Downtown Sunday 6/28/2015

Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come.  His answer was, "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen.  No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you." --Luke 17:20-21

I had prayed before leaving the house and while en route downtown that I would be cognizant of bringing the Kingdom of God with me wherever I went.  I wanted to be aware of it and I wanted the people I met with to experience the peace and tranquility of being in the midst of His kingdom.

I got down there later than I had hoped.  It has been very hot here in Southern California the past few days and today was no exception.  Although the temperature peaked in the mid 90's, by the time I got down there it was probably 85 or so.  I wanted to bring a lot of bottled water on ice (which I did), but had hoped to be there during the hottest time of the day.  Perhaps, when I showed up was the best time anyway. I had driven around quite a bit before really finding anybody.  I did see Sonya, the Korean woman from a couple of weeks back.  She was laying on the sidewalk on Alameda right where I saw her the last time.  She remembered me and was surprised I remembered her name. She knows very little English and she started to tell me a somewhat long and involved story in her native language.  At first I wanted to politely move on, but realized I was probably the only person who took the time to help her today and listen to what she had to say.  Even though I couldn't understand a word of it, I smiled and patiently listened to her.  I think she was telling me about someone who took all her belongings a while back.  Everyone needs to be heard by someone sometime.  I was Sonya's someone today.

Well I kept driving around and ended up going down a small alley where I met some folks a few weeks back.  I haven't seen those people there since then, but as I started to drive away I noticed a group of men (about a half dozen) sitting in front of a wall in an adjacent parking lot from the alley. I kept driving, but kept feeling like I was supposed to go back to where these men were sitting.  So back I went and drove right up to where they were all sitting.  I asked if anyone was hungry.  That was the only password I needed.  I got out and started handing out burgers which they all loved and then the water.  Some of the men had been drinking a few beers in the heat of the day and I think the water was a welcome relief.  One of the men I had seen there the last time was Shorty (I think that was his name).  He didn't stay too long, probably because he didn't speak Spanish like all the other men there.  Before he left he asked if he could get a T-shirt from the back of the car.  So when I opened up the back and told them they could all have a shirt or whatever they could find there was a big crowd at the back of the car.  All the T-shirts and shoes were taken.  One of the men was Julio. He spoke pretty good English and told me he had been in this country since he was seven years old. He kind of caught me off guard when he asked me if I was Irish!  One of the men who was very talkative (due to the beers) was quite a kidder.  I'm not sure what all he was kidding me about, but it was all in fun and pleasant.  I had been by there on a Monday night a few weeks ago and noticed a Spanish speaking church group had set up some speakers and were preaching there about the time the sun went down.  I asked about them and was told they show up every Monday night.  

So all of these men were Spanish speaking men.  All in all, probably a dozen men were there or came by during the time I was there.  Yet through it all I was at perfect peace and in perfect harmony with them all.  I think there were a couple of others who spoke some English, but really only one, Julio, carried on a lengthy conversation with me in English.  Luckily, I know some Spanish so I wasn't completely unable to talk to them in their language.  Here are a couple of photos...

Julio is the guy in the bottom photo with the USA tank top on.  Juan is the man on the right.  He is a big soccer and Laker fan.  These guys were just to the left of the guys in the top photo.  I tried to put these photos next to each other, but couldn't get it to fit.  Julio was a pretty happy guy, I'm so glad he was there.  When it was time for me to leave I told them I was going to pray for them all.  When I finished praying and opened my eyes, they had all gathered around me with their heads bowed.  It just gets me every time....  the Kingdom landed there in a parking lot in downtown LA.  --Until next time.  John

Downtown 6/14/2015

The Great Commission:

     Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'  Amen  

So here was a trip I'll remember for a long, long time.  It started kind of slow.  I hadn't been to East Los Angeles for a while, so I thought I'd drive by Lincoln Park and see what was up.  Most of the homeless that had set up encampments have been moved out.  There were a few birthday parties going on in the park, but not many homeless folks were there, at least not yet.  As I drove back into the downtown area I even noticed a spot where some Cuban men used to live had been cleaned out too.  So I drove on (south) down Alameda and helped one Korean woman named Sonya.  She didn't speak much English, but she knew enough to know I was offering her food.  She also asked for the only blanket I had with me.  

Well, I drove around some more, but didn't see any of the kind of people I usually try to target, so I drove on into what the locals refer to as the 'T-flats' or just the 'flats'.  It's the south side of Washington Blvd and I ended up going by 25th St and San Pedro. I only saw a couple of people there and I wasn't planning on stopping, but as I drove back north the first alley I passed had several people in it and one of them was Becky.  I drove around the block and entered the alley from the other end. The group of people were almost to the San Pedro end.  Anyway, as I pulled up Nicky, who helped me serve the people back in November when I had the dinner on the street corner, recognized me and immediately came over and kissed my hand when I reached out to her.  Then she told everyone there that didn't know me who I was.  It was quite a welcome.  There were about 8 or 9 people there and about an even mix of men and women.  I opened up the back of the car and let them look through everything.  I had nine sandwiches left when I got there, within a couple of minutes they were all gone.  The energy level of the folks skyrocketed, they were so happy.  I stayed for quite a while talking with them. Others would come by asking for clothes, but they were pretty much picked through.  Just about everyone got a pair or two of new socks.  There were three or four older women there that I hadn't met before.  One of them was in tears after I prayed for everyone.  Here's some pictures from the alley:

I opened this blog with the famous commission verse by Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20).  We often romanticize this by thinking in terms of going to exotic places to preach the gospel.  Yet, here I am in an alley off 25th and San Pedro in Los Angeles, California where anywhere from 6-10 people live every night.  As I pulled up one of the women was going to the bathroom about 10 yards away from the rest of the group.  They have no hope of ever getting off the street unless someone intervenes or a family member offers to take them back in.  It's hardly a romantic awe-inspiring location, yet I was received with open arms.  I left here and went around the block to where I served many of these people last November. Hiram and another man were on that sidewalk.  I talked with Hiram for twenty minutes or so.  Nicky had told me to go see him because he was emotionally down.  He used to drive trucks like I did for years so we swapped trucking stories for a while.  He told me he hoped to get into a SRO housing facility in a week or so off 21st and Hoover.  He told me his son lived in Whittier, but I guess relations are strained.  I told Hiram there is one thing he can pray about and that is that God will soften and change peoples hearts.  The thing is that often times the first one that needs changing is our own.  I'll be praying for him tonight. When I was with the other folks in the alley I had finished praying for them, but wanted to leave them with one more thought.  I reminded them that the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8, that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. That's when I noticed the one woman in tears.  Wow...I just loved this trip!!!


So when I got home, this is who was cheering for me upon my arrival.....

Yep...our dog Zoey.  Until next time.  John