The Compton breakthrough-Father's Day 6/18/17

"Our LORD, the nations will honor you, and all kings on earth will praise your glory.  You will rebuild the city of Zion.  Your glory will be seen and the prayers of the homeless will be answered." Psalm 102:16

Well, if you've been following these blogs the last few months you'd know I've been praying for a break-through in the Compton area. I've helped a few people here and there, but haven't found a spot yet where there were several people together at one place and at one time.  I've also come to believe that there will be no break-through until my heart changes.  I need to love Compton the way God loves Compton plain and simple.  To that end, I've been praying that God will give me a love for these folks the way He loves them and that I must be willing to suffer through any short-term difficulties to get to the real prize of connecting their hearts to God's heart.  It's not enough to just be successful at handing out food and clothing, really anyone can to that, but connecting the hearts of people who have been neglected and mistreated to the Father's heart is the real prize.  That's what I'm working towards.  So as I left home for this trip I asked my wife to pray that I would meet people that God wants me to love.  So here's what happened....

It was really hot, over a 100 degrees earlier in the day.  When I arrived at 5:40 pm it had cooled off some.  I had brought about 30 bottles of water on ice and a dozen sandwiches and socks and clothes. I got off the 91 at Central and went north stopping at a small shopping center across from a Home Depot store.  Usually there's at least one or two people there, but yesterday no one was there.  It may have been too hot to sit out in the direct sunlight.  I drove on up Central to the 105 freeway and turned right just after passing it.  I don't remember the name of the street, but it's a main street running parallel and just north to the freeway.  Less than a quarter mile east, past the burger joints and a gas station is a very small street, probably less than 30 yards long.  It goes from the main street there and ends up against the freeway embankment right next to the gas station. There's a vacant lot on the other side of the street.  I sometimes see one maybe two people there and have helped a couple of folks a time or two.  Yesterday, there was one guy that I could see there.  I asked him if he was hungry and he told me he was so I gave him a sandwich.  He pointed to a shopping cart and asked if he could get another one for the "old" guy that lived there.  I said sure and asked him how old the old guy was.  He said he didn't know but that he "acted" old.  We both shared a laugh over that.  He then told me there were some people living behind the fence, just out of sight.  He went over there and called out to them and before long 6 or 8 more people showed up, some from behind the fence and some from the gas station.  The first guy's name was Charles and the second guy who showed up was Peter.  He actually shared a clean joke with me about Moses and George Bush (you may have heard it before).  The cold water was a big hit and so were the socks, particularly the ones with soap inside them.  One of the last people was a woman named Dee.  She told me she actually lived in the projects by Wilmington and Compton Ave. with her daughter.  I told her I usually come by here on Sunday's about this time every week.  I prayed with her before leaving and when I finished she said, "That was a perfect prayer for me."  If you've followed the last couple of blogs you'll remember the comments of some of the others after praying for them.  It is so encouraging to see God's faithfulness in just the way people have commented after praying for them. Well, this was a first for Compton.  All the food gone not only before leaving Compton, but in one stop at that.  Everyone I met was cordial and thankful that I had come by.  I decided to end the trip here and go home.  After all it was Father's Day and if I left then (6 pm) I could get home to my wife and daughter with some daylight hours left.

So I turned around and got back on the main street going west and turned back on Central to get on the 105 freeway.  I was the first car in line to make a left turn and in the left of the two left turn lanes getting on the freeway.  Other cars were coming up behind me and to the right of me.  All of the sudden my car was jolted from behind by the car directly behind me.  I think the driver of the car was distracted and took their foot off the brake and the car idled forward into me.  Well now the light turned green and I had no choice but to start driving on the freeway on ramp.  It took some doing to get over to the right side of the on ramp and stop.  The car behind me that hit me just kept going.  I got out and looked at the damage which appeared minimal.  The license plate frame was busted and the license plate was dented along with the hatch door.  There was a pretty good scratch on the back bumper too.  My only concern now was whether the back hatch door was going to open OK or not, but I couldn't stay there on the freeway on ramp to check it out.  I got back in the car and drove home. Luckily, I'm not the type of guy that freaks-out over a dent in my car (it's 15 years old anyway).  I just want everything working and having the back hatch door open correctly is important on these trips. So here I am on my way home with what should be a trip to praise God for the break-through here in Compton.  It took a few minutes though to realize how Satan likes to try to rob us of our joy and then I got over it.  So after getting past the initial irritation of the rear-end job I started thinking about the folks I had just met and how happy and gracious they all were to me.  I started thinking about their lives there at the bottom of the freeway, some out of sight behind a fence and started thinking how heartbroken God must be that His children are living like that.  Here we are in America, the land of plenty and these folks are in the middle of the land of need.  I started tearing-up over it in the car. I then realized how God had answered two more prayer requests at the top of this blog.  My prayer request to find people to love on this trip and my heart for the people of Compton.  God is faithful. 

Until next time ---John