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