had food for them.  Since it was cold and raining, the hot meal was a real crowd pleaser too. When I buy food I usually get enough to feed about 8 to 10 people, but the pasta ends up serving around 13-14 people and for about half the cost.  Last night it did stretch to 14 people. When I ask the people I see if they're hungry, I pretty much get a unanimous answer of yes. It makes you wonder what would they have done, if I hadn't come by.  I guess we know the answer, they would have gone without eating anything.  So here in America, right nearby, people go to bed hungry at night.      

I have received a supply of blankets and was looking forward to the opportunity to start giving some out.  Now as with any item, except food and water, if you take too many with you, they'll all be gone in one trip and then what do you do the rest of the winter?  The cold weather here in Southern California started about a month ago, but right now through the next 3-4 weeks is when we're at our coldest.  I took three blankets with me and they were gone within five minutes of arriving downtown. I got a request for tents and tarps.  I'll have to keep my eyes open for those.

One of the heartbreaks of this trip was when I got to the last stop, which was the parking lot at 9th and San Pedro.  This was also the last stop I made on Thanksgiving.  It wasn't really raining, but there was a heavy mist going on so you got wet just standing around.  The people told me that the owners of the parking lot had told them that they were going to make them all move out.  They haven't set a date just yet.  Natalie was there and she was quite upset about it because the parking lot has a fence around it, although you can drive in and out through the open gates.  But she is pretty terrified of the prospect of having to sleep on a sidewalk out in the open.  At least inside the parking lot there is some degree of safety.  I'll have to keep checking on their progress.  I actually thought she lived/slept somewhere else.  This is the parking lot where a church holds a service on Monday nights and feeds them too I think.  They had "promised" to give them some tents, but so far nothing has happened. With the rain, particularly the prospects of heavy rain this winter, these folks are in desperate need of a place to keep themselves and their stuff dry. Under freeway over-passes become prime turf during this time of year.  --Until next time.  John    

Thanksgiving Day downtown-11/26/15

                             HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.  His love endures forever." --Psalm 136:1

"When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD saying, 'He is good; his love endures forever." --2 Chronicles 7:3

For the first time in 7 years I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving, so before I spent time at our family gathering I made a trip downtown in the morning.  I made a big pot of pasta again and took off at about 10:30 am.  I didn't want to get down there too early, but couldn't go in the afternoon.  It was chilly here in Southern California (in the 50's), but the sun was out and it was a beautiful morning. Traffic was light and a big change from the traffic I encountered Tuesday night when I went down there.  I had hoped to see some of the folks I saw Tuesday night, but they weren't in their normal spots, so I moved on to other people I knew.

On Trinity street Leticia and Antonio weren't there, but Lee was there.  I hadn't seen her on Tuesday night.  I stopped and got out to serve her a bowl and she asked for another one for her friend on down the street.  I think his name is Alfred Butler.  Here's her picture.  In the top picture she is eating the pasta behind Alfred's stuff.  He is still laying down there by the red zone.  The other picture is of Lee's stuff.

The next spot I went to was the guys I gave the blankets to on Venice near Los Angeles street, but they weren't there either.  So not too far from there was a man named Mario who was on a little street just west of Olive and Pico.  Both Lee and Mario made the same comment upon receiving their food. "Oh, it's still hot!" After talking with Mario for a couple of minutes, he asked me if I had any socks. You know, I hadn't reloaded the car up with anything after Tuesday night's trip, so everything was pretty much picked through and there were no socks left.  I was really disappointed that I didn't have some.  There is a wholesale store not too far from there, but it wouldn't be open on Thanksgiving morning.  Here's Mario's picture:

Ok, so I had served three people and figured I'd have just about enough left to serve the guys at the parking lot at San Pedro and 9th, so I headed over there.  There weren't a group of guys hanging out where they normally do there, probably because that spot was in the shade and since is was still cold everyone was standing around near the alley which was still in the the sunlight. I ended up parking in a different spot when I saw the guys and got out of the car.  As soon as I got out the parking attendant came over and asked for the $3.00 it costs to park there.  Since I have never been there during the week and during normal business hours I wasn't expecting this.  I told him I wasn't going to be there very long, but he said he needed to collect the money in case his boss showed up.  Luckily, I had a few dollars and gave him the money.  I pulled the pot of pasta out of the back seat and set it on the hood of the car and then went back to the back seat to get the spoons and bowls out.  When I leaned into the back seat I heard (and felt) the pot slide off the hood and onto the ground!!!  I was horrified expecting to see all the food on the ground.  But to my surprise, hardly any food was the ground and the pot was upright!!!  That was a miracle and believe me the guys were pretty happy about it too.  So I picked up the pot off the ground and started serving everyone.  Although the pasta wasn't 'hot' anymore, it was still warm and these guys were very thankful for it.  When all of these men were served (probably about 8 guys), the parking attendant came over and gave me my three dollars back.  He explained that he didn't understand English too well and didn't know what I was saying when he first came up.  I gave him the very last of the pasta!  Well, I talked with these guys for twenty five or thirty minutes and asked about some of the people we knew.  They had told me Tuesday when I was there that Red was in the hospital.  I guess he's still there. Natalie, whom I met Tuesday, stays at another location a few blocks away.  I prayed with these guys and while I prayed I think one of them was interpreting for the others and when I finished one of the guys, Miguel, prayed in Spanish too.  I couldn't understand all that he said, but I think part of it was thanking God for me coming down!  When we finished, I told them what a blessing they were to me and I gave each one of them a hug. Here's some photos of our time together:

The crew...  Not sure of the man's name standing on the left, but next to him is Hector, Victor and Juan (standing) and kneeling on the right is Miguel.  Not sure of the name of the guy kneeling on the left.  What a super time I had with these guys and I look forward to seeing them again soon.  OK, so I couldn't let the opportunity go by without showing you the pot and the dent in it from the fall off the hood of my car.  Check it out...

So it's a little hard to see the dent in the top photo, but it's there on the lower right side.  You'll notice on the bottom photo that the dent is directly underneath the black handle.  I'm guessing when it fell it hit the ground on the bottom and made the dent and then the handle hit the ground and it popped back up and landed upright.  Pretty amazing luck huh?

All I can say is this whole trip was such a blessing to me. Everyone was so thankful and I was so happy and privileged to serve them.  My only regret is that I didn't have more food with me (and socks) and a way to keep the food hot.  I'm going to have to try and figure that one out because this winter figures to be cold and wet and hot food is going to make a big difference in somebody's day I'm sure.  Until next time.  John

PS.  Happy Thanksgiving from downtown.

Tuesday night downtown-11/24/15

"Don't keep worrying about having something to eat or drink. Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things.  Your Father knows what you need.  But put God's work first, and these things will be yours as well."  Luke 12:29-31

Well I worked through the weekend, so Tuesday night was the first opportunity to make a trip.  I couldn't even go until it was late and traffic was a mess.  When I got downtown it was just after 5 pm and getting from the freeway off-ramp to the place where I could buy some food took another 45 minutes.  I stayed there (at the burger joint) for another 55 minutes just to let the traffic die down some.  It was about 7 pm when I started looking for folks in need which was about 2 1/2 hours after I left home.

If you read the last blog, you'll remember the guys who needed the blankets.  I had gone back that day to take care of their need and I wanted to check in to see how they were doing.  They were still at the same street corner sleeping.  Remember at 7 pm it's totally night time now and a lot of homeless folks are already asleep for the night.  Philipe was asleep, but George was still awake and took the food for the both of them.  I'm trusting him to share......

I had gone by where Leticia and Antonio hang out.  The place were they sleep at night is across the street from where I usually find them.  During the week they have to wait on some steps across the street until the business is closed and the people have gone home before they can lay down for the night.  I asked them what they were doing Thursday, but I don't think they knew it is an American holiday.  They said they would be right there. I also warned them about the expected heavy rain-fall this winter. They hadn't heard about our impending "El Nino" condition.  I tried to explain it to them and I think they have a vague idea of what I was talking about, but they probably don't have many choices of places to stay.  I would like to bring someone who speaks their language better than I do so they know what to expect.  I keep thinking about Leticia and her situation.  Her son is 31 years old (the same age as my son) and lives in Mexico.  Who knows how many years its been since she's talked to him, let alone seen him.  I asked her a while back if she'd like to go back there and she said it would cost too much money.  Notice she didn't say yes or no, just that it was out of the realm of possibility.  You just know that when she left Mexico to come here she surely never thought she'd be living on the streets after all these years with no hope of ever seeing her son again.  Most immigrants who come here roll the dice and hope for a better life.  My ancestors were no different.  It's painful to watch as people struggle just to survive.  I would be happy to have these folks as neighbors on my street.

Well, I ended up in the parking lot at 9th and San Pedro where I saw the three Native American men a few weeks back.  They weren't there last night, but there were others there.  I had pulled in and one of the men there asked if I had a jacket or sweater.  I told him I did and parked the car and opened up the back door. As a couple of the men started going through the clothes a woman was walking through the parking lot carrying some pieces of cardboard.  They were pieces that she was most likely going to be sleeping on that night.  She asked me if I had any women's clothes.  I told her I did and she repeated the question again because she didn't believe me at first.  I told her, "Yes I do" and she dropped the 3 or 4 chunks of cardboard immediately.  Her name was Natilie and I'm guessing her to be about 25 years old. She had to wait for one of the men to finish looking through the back of the car (there's only room for two people to stand at the back and look through the clothes and that's if they both stand to the side).  When it was her turn she picked out something and asked, "Can I have this?"  I told her yes and she then asked, "Can I have whatever I want?"  Again I told her yes.  I guess some of the church groups put limits on what and how much one person can take and at times I do that too.  But this was going to be my last stop of the trip and if she needed anything in the car, it was hers to have.  I even had my heavy over-shirt up in the front seat that I would have given her if she was unable to find any sweaters to keep herself warm.  I gave her a blanket and some food and water. In fact, she got the last of the food.  Although we talked some while she was looking through the clothes, I didn't ask her how she ended up there.  We talked about being homeless and how using or finding a bathroom is a big problem, especially for the women.  No one allows you to use theirs unless you're buying something.  Kind of a problem when your homeless and penniless.  I've got to keep in contact with this woman and find out if she has any family.  I've got to find a home for this woman.

Well, it was now 8 pm, I was out of food and just about out of clothes too.  I drove over to the burned-out church and prayer-walked that street before leaving.  --Until next time.  John

PS.  Even though it was now 8:20 pm, it still took 40 minutes to get home.  Traffic was still a mess.    

Saturday Downtown-and the blanket story-11/14/2015

"The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and said to himself, 'If this man (Jesus)  really were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him!  He would know she is a sinner.' (This is the woman who poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet)  Jesus said to the Pharisee, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.'  Jesus then tells Simon the parable of the two debtors, one who owed little and one who owed an enormous amount.  When both debts were forgiven, Jesus posed the question, 'Which one will like him more?' "  Simon answered correctly and said the one who owed the greater amount, therein falling into the 'trap' of the parable.  "Then turning toward the woman and he said to Simon, 'Have you noticed this woman?'"  Here Jesus teaches Simon to "see" this "sinful woman" and all she had done for Jesus since his arrival as opposed to all the 'deficiencies' that Simon, the host, had neglected to show him since he arrived at Simon's house.  There were no vigorous denunciations of Simon, just a gentle opening of 'Simon I have something to say to you' followed by a quiet request, "Have you noticed this woman?"  Identifying and understanding not only the outcasts, but everyone around us is something we often 'neglect' as we go through our day.  --Taken from Luke's gospel, chapter 6:36-50

I had traveled a great distance Saturday and returned back a lot earlier than I was expecting.  I decided to drive through the downtown area and see what I could do to help out some people in need before going home.  It was about 1:00 pm when I arrived.  I bought some burgers and started driving around looking for folks.  When I drove down Trinity St I met a homeless man on the sidewalk named Dalton.  Although, he looked nothing like another Dalton I knew it reminded me of this "other" Dalton whom I haven't seen in at least a couple of years.  I drove over to Olive St and was about to go west on Pico when I saw another man sitting on the sidewalk.  Wouldn't you know it was the "other" Dalton!!!

Although I was able to help several folks, the main encounter happened on Venice Ave one block east of Los Angeles St.  I had driven down a very small alley and gave some crackers to a dog I've become friends with and who I've named Rocky. He serves as a guard dog at an auto repair shop. When you come out the other end of this alley you end up on a very small street that runs into Venice Ave again.  Two men were sitting in the shade up against a building on the corner.  One of the men's name was Philipe and I've known and helped him many times before (probably not in 4 or 5 months though).  Anyway, I gave them some burgers and Philipe asked if I had any blankets.  I didn't have any with me although I had a few left from last winter still at home.  I got out of the car and opened up the back to look through the clothes.  I was pretty sure I had some sweaters at least.  He must have asked me three different times if I had any blankets almost pleading with me. He said "It gets very cold at night now."  I told him I would bring some with me on my next trip.  He then wanted to know when that would be.  I told him I would be back in eight days on the next Sunday. For the rest of the trip and the rest of the day I couldn't get his 'need' out of my mind.  I got home and napped for a little while.  Since it was my birthday, we had planned to go to a restaurant for dinner that night. Oh, by the way, Philipe said his birthday was coming up on November 22 (he will be 67), the same day I promised to come back there.  Anyway, I threw two blankets into the back seat of the car and then an extra one 'just in case'. I had already talked my wife into going with me downtown to find these guys so when we finished dinner around 8 pm we took off down there arriving about 8:30 pm. Of course, it's dark and night-time by now, especially since daylight savings time is over.  When I got to the corner where Philipe had been earlier I got out and took one of the blankets over to them.  The first guy I came to didn't look like Philipe, but since he didn't have a cap on I thought maybe in the dark I just wasn't recognizing him.  I gave him the blanket still wrapped up in plastic and went back to the car to get another one for the other guy.  The other guy was definitely the guy with Philipe earlier in the day.  I took this blanket out of the plastic wrapper and spread it out over him, they were all laying down on the sidewalk for the night.  They already had one blanket each over them and had on all their clothes from the day still.  I now noticed another guy on the other side of a shopping cart full of someone's "stuff".  I went back to the car and got the last blanket and opened it up and spread it out over that guy.  Well, that guy was Philipe.  Well, they were all awake now and each one was saying "God bless you" multiple times.  Most importantly, they were much warmer now and there were smiles on their faces!  Wow!  What a privilege to serve them for our Lord.  Can you just imagine yourself laying down in your back yard on the concrete in your clothes from the day with one blanket over you?  You'd be miserable.  And that would be repeated the next night and the next night and the next, with no end in sight.  It's pretty understandable that substance abuse is a common refuge for these folks.  Especially to get through cold nights. It just so happened that last night (Sunday night) I got home from visiting someone shortly after midnight.  Even though I had on a very heavy over-shirt, I was still cold and I was only outside long enough to go from the car to the house.  The homeless folks in other parts of this country and this world who have to deal with really frigid temperatures have it so much worse.

Perhaps now, you see why I started this blog with the introduction I used.  Jesus invites us again, "Do you really see this person?" --Until next time.  John                

Downtown 11/1/2015

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he [John] is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  --Matthew 11:12-15

Well, let's catch-up the last couple of weeks.  Two weekends ago I worked Sunday, but made a trip on Monday night, I just didn't have time to write about it.  Last weekend I worked a double shift into Sunday and didn't make a trip at all.  I ended up napping my whole weekend to catch up on sleep. However, there were a couple of things of note on the trip Monday night (19th).  I had made up a big pot of pasta and took it with me while it was still hot.  Remarkably, there weren't many people in the alley off 25th and San Pedro, maybe only a half dozen folks.  There was one man there who was pretty happy to get a bowl of pasta.  I asked him how long it had been since he had a bowl like this. His reply stunned me.  He said about 10 years or so!  I was glad I had made it with 3 or 4 pounds of meatballs in it and plenty of spices to make it taste special.  When you think about the food options that homeless folks have you quickly realize that the cheapest and easiest to make food is what they will most likely receive. Even if they have a few dollars, they are going to buy the cheapest food available.  That means a burger or tacos and maybe a soda if they have enough extra money.  The things we take for granted are just not in their world.  Since I had a lot left over when I left the alley, I went over to a few of the streets where I knew folks would be.  I had to find people quickly because the pasta was losing the heat quickly at this point.  I found Leticia and Antonio on Trinity St and a couple others nearby.  I still had some left and went over to where John Stokes lives.  Everyone living there was in bed for the night (it was probably about 8 or 8:30 by this time) except for one woman who was walking around there.  I think she thought I was looking for a date, but I asked her about John Stokes.  She said he hadn't been around for a while and thought he was in jail.  I went around the corner to where Dave from Minnesota lives.  Dave and John use to hang out all the time together. I gave him the last of the pasta. When I asked him about John Stokes he told me that he had 'gone back home'.  I said, "To Atlanta?"  He said yes.  I know John's birthday was either at the end of May or the beginning of June. This year he would be 67 so, apparently, extra social security benefits were available and were enough to get him a ticket back to Atlanta where he has family.  At least I hope he still has family there.  It's probably been 30 or 40 years since he's been there and I'm sure things have changed a lot.  I'm praying for a happy ending on this one.  John is the second friend of mine who was able to use their social security benefits upon retirement age to go back home.  A couple of years ago Richard Brown was able to get back to Missouri when he turned 65.  I didn't get to see him before he left to get or leave a contact number and never heard from him again.

So now we're up to yesterday's trip.  I got down there early, about 2:30 pm and drove around quite a bit.  I even drove over to the Lincoln Park area.  I haven't been there in a long time. Cesar was standing on the corner of Mission and Main there asking for hand-outs.  I haven't seen him in probably two years. He doesn't speak English so even if I was able to stand around and talk to him it would be difficult to communicate, but I passed some food to him through the window.  There were a few other homeless folks I was able to help before I ended up in an alley and parking lot off 9th and San Pedro.  The first guy in the alley said he was just wondering what and how he was going to do get some food for the day.  He was relieved when I showed up. There were others there that I've seen before, but I ended up stopping by three guys who turned out to be Native Americans.  One was from the Hope Indians, another was from the tribe of Yellow Hawk (I'm not sure what tribe of Indians he was from) and the other guy, Calvin, who looked more Native American than any of the others didn't say what tribe he was from.  He did, however, tell me he just got out of prison and has been in and out of prison for the last thirty years. I talked at length with these three as other folks walked by.  The interesting thing is that I gave the last three sandwiches to these guys, but two of them ended up giving theirs to others who came by that needed the food more. Yes, most everyone in this parking lot had been drinking.  Some more than others.  The three NA were probably a little more hostile about life in general, yet they were the ones who gave the food to others.  They also recognized that I was different and had come to help people. Yellow Hawk asked me to pray for them, then when I finished he prayed in his native language.  He had told me that they had become pretty jaded by the violence they have seen on the street and although the police may have been around, they did nothing about it.  It almost seemed like he was suffering from PTS. Anyway, I really did enjoy my time talking with them.  Others may have felt threatened by their talk, but I didn't and, in fact, it was probably therapeutic for them to be able to vent their frustrations to an 'old white guy'.  I also look at it as something to build a relationship on. The next time I see them they will remember me as the 'church guy' they can talk straight up with. That's becomes huge in gaining the trust to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven.  You know Yellow Hawk actually asked my why I come down there.  So I was able to tell them something about my past and how I used to drive trucks right down there where we were and about Jesus' call on my life to go to people just like them right where they are.  Soon enough, they will have questions about all the 'religious stuff'' that bugs them and they'll ask me about it out of their frustration.  That's when I get to be real with them.  That's when the pay-off for encounters like yesterday happen.  I listen to them enough and sometime down the road, they'll listen to me.

Before leaving the area I did go by the burned out church at 27th and Petaloma.  I prayer-walked the street.  No changes yet.  We're building up momentum.  --Until next time.  John      

Downtown Sunday 10-11-2015

That was the moment for me when my faith that God would actually do what I asked Him to do outweighed my doubt that He wouldn't".  --Darren Wilson describing the circumstances surrounding the decision to film inside the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as the ending to his "Father of Lights" movie in 2011. 

I'm learning that major breakthroughs happen after lengthy periods of nothing happening and/or big obstacles being overcome.  I have been praying and investing time in two seemingly impossible situations.  One is the burned-out church at 27th and Paloma and the other is bringing the Kingdom to a group of people living in an alley near 25th and San Pedro.  As with many things in this life, lengthy periods of time go by before a discernible change is observed.  And....I really don't have a problem with that.  Somehow, I feel these two situations are related, though I'm not sure how.

Sunday on my drive into downtown I was praying about this group of people living in the alley.  By now you've read about the many trips lately I've made to see them.  Their numbers are growing.  Last Sunday night there were probably fifteen people actually living there.  There are a couple of people living there that are confined to wheelchairs.  One person, in particular, it seems that no matter what I do for this person, it's always met with a "What else you got?" kind of mentality.  Not exactly the type of response one expects from a homeless person.  Never a thank you or even a smile.  More an attitude of expectation and entitlement than anything.  I specifically prayed for this person on my way down there Sunday.  Well this last Sunday I bought some burgers for them along with bottled water. It was the first time I brought food in a couple of months.  I didn't have a lot of food, basically just one burger for everyone, but it was received well.  Wouldn't you know, I got a "Thank-you John" from the one in the wheelchair and even a smile.  One of the other guys there asked me to pray for everyone.  Now at this point I was at one end of this alley community and we all gathered around to pray, about 10 of us at that point.  So here we are arms around each others shoulders others holding hands and I prayed for peace and safety to come down here.  Pretty much a typical prayer I would pray for these folks.  Everything was fine, people were smiling and happy.  The guy that had told everyone to gather around, he and I went back to talking to each other.  Then about five minutes later, the person in the wheelchair that had been so uncharacteristically pleasant to me, started getting into it with a few of the others to the point where blows were exchanged!  This initial fight was broken up, but a few minutes later another person got into it with the wheel chair person.  I kept praying for peace during this time and momentarily things would quiet down and then flair up again.  Carmen told me it happens every night.  I'm not sure what to make of it.  I know if the Kingdom is making en roads into a community, the Enemy will come to fight over the territory.  Perhaps, that is an acknowledgement that something there is worth fighting for (spiritually speaking ).  I walked away during one of the lulls in the fighting and walked back towards my car.  Becky had come back and she and I talked for a while before I left.  It was a strange and yet troubling trip.  I had experienced quite a high when the person in the wheelchair was so thankful towards me and when we had all gathered around to pray together.  Remember I didn't even ask them to gather for prayer, they asked me!  But then the reality of too many people living so close to one another and the difficulties of living in so much need sparked anger and bitterness flared up.  Side by side, the tares and the wheat grow up together.  I'll keep praying and fighting (spiritually) for their souls.  I'm committed to interceding for them.

When I left them, it was well into the night.  The burned-out church had not changed any since the last week.  I prayer-walked the neighborhood before leaving.  I am reminded of Paul's admonition to the Ephesian church where in Chapter 6:12 he writes, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  There are several descriptions in the New Testament of Paul entering a city and initially everything was going well and then all of the sudden it was as if a switch was turned and people became hostile to his message.  I didn't experience hostility towards me, but hostilities definitely broke out.  It was disturbing, but I recognize it for what it is and will keep working the area.  I will not be deterred.  --Until next time.  John

Sunday night-9/27/15

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."  --Ephesians 3:20

Sunday night was more or less a repeat of the last few trips downtown except I reversed the order and went to the alley on 25th and San Pedro first.  I got there before the sun went down so the folks there could go through the clothes I brought while there was still light left.  Someone at work had given me two large trash bags filled with women's clothes and they went pretty fast.  There were a lot of people there since it was close to night time.  I haven't brought any food with me the last month or so due to lack of resources, but I did bring a lot of bottled water.  No one's complained about the lack of food, but the water sure is a hit.  I brought 35 bottles and 20 lbs of ice.  In fact, I had more ice than the chest could hold with all the water bottles, so some of the ice was still in a bag sitting on top. Someone took the bag too (for later no doubt).  I had even bought a bottle of Pine Sol (unopened) and had it on the floor by the back seat and someone asked me if they could have it to clean around their living quarters.  I long ago made the commitment that if I brought it in the car, it was up for grabs. This alley, as I said, is really home to a lot of people and other homeless folks come by to hang-out. During my time there, Nicky, her friend Judy and Carmen came by.  Nicky was the one who helped me serve all the people when I had the dinner on the street corner last November.  Here's some photos of my stop Sunday:

That's Hiram in the back of the car....He's a big guy!

 and that's Becky on the right

The next two photos, first one taken looking towards San Pedro St and the one below it looking back down the alley the other way.

When I first got there and got out I sat down on some mattresses next to a guy named Peter.  I asked him how he was doing (I've know Peter for a couple of years now).  He said he was depressed, but didn't say exactly why.  I was called away right after that and didn't get to talk further with him about what was bothering him.  He asked if I had a couple of dollars to get some food, but I didn't have any cash left on me.  There was a large crowd gathered around the back of the car and on the other side of the car where the water was.  One of the guys from last week wanted me to pray for them right then, but I thought it best to wait until the crowd around the car had died down.  The regulars to that alley were all there, and Hiram who lives in an SRO a short distance away was there too.  I had been there about forty minutes when some tempers flared in one of the 'apartments'.  I was, at the time, standing and talking with Hiram.  I immediately started praying for peace to overcome the place.  As it turned out the woman who was upset, was Judy (Nicky's friend).  She was upset, oddly enough, over the guy who got the Pine Sol and had started using it around his place.  Apparently, she is allergic to the stuff. Well, she just moved away from that area and all was well.  I told everyone about the lunar eclipse (Blood Moon) that was to occur shortly, but it was kind of doubtful they would see it given the limited view of the sky they had in that alley.

I've said many times in these blogs that I try and bring the Kingdom of God down to earth for these folks.  Earlier today I was watching a short video about an after school activity center that some Christians are running in Jackson, Mississippi.  They explained it as a place where the kids in the neighborhood can come and feel safe and be loved just for who they are.  They are told who Jesus is and that He loves them and wants the best for their lives.  One woman summed it up best at the end with the statement,"It's a place where God can do miraculous things in their hearts."  It is the same idea and place I try to provide for these folks each time I see them.  It's not an overnight fix, and certainly takes time to develop a trusting relationship between them and me.  They need to see me acting consistently on their behalf and as an ambassador for Christ.  I have to faithfully and gently portray Christ, in perhaps, a way they have never seen before, but still represents Him not only faithfully, but as someone they want to get to know.

After leaving the alley, I drove over to the burned out church.  It was now completely dark and I prayed in front of the church for quite a while.  No one came by and there appeared to be no changes in the general appearance to the church.  I have learned through experience that things may not appear to be changing on the outside, but God works in different ways and I'm willing to trust His timetable.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to go downtown next Sunday, so --Until next time.  John  

Sunday afternoon-9/20/15

"From my darkest to the very greatest of times, God has always been there."  --Posting on facebook from GodFruits --Sept. 19, 2015


It was another hot September day downtown.  I had brought some bottled water on ice and got down there at about 3:30 pm. I had two objectives, one was to prayer-walk around the neighborhood of the burned out church on 27th and Paloma and the other was to give out the bottled water to my friends living in the alley near 25th and San Pedro.  Due to the heat, when I prayer-walked the neighborhood around the church hardly anyone was outside.  Since I found out what happened to the church through the news report still posted on the internet, I knew more than most of the folks who lived around there.  Remember, its been almost exactly three years since the fire.  When I finished walking around the neighborhood I lingered for a while praying in front of the church.  The flyers I had seen last week were still up, but were fading in the hot sun.  I got in my car and decided to give the only phone number I had for the pastor another shot.  I had called it a couple of times on Tuesday and Wednesday, but no one answered.  I tried calling again.  Would you believe it, Mary, the pastor's wife, answered the phone!  I had to quickly give her some kind of an idea who I was and why I was calling before she thought I was some kind of a crack-pot and hung up.  Anyway, the Lord gave me favor and she heard my story of how I started prayer-walking in this neighborhood and found their church. I mainly wanted to make sure she knew that the flyers they put up a week ago were such a blessing to me to see and I felt if Pastor Lawrence knew that God had raised up someone that he didn't know and wasn't even living in the neighborhood to pray for this church that it might be a blessing to him as well.  I realized that these last three years have, no doubt, been a very difficult time for the both of them.  I told her of the quote I read on facebook. I used it to start this blog.  I hope that sometime soon I can meet with Pastor Lawrence at the church site and pray with him for his church.

I left there and went over to the alley by 25th and San Pedro.  On the way over there I saw Becky pushing her shopping cart with one of her dogs walking along side her.  I gave her some water and she encouraged me to stop by to see the others.  When I got there, there were probably 10 people in the alley.  I didn't have any food (well six cans of vegetables), the rest of the bottled water and some clothes in the back of the car.  I got out and opened the back up.  You may remember me telling you about Billy who I met for the first time there about two weeks ago.  I prayed with him and Miguel the last time and noticed Billy had some rather obvious struggles in life.  Sunday he told everyone I was his best buddy!  That is a testimony to the power of prayer for people in these situations. There were others there that I've known for a long time now, Pete, Hiram and a couple of other guys who I can't think of there names right now.  They asked me if I "had a Word for them".  I said "Of course I do." and held out my arms and started praying for them right then.  There was a passage in the New Testament that I read a couple of days ago, but can't seem to find now, about how God will change your desires and passions to conform to his image.  Anyway, I used this verse loosely and intertwined it with how powerful the name of Jesus is in overcoming temptations and difficult situations in our lives if we will just speak His name.  When I finished you would have thought Billy Graham had just spoken.....the prayer was anointed and touched their hearts.  It was all God's doing, praise be to Him.

All in all, it was a short, but powerful trip.  I promised to be back next Sunday.  I'm looking forward to it that's for sure.  Until next time.  John    

Monday evening-9/14/2015

"Jesus told his disciples:  'Have faith in God!  If you have faith in God and don't doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will.  Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith.'"  --Mark 11:22-24


My last trip was two weeks ago Sunday.  I had promised one of my homeless friends, Willie, that I would be back this Monday evening (I worked last weekend), and we'd meet in the alley we were standing in.  I thought it was doubtful that he would be there, but I wanted to hold up my end of the agreement.  I went down the alley a couple of times but no Willie.  I did help another homeless man and decided I'd better try the other alley a little south of this one, but he wasn't there either.  I did help a few other homeless folks in that alley too.

For those who have followed the last couple of these blogs, I have been prayer-walking in an area south of Washington Blvd between San Pedro Ave and Central Ave.  Specifically, by a corner of Paloma and 27th.  Three Sundays ago I found a church that had been burned up there.  I have asked people around there, but no one really seems to know what happened.  Even when it happened was some kind of a mystery.  The first info I had was it happened 6 months to a year ago.  Monday night when I parked in front of the church there was a woman getting in her car and leaving and I was able to ask her what she knew.  She said she had been working there for three years and the church was like that when she first started coming there.  She appeared to be a hospice nurse for someone living a few doors down the street.  I walked back to the church and started praying.  While praying I noticed some flyers taped to the iron fence around the building.  I didn't pay any attention to them at first, but then happened to notice a banner across the top saying, "We're Still Here!!! We're Coming Back Soon"  I looked again and sure enough it was a flyer from the pastor, a Lawrence Magee.  No other details, just a couple of bible verses at the bottom.  Here is what I saw:

You can understand how my prayers for this place received a jolt from the Kingdom of Heaven after seeing this.  I had to remind myself that this flyer wasn't there the last two (only) times I've been here. I saw a couple of women talking across the street a ways and asked them if they knew what had happened to the church, but they hadn't been living there long enough to know.  One of the ladies said the manager of the place where they were living had just left and she would probably know,  So I left my phone number with her, but haven't heard back yet.

OK, so next up was to go visit Hiram who is now living in a SRO on 21st.  When I found the place it wasn't at all what I expected.  I expected to see an old run down converted hotel, but this was a two story duplex with an iron fence in the front and a freshly mowed yard.  It appeared to be pretty well taken care of although it wasn't a 'new' place.  This neighborhood is pretty old.  There was a woman sitting on the porch steps smoking a cigarette.  Her name was Sharon and there was a dog (pit bull I think) with diaper on named Harley laying down near her.  I asked about Hiram and she confirmed that he lived there, but wasn't home at the time.  We talked for probably 15-20 minutes and I told her how I knew Hiram. There were two places on the property, one was for women and one was for men. She said there were sixteen people living there.  I also told her I had given a dinner about a year ago on the street corner where Hiram lived at the time.  She said I could have a BBQ at this place anytime.  I couldn't believe it, but said perhaps in November we could do something there.  Between now and then I'll have to make a few visits to this place and get to know her and the others better.  I only talked to her (nobody else came out) on Monday.

So my original intent was to get into this neighborhood and bring the Kingdom to the people.  The only way I knew how was to start prayer-walking and let God take care of the rest.  So after three trips this is what's happened.  Remember, my conversations with the neighbors is another aspect of this work that should not be discounted.  I actually told the two women across the street from the church that I was led to pray in front of the church just three weeks (and two visits) prior.  They saw these flyers up for the first time too.  I even told Sharon at the SRO house!  Testimonies are a valid and vital part in advancing the Kingdom. Testimonies are written and repeated all through the bible. Current and personal testimonies speak volumes to people in our culture today.

So when I got home I googled the pastor's name and found a news clip from NBC local news from about 3 years ago about this church and the fire.  Here is what happened:

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Crouch-Memorial-Church-Pentecostal-Fire-LAFD-Los-Angeles-226957031.html

So I will continue pray and to try and contact Pastor Magee.  I'm hoping that when he hears that someone whom he doesn't know and who has no connection with his church is praying for him and his church that it will serve as a great encouragement just as me seeing the flyers taped to the fence in front of the church did for me.  I'll keep prayer-walking.  Until next time. --John


    

Sunday downtown-8/30/15

"I've heard You call my name
I've heard the song of love that You sing
So I will let you draw me out beyond the shore
Into your grace

Cause you make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves

Cause you make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the Love that made a way.."    

---Amanda Cook & Bethel Music  "You Make Me Brave"

You can see the all the lyrics to this song when watching the video, just click on 'show more".


Yeah, I really like this song, especially the words about being called 'out beyond the shore into the waves".   Sunday was week two on the Emmaus Road.  I decided to start by going to the burned out church in the photo from last week and start praying there.  I drove around and around and around the area, but couldn't find it.  I finally gave up and parked and started prayer walking where I was.  I said, "Lord, I know you can redeem this time, so help me out here, please."  I walked a couple of blocks and some people were going out to their cars so I decided to just ask them if they knew where the church was.  I showed them the picture on my phone.  Well, they knew exactly where it was and it was exactly where I thought it was.  Only problem was, I WASN'T WHERE I THOUGHT I WAS!  I thanked them and then drove about two or so blocks west (on the west side of Central) and there it was.  I parked and got out and started praying there in front of this church reclaiming the area for His glory.  There is a wrought iron fence around most of the building and a chain link fence in the back. As I walked around it I saw in the back the area were the little kids would have their meeting rooms. I was heartbroken for these kids as the church was no doubt a center of life for a lot of families. There is no sign in front saying what kind of denomination this church was so I have no way of knowing how to contact the pastor.  I found out the church burned about 6 months to a year ago.  I had walked across the street (the church is on the corner of 27th and Paloma) to ask a man washing his car in front of his house (behind another wrought iron fence) what he knew about the church, but he didn't really know anything or at least wasn't saying anything.  He said he was at work when it burned.  I noticed when I was driving around that there are a lot of small neighborhood churches in the area (and I mean a lot). I'll start asking the ones closest if they know anything about what happened to the pastor and the congregation.

When I left the church, I drove by 25th and San Pedro, but once again the people I used to know who lived there aren't there anymore.  I slowly drove passed the next alley north and saw Becky and others in that alley, so I stopped and backed into the alley.  While I talked to Becky I heard some tapping on my car window.  It turned out to be Hiram who used to be one of the folks who lived on 25th!  He has since gotten an SRO (single room occupancy) place on Hooper and 21st.  I was so happy to see him.  I noticed immediately (and asked him) "Have you lost weight?"  Hiram's a couple inches taller than me and was probably over 300-lbs for a while.  He looks a lot better, I just need to find him some clothes and pair of size 15 shoes!  He said where he stays they feed you 3 meals a day, but the quantity and quality isn't the best, hence the weight loss.  Becky told me that a year or so ago she was walking by that church when it was burning!  She didn't know anything about what happened either other than it was an African American church.  It's mostly, but not exclusively, a Latino area, so I don't know if that figured into anything or not.  Hiram said that a lot of the churches in the area are very old and probably of historical importance to the area.  So while I was there in the alley I let the folks go through the clothes in the back of the car and I handed out cold bottled water.  I hadn't brought any food, but it was another really hot day and the cold water was a big hit.  One of the highlights of the trip was meeting a new guy in that alley by the name of Billy.  Billy is about my age with long gray shoulder length hair.  I had given him and another man named Miguel some bottled water.  After I introduced myself to Billy I held out my hand to him and Miguel and offered to pray for them.  So Miguel got up and came over and the three of us held hands and I prayed for them.  I noticed later, after walking back to the folks by my car, that Billy kept turning away and lighting up something in a corner.  I asked Hiram about it and he confirmed my suspicions about what Billy was doing.  All I can say is I hope I see Billy again soon.  I hope to pray with him again and develop a relationship with him.  I don't like to describe and identify anyone by one thing that they do.  We are all a lot more complex than that, but Billy does seem to a have a substance abuse problem.  I hope I can offer him hope and a way out of it.  It begins by loving him the way he is, but helping him realize and become what he can be.  Hiram gave me the address of where he lives now at the SRO.  I hope to visit him there.  He said there are about 25 other men living there.  Perhaps that is where the Emmaus Road will lead.  I don't know.

One other encounter of note.  When I first arrived downtown I bought some ice at a Smart and Final on Hooper St.  As I drove south, I came to an alley where I have had BBQ's before.  I looked down that alley and it appeared to have been cleared out by city maintenance workers.  I decided to drive down it anyway even though I didn't see anyone.  Well, right where I had the BBQ's I saw one of my oldest friends from the street.  His name is Willie and this is right where I first met him too.  In fact, that first encounter was memorable because as I drove up and saw him standing there that day six years ago I asked him if he was OK.  I'll never forget his response.  In a barely audible whisper he said, "I'm hungry and thirsty."  I was able Sunday to give Willie a pair of pants, socks and some cold water.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any food with me, but we were sure happy to see each other.  It had been about 16-18 months since I saw him last.  Here's a picture I took of him Sunday:

  

I'll be working all next weekend so I won't be able to see my friends for a couple of weeks. Please pray for them while I'm unable to visit them.  Until next time. --John

 

Downtown 8/23/2015

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power."  1 Corinthians 2:4

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power." --1 Corinthians 4:20

Well, for a while now, I seem to be sensing the need to take these trips downtown in a different direction.  It started about a year ago when I began serving the folks living on the street corner at 25th and San Pedro St.  On one trip last year, a recently widowed woman and her grandchildren walked by.  I was introduced to her and prayed for her and her grand kids.  A couple of weeks later I found out where she lived down the block on 25th street and visited her for an hour or so.  Eventually, with her husband gone, she couldn't afford to stay there and she had to move out of the house.  In the process I was somewhat captivated by the idea of reaching the neighborhood for Christ.  I have since learned that the neighborhood is filled with gang activity and drugs.  During the day it appears pretty normal, but at night it transforms into something completely different.  Oddly enough, the corner where I had the 'dinner on a street corner' back in November of last year is completely empty now. There are several folks living in the next alley up San Pedro and I've driven down that alley a couple of times now and served them.  However, I've come to a couple of conclusions about reaching the area.  First and foremost it requires a lot of prayer.  I ran across a quote from a man named Arthur Tappan Pierson (1837-1911).  He was well known in his day for evangelism and missions.  He was also passionate in caring for the poor.  He is quoted as saying, "Every step in the progress of missions is directly traceable to prayer."  I have noticed that two of the highlights of my six years of going downtown began with prayer walking. The first was prayer walking down Cloud Nine Alley five years ago.  Six weeks later I was standing and speaking to the congregation of a new church started a couple of weeks after I started prayer walking. Then a couple of years ago, after witnessing a gang fight on 7th and Alvarado, and being quite troubled by it, I was lead by the Spirit to start prayer walking in MacArthur Park.  Three months later I was actually preaching with some others with a microphone on the the very corner where the fight occurred.  So...... Yesterday I started prayer walking around the streets of 25th and San Pedro.  It's just simple obedience to my calling.  What will happen?  I don't have a clue. How long will it take for something to happen?  I don't know.  If nothing discernible happens that I can see, then the streets that I offer prayer on will be plowed up for the next person who is called to serve this area.  I will have done my part.  It will not be easy.  Days are getting shorter and my ability to walk very far is getting harder. But there are always going to be obstacles.  I used to think my inability to speak Spanish would be a problem, but the Lord seems to be able to overcome my deficiencies.  That way, He gets all the glory!

Yesterday was the first trip.  So what happened?  Well not much. The first block I walked around there were a couple of families out on their porch/front yard area.  It was evening time, around 5 pm. There were two churches on the block on the west side of San Pedro.  One was having a service and the other had maybe a hundred people in the front courtyard having a summer sports camp.  I had just passed by this second church when a small African-American woman came walking down the sidewalk towards me.  She started talking to me and I immediately started thinking, "Oh, here we go, someone trying to hit me up for money."  Eventually, that is what she wanted...bus fare to a cancer clinic in Glendale.  I have no way of knowing if what she was telling me was true or not.  She was trying to produce papers proving that she was to be admitted there, but hey...whatever right?  Well, all I had was two bucks on me so I gave them to her.  Two dollars was all I had to give, but as I started to walk away from her I thought....."Wait just a minute John.  You can pray for this woman!" So I turned back and said to her, "Hey, let me pray for you before you go."  So I put my arm around her shoulders and prayed for her.  She put her arm around my waist.  Sometimes our opportunities are right there before us and we are too lame to recognize them.  Remember how we wonder that the two disciples on the Emmaus Road didn't recognize Jesus?  We are just like them!!!

So eventually I drove across San Pedro St and found a place to park a block east of there.  I walked around that block, but didn't encounter anyone.  I did see a burned out church on a corner and took some pictures. Here they are:

I don't know the story of what happened here, but I'm going to try and find out.  You know, there are a surprising number of churches in these neighborhoods.  I want to find the most 'burned out' and troubled neighborhoods and prayer walk.  Where hope is most needed, Christ will shine most brightly.  I want to test the strength of the gospel in the most desperate neighborhoods.  Here we go. The adventure begins.

I didn't buy any food yesterday, but I did buy some water and ice. It was another really hot day.  I drove down into 7th and 9th streets and gave out ice water to the homeless folks.  They were really thankful for it.

One other thing worth mentioning.  I had heard on the news that some mentally and physically handicapped people colored 3,000 balls and released them in the lake at MacArthur Park.  I drove by there yesterday to check it out.  Here's the photos below. They said they would be there for a month.
---Until next time.  John

PS.  When I heard the report on the news, I thought the balls were going to be tennis ball size, didn't know they were going to be this big.  It is very colorful. --John

Late Monday downtown-8/17/2015

"I'd hate for someone to suffer because I refused to answer God's calling."  Richard Stearns, from his book "The Hole in the Gospel".

I have worked an extra day for the last 4 or 5 weeks and was looking forward to having these three days (nights actually) off from work.  I ended up waiting until Monday night to go and didn't leave the house until about 8:15 pm.  By the time I got down there and was ready to start looking for folks its was 9:00 pm! Sometimes going so late can be a problem because people on the street are already under blankets or whatever they have and are trying to sleep.  But, I was undeterred.  No matter how late it is, I'm bringing the Kingdom down to the streets of L.A.

I didn't have a lot of resources this week, but knew that at least 3 or 4 people would be on Trinity St. I wasn't too far off (there were more).  First there was Lee, a very diminutive older woman who lives on that street.  She didn't recognize me at first, but when she did she asked for some extra food for another homeless man named Alfred who lives there with her.  He came over to the car too and I was able to give out food and water to both of them.  Just on down the street, where Leticia and Antonio live were two other homeless men, Victor and Cole.  Now Cole I've helped a few times before.  About six months ago I first met him panhandling on the corner of Washington and Grande Vista.  He told me then that his roommate, at the time, had lost his job and they were about to lose their place to stay.  Well, they did and now Cole has been homeless ever since.  It's heartbreaking to see the actual physical changes that occur in people as they start having to live out on the street.  Anyway, I gave both these men some food and water and pulled on down the street about 15 or 20 feet and stopped opposite where Leticia and Antonio were sleeping for the night.  I called out to them and Antonio was the first to get up. They both came over to the car.  Leticia told me that she had found a job.  I really couldn't make out what it was she does, but she indicated that perhaps it will help them get a room!  She asked me if I'd pray for them (she ALWAYS asks me to pray for them).  I told her, "Of course I will!" and got out of the car to stand with them.  I praised God and thanked Him for this opportunity she's been given to earn some money on a regular basis.  While I was out of the car I walked over to the other two men, Victor and Cole, and prayed for them too.  That was when Cole reminded me that we had met before. He probably didn't recognize me until I prayed with them.  Victor, whom I hadn't met before asked me what my name is.  Hopefully, I'll see them both again soon.

I only had a couple of burgers left and drove over to Olive St.  By now it was 9:30 pm.  I saw a man sleeping on a couple of mattresses right on the edge of the sidewalk.  I didn't recognize him until I drove up, but his name is Carlos.  He's usually had a couple of beers when I see him and tonight he woke up a little groggy.  Anyway, he said he was hungry and I gave him the last of the food and some water.  I prayed for him and he said, "Thank you Pappa" as I drove away.

In every encounter this night I prayed for everyone and in every case they all started eating the food given as soon as I gave it to them.  I'll use trips like this as a reminder that no matter how tired I am, there are people in need, who are counting on me being obedient to my calling.  Until next time. John

Tuesday night downtown-7/28/2015

But for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self -control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. --2 Peter 1:5-9

OK, so the last two weekends I have had to work so I couldn't make a trip downtown.  Tonight I could so I went down there, kind of late.  I drove to 25th and San Pedro where I had the dinner on the sidewalk back in November, but no one was there.  That's the first time no one has been there since I've been going there for well over a year.  There were some people in the next alley towards 24th though, so I drove down there and stayed with them a while.  There were a couple of new people I hadn't met before.  One man, whose name was Miguel, was very thankful for the food.  I gave out sandwiches to everyone (about 5 or 6 people) and then handed out the last of the socks I had.  Later, when I noticed Miguel only had some sandals on I dug around in the back of the car and came up with a pair of shoes.  Socks aren't much help if you don't have shoes to wear right?  (Although socks will keep your feet warm at night when your sleeping.)  I prayed for Miguel separately and then for everyone there.  That was a good stop.  I asked about Hiram who lived on 25th and San Pedro and one of the women there said he has finally gotten an SRO place on 21st.  I'll have to find out exactly where so I can go and visit him.  I really like seeing Hiram.

I gave a couple of sandwiches out to some people in another ally behind the Auto Zone store on Washington and Griffith and then drove over to Trinity St and saw Antonio and Leticia (yes she had me pray for her too) and around the block I found Lee on Washington Blvd.  She's usually on Trinity too, but not tonight.

I was down to one last sandwich and found a guy on 9th at Maple.  He was sitting up inside his make shift boxes/shelter with just his head sticking up.  I drove passed him, but stopped and backed up so I could offer him the last of the food.  Another man was walking by him and he bummed a cigarette off him.  When I pulled up I wanted to take his picture sitting behind the box, but thought better of it because I didn't want to offend him, so I just offered the food and water.  When he got up to come over, he didn't have any shoes or socks on.  I don't know if he didn't have any, or just didn't have them on, but he kind of hobbled over to me.  I was out of both shoes and socks anyway, so I couldn't offer him anything more besides the food and water.  He was appreciative of those though.  His name was Victor.  I look for him again next time.  --Until then.  John

Downtown 7/5/2015

When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him , he asked Philip, 'Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?'  He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.  Philip answered, 'Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?'  Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples.  He spoke up and said, 'There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish.  But what good is that with all these people?' ---John 6:5-9

After last week's meeting with a group of men on 9th near San Pedro I had promised to return to them again this week.  I have been trying to figure out how to maximize the small resources I have to purchase food and decided to finally buy the ingredients to make more food available.  I have resisted this primarily because there may be some liability issues that I'm not prepared for.  I have done the BBQ's though which is the same thing and have had no problems, so I decided to give this a test run and bought a bunch of lunch meat and bread and made my own.  So now the preparations for these trips is a lot more than before and if you pretty much give everything out in one stop the trip is far shorter than the prep time.  Anyway, so be it, it allows more time to pray for the people I'll be seeing. Also, I won't be seeing a large group every week and having more food available means reaching more people.  Have you noticed how planning and logistics are playing a prominent role now?  I usually buy enough food to give out to 8 people.  This week the plan was to have a sandwich for twelve people.

I got off the freeway at about 5:45 pm and found three people needing help before I got to 9th and San Pedro.  When I got there about 7 men and 1 woman were there initially.  A couple of others came by after all the food was given out.  So I had nine sandwiches to give out to the eight original people and then one man had asked for another one (he practically begged me for it). How could I refuse? When I pulled up Gustavo, who I had met a couple of months ago with another man named Red were both there.  Gustavo had a microphone and speaker and he was just yakking away in Spanish.  I'm not really sure what he was talking about, I think he was just narrating life there in the parking lot. He actually offered to give me the microphone to preach.  I told him when it's time to pray OK, but that was it.  Most of these men understand very little English although Gustavo is fluent in both languages.  Perhaps another time he can interpret for me. But when it was time to pray, Gustavo got everyone up and holding hands together and as I prayed he held the microphone up so it picked up the prayer time.  A short time after this Red brought another man up to me by the name of Miguel Gomez. Miguel was in tears.  Red told me that he had gone to a hospital/clinic for a pain in his side and small back area.  They couldn't help him.  I said let me pray for him right now.  So I turned Miguel around and with my right hand on his shoulder and my left hand on his side I prayed for the pain to go away.  I don't know if it helped or not, but he kept thanking me and said "God bless you." repeatedly.  The only thing I can add to this is that when I was told Miguel had an ailment, I didn't hesitate to pray for him, it was such an automatic response to the situation.  I don't think I've ever felt quite that way before in similar situations.

Well, I had reloaded the car with shirts since the last visit and they all went through the clothes,so that was a big hit again.  I gave out hugs to just about everyone.  It was another good visit and time well spent with these folks. Its so hard to describe what it feels like to bring the Kingdom of God to folks caught in life's hopeless situations.  I really love these people and the opportunities God has given me to help them.  Here's some photo's of the trip:

 That's Red with his back to the camera and Julio, from last week, with his USA shirt on below.

This is Miguel Gomez, the one with the back pain.

A fitting end to a great trip.--Until next time. --John