"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil and disaster. And God granted him that which he requested." 1 Chronicles 4:10 (This is commonly referred to as the "Prayer of Jabez).
"Attempt something large enough, that failure is guaranteed....unless God steps in." Bruce Wilkinson
Sunday's trip started in Compton again and ended up in the downtown area. On this trip, instead of getting off the 91 freeway at Wilmington, I got off at Central Ave. Central goes all the way into the downtown area. After the trip two Sunday's ago where I got off the freeway at Wilmington Ave I didn't see any homeless folks on that street so I had to switch things up. This trip went much better. I hadn't been driving up this street for too long before I saw about three homeless men in the parking lot of a small corner strip mall. It was a small lot and a there were a lot of cars parked in it, so I drove on passed it for 3 miles or so before I decided that was where I was supposed to start! I drove back there and with a little apprehension I drove into the parking lot. Like I said, there were a lot of cars already parked there and getting near where these men were involved stopping near the drive-out part of the driveway at the other end of the lot. I stopped and called out to them, "Is anyone hungry?" They couldn't hear me at first and I had to repeat myself 2 or 3 times before they heard me and came over to the car. When they did and I started handing out some food, then some men from another direction came over and then some guys I hadn't even seen earlier came over. I gave out 7 or 8 sandwiches and everyone got a couple of pairs of socks. It was a good beginning. I introduced myself to one of the original three that I saw. I told them that I have been making trips to help the homeless for years, but haven't been to this area much and would like to start coming regularly. He said, "Hey, there's lots of homeless here in South Central. They're all over the place here." I told him I'll be back next week and we'll talk some more. I know it will take a few trips before they get used to me coming and realize that I'm not here to receive or get anything from them. So this first time with them I didn't pray with anyone, but got several "God Bless you's" from them. I looked at it as a good start. I just need to make sure I'm back there next Sunday, whether these same guys are there or not.
I drove on up Central and into Los Angeles. I stopped at the burned-out church off 27th and prayed there for a while and then went on up to Washington Blvd. I helped a few more folks with food and had one sandwich left. Now someone at work had given me about 4 or 5 bags of women's clothes and they were about the only clothes I had on this trip. As I drove around many of the familiar streets around 14th and the Jack in the Box area by Alameda I drove by a block long street full of homeless people. Now I usually wouldn't think of stopping here with only one sandwich left, but as I drove by I saw several women standing around on the sidewalk by their "homes". I thought they would probably love to go through these clothes in the back of the car, so I turned around (again) and drove up to them and stopped. Well, it didn't take long before six or so women were going through these clothes. One of them asked me if I used to go over by 25th and San Pedro St. I said,"Yes, I still go over there." I was able to pray with some of these women and probably only had about 10% of the clothes left when everyone was done. On my way to the freeway, I gave out the last sandwich. The car was pretty well cleaned out. On this trip alone I must have given out 50 pairs of socks and several blankets in addition to the clothes and food. It was a good trip in that regard, but I only prayed with maybe four people. However, the first stop and the last stop were the first times I have met with most of these people, so this trip will lay the ground work for upcoming trips. It was great that daylight-savings time has started. Next month, my schedule switches back to nights in the middle of the month, so having the extra daylight will be a big help as I will have to sleep when I get home from work on Sunday mornings. Please pray for these trips into the Compton/South Central area. I so much want to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to these places so they can experience and witness the presence of God at work. --Until next time. John
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
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