"Moses and Aaron, together with Nadab and Abihu (Aaron's sons) and the seventy leaders, went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something that looked like a pavement made out of sapphire, and it was as bright as the sky. Even though these leaders of Israel saw God, he did not punish them. So they ate and drank." Exodus 24:9-11--This was immediately after God had ratified his agreement with the children of Israel at Mt Sinai.
Well, where do I begin with this blog? This is only my seventh blog of the year (although I've made a lot more trips than that) and most likely my last blog for the year. I usually try and make a special trip on Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year on Thanksgiving I had gotten up very early and started preparing food to take, but starting feeling dizzy and nauseous and ended up in the hospital for a day and a half. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I didn't make a trip due to health issues and schedule problems (I'm back working nights for the next 4 months). So if I want to make a trip on a Sunday, I can only sleep about 3 1/2 to 4 hours and then wake up and get ready....quickly, before the sun goes down. Since this Christmas fell on a Monday and I was going to be stretched pretty thin getting around to all the family gatherings, I decided to try and make the trip on Sunday, Christmas Eve instead. There are a few extra obstacles these days with making a big pot of pasta to take with me. Back in June I was about to start making some to take downtown when the electric stove quit working. It was a little more involved than that, but essentially I have no working stove or oven. I have one electric burner, a microwave and a crock pot. We have a big crock pot and a smaller crock pot. My wife was using the big one for something else. The crock pot is what I use to make the sauce. The small crock pot isn't big enough to hold everything. Now you ladies will be able to relate to preparing a meal for company and trying to get everything "ready and hot" at the same time and on the table. I'm trying to get them all hot at once and in the big pot I take at the same time. So the car has to be ready and loaded with all the other stuff I take (blankets, clothes and shoes) as well as the bowls, spoons and water etc. It's a job coordinating everything all by itself and I'm not as physically capable as I used to be. Anyway, I got it all together and left at about 3:30-3:45 pm. I hadn't gotten too far down the road before I realized I forgot my phone. It was too late to go back, but also this means no pictures now ( a huge bummer). I'm almost into Los Angeles when the freeway comes to a complete stop! Time is ticking away and this food isn't going to stay hot forever. After about 10 minutes of being stopped people started making their way to the Whittier/Lorena off-ramp on the 60 right before the 10/101/5 split. Eventually, I was able to get over from the second lane from the left and get off the freeway like everyone else was doing. So now I had to make the rest of the way via surface streets. One thing about delays.....it gives you a chance to get prayed up before things start. So I had been praying and asking God to bring people together at 10th St and San Pedro and prepare their hearts. This is a spot I've served people many times in the last 3 or 4 years. I had a most memorable encounter with a woman named Natalie a couple of Christmas's ago who needed a jacket. So here's what happened this time.
As I pulled onto 10th St I saw about 4-5 people on the south side of the street. I didn't recognize these people and sometimes there are people standing around there from the businesses on that street and they aren't homeless. But on the other side of the street I saw "my people". There were about eight people on the sidewalk and in two cars parked at the curb. Red, Debbie and Chris were there, a couple living in a van that I had met the last time I was down there and a couple of other folks who I recognized, but didn't remember their names. As I slowly drove up I called out to them and pulled on down the street and turned around so I could park on their side. It's hard to put into words how incredible the Spirit of the Lord was at this time. Needless to say I felt very welcomed. The Lord had prepared their hearts for my visit. Those of you who live in the Southern California area know how cold for us it has been here in the last 10 days or so. I had 7 blankets with me. Before I even said anything about food they were asking for the blankets. I asked Chris where his tent was and he told me it had been stolen. I had given him a tarp the last time down because his tent had some leaks in it. Now he and Debbie are just sleeping on the sidewalk in the open air. It must be miserable at night. I gave out about three or four blankets initially and then started serving food while it was still hot. Several other homeless folks with shopping carts wandered by and I served them too. One of those was named Junior. He instantly felt a connection with me. Now most of the people I serve are of a different ethnicity than I am. I really don't think about it much because to me the streets of downtown Los Angeles are like home to me. I drove these streets many years ago when I drove trucks and I'm so familiar with them that its like being 'in the neighborhood' to me. This city of Los Angeles is such a diverse city that I just don't think about those kinds of differences. We're all here and we can all respect each other. Well Junior made a comment that alluded to me being different than the rest of them. It was a complement. He told me, "Its not often that someone from a different ethnic group comes into another group. It shows that you're fearless or God is with you." I know God has placed me here to serve these people. I may not always be fearless, but I do feel comfortable walking into a group of people and asking if they need any help. The food, the clothes and the water help me to gain access to them and facilitate connecting their hearts with God's heart. I remember seeing an interview with Bono the lead singer for the rock bank U2 (for those of you who don't know him or the band they are one of the biggest bands and Bono is known for being a proponent of the disadvantaged). He said in this interview that "People want to know if God will bless their work. Well we know God will bless work done to help the poor, widows and orphans." He's right. It really is a no-brainer. This work has been the absolute joy and passion of my life. I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.
I served up most all the food at this stop and gave out all 7 blankets. The folks picked through the clothes in the back of the car and I prayed with the whole group. Yes, they all gathered around when I prayed for them. I had gone back to the car and had gotten in when another woman came by, so I got out again and let her go through the clothes in the back. Before I left Red asked me to pray again specifically for Debbie because she was having some health problems (he didn't elaborate). He told me to "We need you to do what you do (pray)......for her." Of course, I was more than willing. I received many thank you's and God bless you's and hugs from these folks (even the men!). How can you not love this work. I told them I was going to be receiving some items at my Mom's the next night and included in those things were going to be some tarps. They were pretty excited about that. I didn't have much food left. As it turned out I had about 2 1/2 bowls of pasta left and not many clothes left either. Most of them women's clothes. I drove on over to another little street off the I-10 at Los Angeles St and gave out the rest of the food and let them pick through what was left of the clothes and I prayed with them too. There were three guys there so it worked out just about perfectly. When I take sandwiches down here you can take just about as long as you need to because the sandwiches aren't hot. If I bring pasta, it's imperative that you find a group of people so you can give it away as quickly as possible while it's still hot. Sunday's trip could not have gone much more perfectly than it did. I'm just sorry I forgot my phone and couldn't take any pictures.
OK, so you might be wondering about the scripture passage I opened with. It is a rather obscure passage in the old Testament. It has always intrigued me. First, because they 'saw' God and lived. There are a couple of explanations as to how and why this happened, but not important for us here. The main thing about this passage for me and as it relates to Sunday's trip is the connection to, strangely enough, the announcement of the birth of Jesus. You may recall how in Matthew 1 Joseph is told by an angel to go ahead and marry Mary because the baby is a fulfillment of the prophecy that a "virgin will have a baby boy and he will be called Immanuel," which means "God with us". This passage above from Exodus is the only account we have of living humans, being with God so they experienced, "God with us". Sunday was a different experience, but no less an experience of the "Spirit of God with us." I'm sorry I am unable to explain it in a way that you could feel it like everyone else there did. But we were all truly blessed by it. --Until next time John
PS. Before I sign-off, I want to thank everyone who has contributed this year to making these trips a blessing to me and the folks downtown. It is truly a community effort. I hope to continue doing this as long as I am able. Please pray for my health to improve and for my homeless friends downtown.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
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