and only an overshirt and that was it. Around the corner and back on Olive St. I met Hernando. He was pretty much in exactly the same condition, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. The only difference between the two was he had no piece of cardboard to sleep on. He was so thankful for the help. I prayed with both men but after praying with Hernando he looked up at me thankfully and pointed up to the sky and said, "Jesus prays for you." I guess that was his way of saying "God bless you." How can one not be touched by such a heartfelt response. I kept going down Olive St and then turned down 7th. This is part of the skid row area as you go east on 7th. After passing Alameda I looked for shoeless Marie and found her. She was just walking down the street with no shoes on and a small blanket wrapped around her. It really is shocking the condition of her feet after being barefoot for probably the last fifteen years. Someday I'll try and get another picture of her. I know this woman needs someone to take care of her. Giving her a bag of food to help her get through the next few days seems so inadequate, I just don't know what else I can do for her. Since she seems to live near the skid row missions, I'm sure she frequents them and they are aware of her condition. She is difficult to help because she seems to want to be alone or at least on her own all the time. That may be because she doesn't trust anyone. Pray for Marie.
Back on the west side of Alameda on 7th I found another man with a shopping cart (we're moving up in the world) sleeping on the sidewalk. He was using a large plastic container of water as a pillow. When I walked over to him and bend down to talk to him I could see the bottle of beer laying next to him. He sort of woke up when I started talking to him. His name was Carl. There was a time when if I saw a man in his condition I would have been disgusted and just walked away. But here I am trying to bring the love of Christ to people who are outcasts of society for whatever their reasons may be. I can't refuse to help even the least of these. God loves Carl too. No matter his condition, he was made in the image of God and I am here to bring the presence of God to this man. His response was pretty much what you would expect from someone who had been drinking. Before I drove away I was amazed that he was able to even stand up (and then urinate on the sidewalk). This is life on the street in the skid row area.
After the encounter with Carl I drove up Central Ave towards the I-10 freeway. When I got near Pico I remembered Ben and Kevin from last week and decided to drive down there and see who might be there today. Well I didn't see either of them but I saw a very neat and orderly arrangement of possessions positioned for privacy and warmth (remember it was a little breezy). It turned out this is where Johnny was living. Johnny was a very polite man. While he accepted the bag of food I offered him, he declined the water and blanket I offered him saying he was OK on that. He also declined my offer to pray with him. In the last year I have prayed with
hundreds of people living on the streets of Los Angeles. I have only had two before Johnny decline my offer of prayer. One man I've seen many times and developed a good relationship with and the last time I saw him he wanted to pray for me. The other man I never saw again but I think he was afraid I was going to preach to him which is why the first guy originally declined. Johnny is now the third man to decline. I suspect there are other issues involved concerning his lifestyle that prevent him from feeling "worthy" of prayer. He said, "Maybe another time." I was disappointed. Of course, I prayed for him anyway when I got back to the car. I wondered if he understands the words of John 3:16 that begin with, "Whosoever believes in Jesus..." It doesn't have a disclaimer about the sin in our lives. It simply says, "Whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life." Jesus makes this claim because "God so loved the world that He gave his only Son.." There is no fee or conditions to this gift other than accepting the gift (believing in the One He sent!). I don't want to be the kind of Christian that just runs over these people, for the most part they get run over enough. But next time I'm praying for Johnny anyway, loud enough for him to hear.
Before leaving I wanted to see if I could find (downtown) Richard Brown. He is now situated under the freeway at Hooper St right about where I first saw him a year ago. He was setting up his "house" for the night. He commented that he can't get too cozy or the police will roust him around 4 or 5 in the morning. We had quite a conversation about his difficulties living on the street the last month or so. While talking with Richard, Raul from last week appeared too. They are both living under the freeway there (just like they were a year ago). Raul was very thirsty and needed the water I had. Richard wasn't thirsty at all, because he had been drinking (and was quite talkative because of it). I was glad to see them both. --Until next week. John
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