4/12/205-Downtown late Sunday night

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'  And I said, 'Here am I; send me!' And he said, 'Go....'"  Isaiah 6:8,9a

For the last three weekends I've had to cover for someone at work and the night shift at that. Yesterday, Sunday, I had to work also, but at least it was the day shift.  So, since I hadn't been able to make a trip in a month I was hopeful of going downtown after work.  I knew I probably wouldn't feel up to it really, but I also knew I would be without a car all day Monday and in the hospital Tuesday and then back to work on Wednesday.  So Sunday night was going to be about the only opportunity available.  All day Sunday at work I kind of went back and forth about whether to go or not.  The car wasn't loaded up so I was going to have to stop by home and I knew if I stopped by home the desire to stay home would be great, but I managed to weather that temptation and left for downtown sometime after 8:30 pm.  I stopped by a Carl's Jr to pick up some food for the trip and while I waited for the order to come I started reading my bible.  For the last several years I've been reading through the bible each year.  Saturday night I had read the first five chapters of Isaiah.  So when I sat down to wait for the order to come (I was reading a different bible than the one the night before), I was somewhat amazed when it opened up right where I had left off in the bible at home the night before. I had been intending to read something out of one of the gospels in the New Testament, but here I was in the exact spot where I finished the night before.  Isaiah 6 is the chapter that begins with, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up," .  Just a few verses later is the passage I quoted above where Isaiah volunteers to be sent to speak to the people of Israel.  It was as if the Lord was confirming to me that, "Yes you will go John." and he knew all along that I would go last night...  It's was just so eerie.

Well, I didn't arrive downtown until after 9 pm.  The problem with getting there so late is that most of the people who are by themselves are already bundled up and asleep under whatever kind of blankets they have.  I initially looked in a couple of places for some folks I know and came up empty, so I started to get a little concerned about how things were going to go.  The first guy I helped was Arnold who was sitting on the sidewalk on Pico Ave.  He was still awake and confirmed that he was hungry. Another 'problem' with going so late is you really don't get to talk to people too much when you're just driving up and passing food and water through the window, unless you know them.  The first few people I helped I didn't know.  Driving south on Maple from Pico I helped another man walking slowly up the street named Richard and then somewhere near Maple and Olympic I saw a man starting to get his bedroll ready for the night and I called out to him and asked if he was hungry.  His name was Anthony and he asked for some extra food for his wife.  Can you imagine going to bed hungry on a sidewalk with your wife?  God is the expert on timing!

I drove on over to an area where I've had BBQ's before and looked for Leticia and Anthony.  They were both asleep when I found them and didn't wake up when I gently called out to them.  However, down the street from them was a woman named Lee who I've helped before and she pointed to another man across the street named Albert Butler.  I prayed with him because he was very receptive to me being there.  The more people open up to you, especially at night, the more you can give out the kingdom.

I now only had four burgers left and decided to drive over to where John Stokes lives.  I wasn't quite sure how many people would be there and when I got there there were lots of people there, like maybe a dozen or so.  There was quite a bit of activity going on and it was out into the street.  I slowly drove passed the majority of the crowd and homeless shelters looking for John's place, but I really didn't see his.  Usually, there is a little space from one place to the next, but it seemed like everyone was right next to each other (like an apartment complex).  Anyway,about the point where I was about to stop I heard a woman calling out to me.  It turned out to be Nicole (the woman who had the baby back in October).  She came up to the window and we talked for several minutes.  She said her husband Bill recognized my car going by and said, "Hey, there's that church guy."  She told me what was going on there with everyone and that she didn't want me to walk into what was happening there without me knowing about it.  Little does she know about my younger days... Anyway, we talked about what her and her baby's needs were and I got her new phone number.  I plan on calling her next Sunday before I go down there to make sure I can find her.  She told me the place where we had the BBQ under the freeway around the corner from there the police had run everyone off.  Willie, who lived directly across from where we set the BBQ up, was in jail on a parole violation and she and her husband had gotten a ticket for "obstructing the sidewalk" there.  I ended up giving her a couple of blankets (she practically begged me for them) and the rest of the burgers.  I told her she could decide who gets them.  When we parted I told her, "Nicole, Jesus loves you."  To which she replied back somewhat emphatically, "Jesus loves you."  I'm looking forward to next week's trip.  Until next time.  John