"Then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard, then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, 'Here I am.' ...if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. --Isaiah 58:8-9a, 10-11 ..
By now you've probably noticed how an encounter the previous week points me in a direction or location the next week. Last week I helped a couple of young men soliciting help on the corner of Washington Blvd and Grande Vista. Well, I started there this week, but those men weren't there this time. I headed on into the downtown area and helped a couple of people with food who were by an alley off Griffin and Washington.
A friend had given me some extra resources this week so I bought extra food and was looking forward to helping a person here and a person there (one or two isolated folks at a time). Those are kind of my favorite trips, you can have interaction with a lot of people individually. However, I hadn't driven by my friends at 25th and San Pedro in quite a while so I thought I'd drive by and come up the back side and just peek over their way to see if they were still there. I wasn't planning on stopping, just seeing if they were still there. That was the plan... So as I'm driving up San Pedro I'm looking east down the streets and I came to what I thought was 25th and didn't see anyone! I'm a little taken aback by this and decided to drive around the block and check it out again. So I drove up to the next street and turned east down it and realized that this was their street and not the other one. I don't know how I got the streets mixed up. Anyway, I was there and saw everyone and Dave saw me so I parked the car and got out. Now you may remember last week I didn't take any food to my first stop where there were lots of people because I didn't want the trip to be over so quickly. And that was why I wasn't planning on stopping here today. But here I was and there was no turning back.
Dave actually came over and was opening up the back before I even got out of the car. Hiram came over and we hugged. I grabbed the bag of food and started handing out burgers to the others on the sidewalk. There were several people there I didn't know, a couple of women named Judy and a Francis and several other men. Then Becky walked by pushing her shopping cart in the street. I asked her if she was hungry and she said yes. Now I've helped Becky many times before and have probably known her now for four years, but she asked me, "What do I need to do for it?" I said, "Just give me a hug." Becky always has a couple of dogs following her and usually a cat or two in her cart. And, she always insists on giving me some of her homemade lotion. It would be impolite to refuse it, because some of these folks desperately want to give back something of value to me. So I ended up with a napkin-full of her concoction on the front seat. I stayed and talked with everyone for about twenty minutes or so. People kept coming by, but by then all the food was gone. I would direct them to the back of the car to look for clothes. I don't know why, but I had put extra socks in the car and they were all given out by the time I left, probably close to twenty pairs. Coincidence huh? I prayed with a few people separately and with the whole group before I left. I claimed that corner as "His kingdom turf" until I returned. --Until next time. John
Monday, April 27, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Downtown 4/19/2015
I lift up my eyes to the hills--from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forever more.
---Psalm 121
This is a song the Jews would sing on their way up to the temple during their various festivals. Jesus essentially said the same thing before his final assention into heaven to his disciples, except it was more to the point....."And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." --Matthew 28:20b
I ended my last trip late Sunday night a week ago on a small street by a freeway off-ramp. There are about 8-10 people living there now. A couple of the people living there I'm good friends with and we had talked about some of the special needs they have at this time. I got their phone number that night and before I left yesterday I called to make sure they were going to be there. But with that many people at one site it can make stopping by there a little 'difficult'. If I brought my normal amount of food with me, it would be all gone in one stop and the trip would be pretty much over in fifteen or twenty minutes. My ability to gain access to loners on the rest of the trip would be greatly diminished without food. I drove to a nearby parking lot and thought about what to do. If I went on over there without any food and just gave some stuff to the special friends, the others might be hurt and offended. If I spent all my resources on one stop, the trip would be over. I thought about calling and having them meet me in the parking lot, but I figured that might end up being seen as not wanting to see everyone else and that might have ramifications in the weeks to come. So I prayed about it. "Lord, what would you have me do?" I decided to let the Lord handle the situation. I was gong to go over there without any food, give my friends the stuff that was specific to their needs, let the others go through the clothes (they were mostly women's clothes this week) and let God handle their hearts. It worked out perfectly! No one else even asked if I had any food. I did have some water in the front seat and a few asked for some water, but no one asked for any food. Two or three men looked through the clothes in the back, but that was it. I didn't see any women there and so not many clothes were even given out. The exchange with my 'special needs friends' went off without a problem. Whew! Praise the Lord
Now the rest of the trip could begin. I drove over to the Carl's Jr at Soto and Washington and bought the food, then started going to a couple of places around there where I've helped people recently. No one was at those places, but when I got to Grande Vista and Washington I saw a young man standing on the turn lane island holding up a sign asking for help. I was about to drive west on Washington and turned onto the street that way, but decided to do a U-turn and drive back to this guy. His name was Elijah. He was absolutely overjoyed that I had some food and water. He told me his roommate was they guy standing on one of the other islands and he had just lost his job and they were pretty desperate for money. I had given him two burgers thinking they would be just for him, but he took off to share them with his buddy. I had to turn left for the green arrow at this point, but circled back to give them two more burgers and some more water. The other guy's name was Anthony. They were so thankful. I felt so blessed to be able to help them in their time of distress. Wow! Praise the Lord.
There were a couple of other guys (Louis and Carlos) in alleys down by Washington and Long Beach. Carlos is a good friend of mine. He is from Nicaragua and is sixty one years old. He works on a sewing machine sewing pants all day Monday through Friday. He's always alone, never married and no children. He's a very pleasant man. I wish I could do more for him. He has never accepted food from me, only water ...and prayer.
The next guy I saw was Arleo. I hadn't seen him in over a year. The last time he was feeling very depressed and wanted to end things. Since then he had gotten a pretty good driving job and had a girlfriend, but when he lost his job he lost her too. Now he was back out on the street (an alley in this case). He was in the same 'shelter' as Derek, but Derek had gone to jail a couple of weeks ago. We talked for a while about broken relationships and how no matter how many times you go through it, its never easy. I prayed with him and told him I cared and God loves him. He was smiling when I left. The food I gave him he ate while we talked---he was hungry.
There were two Latino men on a small street off Pico and Olive named Carlos and Jose (go figure). I usually see them on corner of a small street by Venice and Los Angeles St, but here they were. They usually have been drinking beers and yesterday was no exception. However, they were happy to see me and have me pray for them! They always are respectful and call me Pappa.
At this point I had four burgers left. I decided to go see Antonio and Leticia, they live on Trinity St. The only problem is there are several others living in RV's at the end of the street. I didn't have enough food for everyone (same problem I started the trip with). I drove through a series of alleys which come out right across the street from where these two stay. I stopped with a building blocking the view of the folks down the street and motioned for Antonio and Leticia to come over to me which they did. Leticia asked where I had been lately and I told them I had been having to work on my weekends, but I had stopped by late last Sunday at around 9:45 pm. I saw them sleeping on the sidewalk and called out to them softly, but they didn't wake up. Leticia nearly always asks me to pray for them and this time I asked if there was anything special she wanted prayer for. She simply asked for prayer for her and her sons. I didn't know she had sons and I didn't ask where they were... but I will next time I see her. --Until then. John
My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forever more.
---Psalm 121
This is a song the Jews would sing on their way up to the temple during their various festivals. Jesus essentially said the same thing before his final assention into heaven to his disciples, except it was more to the point....."And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." --Matthew 28:20b
I ended my last trip late Sunday night a week ago on a small street by a freeway off-ramp. There are about 8-10 people living there now. A couple of the people living there I'm good friends with and we had talked about some of the special needs they have at this time. I got their phone number that night and before I left yesterday I called to make sure they were going to be there. But with that many people at one site it can make stopping by there a little 'difficult'. If I brought my normal amount of food with me, it would be all gone in one stop and the trip would be pretty much over in fifteen or twenty minutes. My ability to gain access to loners on the rest of the trip would be greatly diminished without food. I drove to a nearby parking lot and thought about what to do. If I went on over there without any food and just gave some stuff to the special friends, the others might be hurt and offended. If I spent all my resources on one stop, the trip would be over. I thought about calling and having them meet me in the parking lot, but I figured that might end up being seen as not wanting to see everyone else and that might have ramifications in the weeks to come. So I prayed about it. "Lord, what would you have me do?" I decided to let the Lord handle the situation. I was gong to go over there without any food, give my friends the stuff that was specific to their needs, let the others go through the clothes (they were mostly women's clothes this week) and let God handle their hearts. It worked out perfectly! No one else even asked if I had any food. I did have some water in the front seat and a few asked for some water, but no one asked for any food. Two or three men looked through the clothes in the back, but that was it. I didn't see any women there and so not many clothes were even given out. The exchange with my 'special needs friends' went off without a problem. Whew! Praise the Lord
Now the rest of the trip could begin. I drove over to the Carl's Jr at Soto and Washington and bought the food, then started going to a couple of places around there where I've helped people recently. No one was at those places, but when I got to Grande Vista and Washington I saw a young man standing on the turn lane island holding up a sign asking for help. I was about to drive west on Washington and turned onto the street that way, but decided to do a U-turn and drive back to this guy. His name was Elijah. He was absolutely overjoyed that I had some food and water. He told me his roommate was they guy standing on one of the other islands and he had just lost his job and they were pretty desperate for money. I had given him two burgers thinking they would be just for him, but he took off to share them with his buddy. I had to turn left for the green arrow at this point, but circled back to give them two more burgers and some more water. The other guy's name was Anthony. They were so thankful. I felt so blessed to be able to help them in their time of distress. Wow! Praise the Lord.
There were a couple of other guys (Louis and Carlos) in alleys down by Washington and Long Beach. Carlos is a good friend of mine. He is from Nicaragua and is sixty one years old. He works on a sewing machine sewing pants all day Monday through Friday. He's always alone, never married and no children. He's a very pleasant man. I wish I could do more for him. He has never accepted food from me, only water ...and prayer.
The next guy I saw was Arleo. I hadn't seen him in over a year. The last time he was feeling very depressed and wanted to end things. Since then he had gotten a pretty good driving job and had a girlfriend, but when he lost his job he lost her too. Now he was back out on the street (an alley in this case). He was in the same 'shelter' as Derek, but Derek had gone to jail a couple of weeks ago. We talked for a while about broken relationships and how no matter how many times you go through it, its never easy. I prayed with him and told him I cared and God loves him. He was smiling when I left. The food I gave him he ate while we talked---he was hungry.
There were two Latino men on a small street off Pico and Olive named Carlos and Jose (go figure). I usually see them on corner of a small street by Venice and Los Angeles St, but here they were. They usually have been drinking beers and yesterday was no exception. However, they were happy to see me and have me pray for them! They always are respectful and call me Pappa.
At this point I had four burgers left. I decided to go see Antonio and Leticia, they live on Trinity St. The only problem is there are several others living in RV's at the end of the street. I didn't have enough food for everyone (same problem I started the trip with). I drove through a series of alleys which come out right across the street from where these two stay. I stopped with a building blocking the view of the folks down the street and motioned for Antonio and Leticia to come over to me which they did. Leticia asked where I had been lately and I told them I had been having to work on my weekends, but I had stopped by late last Sunday at around 9:45 pm. I saw them sleeping on the sidewalk and called out to them softly, but they didn't wake up. Leticia nearly always asks me to pray for them and this time I asked if there was anything special she wanted prayer for. She simply asked for prayer for her and her sons. I didn't know she had sons and I didn't ask where they were... but I will next time I see her. --Until then. John
Monday, April 13, 2015
4/12/205-Downtown late Sunday night
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I; send me!' And he said, 'Go....'" Isaiah 6:8,9a
For the last three weekends I've had to cover for someone at work and the night shift at that. Yesterday, Sunday, I had to work also, but at least it was the day shift. So, since I hadn't been able to make a trip in a month I was hopeful of going downtown after work. I knew I probably wouldn't feel up to it really, but I also knew I would be without a car all day Monday and in the hospital Tuesday and then back to work on Wednesday. So Sunday night was going to be about the only opportunity available. All day Sunday at work I kind of went back and forth about whether to go or not. The car wasn't loaded up so I was going to have to stop by home and I knew if I stopped by home the desire to stay home would be great, but I managed to weather that temptation and left for downtown sometime after 8:30 pm. I stopped by a Carl's Jr to pick up some food for the trip and while I waited for the order to come I started reading my bible. For the last several years I've been reading through the bible each year. Saturday night I had read the first five chapters of Isaiah. So when I sat down to wait for the order to come (I was reading a different bible than the one the night before), I was somewhat amazed when it opened up right where I had left off in the bible at home the night before. I had been intending to read something out of one of the gospels in the New Testament, but here I was in the exact spot where I finished the night before. Isaiah 6 is the chapter that begins with, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up," . Just a few verses later is the passage I quoted above where Isaiah volunteers to be sent to speak to the people of Israel. It was as if the Lord was confirming to me that, "Yes you will go John." and he knew all along that I would go last night... It's was just so eerie.
Well, I didn't arrive downtown until after 9 pm. The problem with getting there so late is that most of the people who are by themselves are already bundled up and asleep under whatever kind of blankets they have. I initially looked in a couple of places for some folks I know and came up empty, so I started to get a little concerned about how things were going to go. The first guy I helped was Arnold who was sitting on the sidewalk on Pico Ave. He was still awake and confirmed that he was hungry. Another 'problem' with going so late is you really don't get to talk to people too much when you're just driving up and passing food and water through the window, unless you know them. The first few people I helped I didn't know. Driving south on Maple from Pico I helped another man walking slowly up the street named Richard and then somewhere near Maple and Olympic I saw a man starting to get his bedroll ready for the night and I called out to him and asked if he was hungry. His name was Anthony and he asked for some extra food for his wife. Can you imagine going to bed hungry on a sidewalk with your wife? God is the expert on timing!
I drove on over to an area where I've had BBQ's before and looked for Leticia and Anthony. They were both asleep when I found them and didn't wake up when I gently called out to them. However, down the street from them was a woman named Lee who I've helped before and she pointed to another man across the street named Albert Butler. I prayed with him because he was very receptive to me being there. The more people open up to you, especially at night, the more you can give out the kingdom.
I now only had four burgers left and decided to drive over to where John Stokes lives. I wasn't quite sure how many people would be there and when I got there there were lots of people there, like maybe a dozen or so. There was quite a bit of activity going on and it was out into the street. I slowly drove passed the majority of the crowd and homeless shelters looking for John's place, but I really didn't see his. Usually, there is a little space from one place to the next, but it seemed like everyone was right next to each other (like an apartment complex). Anyway,about the point where I was about to stop I heard a woman calling out to me. It turned out to be Nicole (the woman who had the baby back in October). She came up to the window and we talked for several minutes. She said her husband Bill recognized my car going by and said, "Hey, there's that church guy." She told me what was going on there with everyone and that she didn't want me to walk into what was happening there without me knowing about it. Little does she know about my younger days... Anyway, we talked about what her and her baby's needs were and I got her new phone number. I plan on calling her next Sunday before I go down there to make sure I can find her. She told me the place where we had the BBQ under the freeway around the corner from there the police had run everyone off. Willie, who lived directly across from where we set the BBQ up, was in jail on a parole violation and she and her husband had gotten a ticket for "obstructing the sidewalk" there. I ended up giving her a couple of blankets (she practically begged me for them) and the rest of the burgers. I told her she could decide who gets them. When we parted I told her, "Nicole, Jesus loves you." To which she replied back somewhat emphatically, "Jesus loves you." I'm looking forward to next week's trip. Until next time. John
For the last three weekends I've had to cover for someone at work and the night shift at that. Yesterday, Sunday, I had to work also, but at least it was the day shift. So, since I hadn't been able to make a trip in a month I was hopeful of going downtown after work. I knew I probably wouldn't feel up to it really, but I also knew I would be without a car all day Monday and in the hospital Tuesday and then back to work on Wednesday. So Sunday night was going to be about the only opportunity available. All day Sunday at work I kind of went back and forth about whether to go or not. The car wasn't loaded up so I was going to have to stop by home and I knew if I stopped by home the desire to stay home would be great, but I managed to weather that temptation and left for downtown sometime after 8:30 pm. I stopped by a Carl's Jr to pick up some food for the trip and while I waited for the order to come I started reading my bible. For the last several years I've been reading through the bible each year. Saturday night I had read the first five chapters of Isaiah. So when I sat down to wait for the order to come (I was reading a different bible than the one the night before), I was somewhat amazed when it opened up right where I had left off in the bible at home the night before. I had been intending to read something out of one of the gospels in the New Testament, but here I was in the exact spot where I finished the night before. Isaiah 6 is the chapter that begins with, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up," . Just a few verses later is the passage I quoted above where Isaiah volunteers to be sent to speak to the people of Israel. It was as if the Lord was confirming to me that, "Yes you will go John." and he knew all along that I would go last night... It's was just so eerie.
Well, I didn't arrive downtown until after 9 pm. The problem with getting there so late is that most of the people who are by themselves are already bundled up and asleep under whatever kind of blankets they have. I initially looked in a couple of places for some folks I know and came up empty, so I started to get a little concerned about how things were going to go. The first guy I helped was Arnold who was sitting on the sidewalk on Pico Ave. He was still awake and confirmed that he was hungry. Another 'problem' with going so late is you really don't get to talk to people too much when you're just driving up and passing food and water through the window, unless you know them. The first few people I helped I didn't know. Driving south on Maple from Pico I helped another man walking slowly up the street named Richard and then somewhere near Maple and Olympic I saw a man starting to get his bedroll ready for the night and I called out to him and asked if he was hungry. His name was Anthony and he asked for some extra food for his wife. Can you imagine going to bed hungry on a sidewalk with your wife? God is the expert on timing!
I drove on over to an area where I've had BBQ's before and looked for Leticia and Anthony. They were both asleep when I found them and didn't wake up when I gently called out to them. However, down the street from them was a woman named Lee who I've helped before and she pointed to another man across the street named Albert Butler. I prayed with him because he was very receptive to me being there. The more people open up to you, especially at night, the more you can give out the kingdom.
I now only had four burgers left and decided to drive over to where John Stokes lives. I wasn't quite sure how many people would be there and when I got there there were lots of people there, like maybe a dozen or so. There was quite a bit of activity going on and it was out into the street. I slowly drove passed the majority of the crowd and homeless shelters looking for John's place, but I really didn't see his. Usually, there is a little space from one place to the next, but it seemed like everyone was right next to each other (like an apartment complex). Anyway,about the point where I was about to stop I heard a woman calling out to me. It turned out to be Nicole (the woman who had the baby back in October). She came up to the window and we talked for several minutes. She said her husband Bill recognized my car going by and said, "Hey, there's that church guy." She told me what was going on there with everyone and that she didn't want me to walk into what was happening there without me knowing about it. Little does she know about my younger days... Anyway, we talked about what her and her baby's needs were and I got her new phone number. I plan on calling her next Sunday before I go down there to make sure I can find her. She told me the place where we had the BBQ under the freeway around the corner from there the police had run everyone off. Willie, who lived directly across from where we set the BBQ up, was in jail on a parole violation and she and her husband had gotten a ticket for "obstructing the sidewalk" there. I ended up giving her a couple of blankets (she practically begged me for them) and the rest of the burgers. I told her she could decide who gets them. When we parted I told her, "Nicole, Jesus loves you." To which she replied back somewhat emphatically, "Jesus loves you." I'm looking forward to next week's trip. Until next time. John
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