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
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...
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