I'm not sure I've ever quoted anything out of Leviticus to start these blogs, but here's one of the ways Israel was commanded to provide for the poor, during harvest times. This verse came to mind after witnessing at least two people yesterday going through trash cans. Here it is Thanksgiving Day, a day of plenty here in our country. Even though we have one meal on this day where we usually stuff ourselves till we're uncomfortable, most of us, even on this day, eat at least twice if not three times anyway. Yet here in downtown Los Angeles, poor people are going through the trash looking for food or something they can cash-in to get food. And if they find anything to cash-in they probably won't be able to get the cash for it until the next day because most of the recycling places are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's heartbreaking to witness this first hand. It's for these people that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to serve on this day for anything...
There were a few people on my last trip downtown that I "promised" that I'd be there on Thanksgiving. But then when I got there yesterday I couldn't find some of them. In fact, I had somewhat of a hard time finding some folks. I had made up a big pot of pasta and even took a little more than I usually do, so it becomes imperative that you hit one spot where there are 4-6 people around and hopefully others will come walking by. One place off 14th and Central a woman by the name of Kesha told me that some other missions groups had been by already. But places like where she was have about 15 or more people living in make-shift shelters and I don't have enough to feed that many in one stop and still have enough to help the 'solo's and 'couples' that I know in other areas. I also need a way to keep a big pot of food hot for the duration of the trip, so I need to find people quickly before things get cold. Anyway, enough of logistics...
I couldn't find Antonio and Leticia, but I did find Hope on the little street off Venice Ave and Los Angeles. Now usually there are 4-6 folks here, but yesterday there were only two. Everyone else was mysteriously not there when I came by at 10:30 am. Hope was there and another man whose name was David. He was originally from Shreveport, Louisiana by way of Odessa, Texas. He's always talking to himself and I kind of wondered about him, yet when I started talking to him (and called him by name) he responded like he was present and accounted for! Hope told me someone had taken her little suitcase with the wheels on it and most all her 'good' belongings. I had one blanket with me and gave it to her and she got to "reload" with some of the stuff I had in the back of the car. I had a fair amount of men's shirts so Dave got in on that action. Incidentally, Dave came up to the car as soon as I pulled up. I gave out a bowl of pasta to each of them. Dave started eating his immediately and didn't stop until he had finished it. That was his Thanksgiving Dinner. For that matter it was, no doubt, Hope's too. The pasta is good, I put a lot of good stuff in it, but compared to a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner it doesn't compare. It's almost embarrassing to me that it becomes the 'stand in' for a special meal like Thanksgiving. One day I pray I can do so much more for them. Oh, one other thing happened while I was with them. I had just finished praying with them when a car pulled up. There were three people in the car that I could see and they were handing out small blankets to the homeless. I had draped the blanket I gave Hope around her shoulders. They gave her one and Dave one and drove off. Hope then gave the one she got from them to Dave.
Well, one of the other stops that was memorable happened down by 25th and San Pedro Ave. This was near the corner where I had put on a dinner on a Sunday afternoon in November two years ago. It was the Sunday after my birthday and one of my most enjoyable BBQ/dinners I had done over the years. Well, there's nobody living on that corner anymore and for a while they relocated to an alley just up the street on San Pedro. Then about a year ago the police/city workers ran them out of there too. I drive down there because sometimes during the daytime some of the old crew hang out there. I drove down there yesterday, but no one was in the alley either. I came out the other end of the alley and started slowly driving down the street. There are cars parked all along the street to where you can't really see anything or anyone on the sidewalks due to all the cars. But a couple of women who sometimes hang out in the alley saw me driving by and called out to me by name. I stopped at the curb at the end of the street (in the red zone) and they came down to me. I gave out some food and they went through the clothes in the back of the car and we talked for a while. I had gotten out and was standing with them at the back of the car and prayed with them. I had my arms around both of them like they were my little girls. I can't really describe how much I loved them in that moment. I'm sure they felt it too. When I was done I asked them if they had seen Becky anywhere (another homeless woman in that area). They told me where she probably was and one of them described the location as "down there across the street from where we had your birthday party!" I couldn't believe she remembered that. On that day two years ago, when the meal was done and I was all packed up and ready to leave, I gathered the people who had stayed and helped me til the end and I prayed with them. When I finished they all started singing me Happy Birthday. I'll never forget it! Well anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! Until next time. John
An honor to know you John and hear about your work.
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