Downtown 10/2/2016

"In front of the doorway to the most holy place was something that looked like a wooden altar.  It was five feet high and four feet square, and its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. The man said, 'This is a reminder that the LORD is constantly watching over his temple.' " Ezekiel 41:21b-22

"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what your are." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 

The last two trips downtown have both been late in the evening on Sundays.  Yesterday I got there just as the sun had gone down, so it was light for about thirty minutes or so.  I had loaded up the car with some bags of clothes I had recently been given.  As I sorted through them at home I saw that, for the most part, they were women's clothes. Not only were they women's clothes but they looked to be very young women's clothes, like maybe teenager sizes.  I wondered how these clothes were going to work.   Although I see homeless women, the percentage is low and I wondered how long it would take for these clothes to be given out.  I didn't have a lot more time to load the car up as it was getting late, so I decided to just go with them and threw a few blankets and sweaters in the car and took off. I had already made up a dozen lunches, so I left and got there about 6:30 pm.  I got off the freeway on Los Angeles St and drove through a very narrow one-way alley just east of Los Angeles St (where Rocky the pit bull dog used to hang-out) and as I came out of that driveway it ends up next to the freeway off-ramp, separated by a fence.  You can get through a break in the fence and there was a guy I knew standing there who saw me coming.  He came over to the car and we talked for a few minutes and then I saw a woman over where he was.  I asked him if she was hungry too and she ended up coming over.  Well, wouldn't you know it, but she was very slender, regular height, but slender and she had a friend on down the driveway who was thin too.  I knew that woman, her name is Hope and yes she is very skinny.  So a lot of those clothes I wondered about who could use them, they both could.  Here it was the very first stop of the trip.  Now who could plan a coincidence like that?  By now I had driven on down to where the driveway ended in the first street east of Los Angeles St and a few other homeless folks from there came over to the car.  I gave out food, blankets and a lot of clothes.  I ended up praying with a group of these people, our arms around each other in a circle.  It's my favorite thing to do on these trips!

A couple of weeks ago I went down an alley off 25th and San Pedro.  It use to be a big hang-out for a lot of homeless folks in the area.  That day there were only four people there and we all knew each other.  I had prayed before hand that wherever I went that day I wanted to bring the Kingdom of Heaven.  I wanted it to be a calming and joyful time.  That day it was the first place I went to and it was still light out.  It's hard to accurately describe the pleasant looks and smiles on the people's faces. One could say they were just happy to receive stuff from me, and that would certainly be true, But its somehow different when they're asking you to pray for them before you leave.  Yesterday, as I was getting close to that alley, (I had prayed in front of the burned-out church before I got there) I remembered I hadn't seen Becky there in a long time.  As I drove down the alley, wouldn't you know it, but there she was.  The first person I saw.  There were two other men there who I hadn't seen in a long time either.  We talked for a while, I showed them some pictures of my dog on my phone. Becky always has some cats and dogs with her.  I even showed them a picture of my daughter's graduation day. They all loved seeing the pictures.  Both trips down that alley were a blessing to me.  I finished out yesterday's trip looking for 'singles' I call them.  People who are by themselves.  I think yesterday I only had about 3 or 4 lunches left after I went down the two alleys.  I finished up finding Alan, who is usually found up and down Olympic Blvd somewhere and sometimes on Alameda near Olympic. That's where I found him yesterday on Alameda.  It's always a blessing to me to help this man.  --Until next time.  John

PS:  Ok, about the bible verses at the top.  As I read through Ezekiel this year, that verse caught my eye and I immediately thought of the New Testament implications with the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer.  If we are the new temple.....God dwells in us.....and He will constantly watch over us. Remember, the very last thing Jesus said to His disciples before he ascended into heaven?  "I will be with you always, even to the end of the world."