Downtown 11/13/2011

"The LORD took note and listened (to those who still revered Him)... They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them....Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him."--Malachi 3:16-13

Yesterday's message in church was, in part, on this passage from the prophet Malachi. The prophet was concerned that the wicked were prospering and the righteous were struggling and the the 'people' were getting an impression of God that He didn't care or wasn't going to do anything about the increase in lawlessness that was rampant in society. Sounds familiar doesn't it? God's response was, "Just you wait and see what happens when I put things right." The inference was for the people who continue to follow the ways of God to keep it up. Don't succumb to the way the society is going. Keep on keeping on. As the morning at church ended and opportunities to do other things came up it was tempting to just 'take the rest of the day off'. I had bought food to take downtown the night before and had everything ready to go there, yet I was feeling kind of lazy. As it turned out I went on downtown shortly after getting home even though I was pretty tired. I drove on down to Lincoln Park and rested in my car for about a half an hour and finally got started looking for people to help at around 3 p.m. Since this is the first trip after daylight savings time ended, I was only going to have about 2 hours of daylight left and needed to get going. The first 4 or 5 people I gave food to were needy enough, but I didn't end up praying with anyone and I felt the trip was being wasted. I stopped at the Jack in the Box to get a cup of coffee and a quick snack, hoping to improve my energy level. As I walked in there was a woman who looked homeless walking out the door. She had a cup of coffee in her hand. I figured that was all she could afford. I ordered, used the rest room and sat down and waited for my order. She had positioned herself by a trash can outside the door and just on the other side of the glass wall where I was sitting. When my order came, two tacos and a cup of coffee, I decided to give one of the tacos to her. Her name was Darlene and she was waiting for someone to give her a ride to a doctor. She didn't say what her ailment was. I commented to her that despite all the grease in the taco, they sure did taste good. She agreed they did.

After leaving there I gave out the last of the food bags and drove over to Cloud Nine Alley. I haven't seen Ray or any evidence of anyone living there in the alley for over a month. I then headed down to skid row. I had driven down there already, but the free parking in front of the police station was full. I was hoping by now there may be a couple of spots open. Somewhere around Olympic and Broadway I saw a most pathetic looking homeless man laying on the corner. His hair was all matted and with his beard you could hardly make out his face. The clothes he had on were the only thing he had. He had nothing else around him except for a styrofoam cup that was empty. I drove around the block to find a place to park near him. When I got out of the car I heard him yelling something, but I couldn't make out what it was. As I got closer someone walked around the corner in front of him and he yelled again. I thought to myself, "Well this could be interesting" as I set a can of soup with a spoon down right in front of him. I told him simply, "This is for you." He grabbed the can of soup and pulled it close to him. I turned to walk back to my car not knowing if the can was going to be thrown at the back of my head. I got to my car and started to drive on down the street. As I drove by where he was sitting on the sidewalk I could see he had already opened the can and was starting to eat out of it. Perhaps a meal in his stomach would calm him down.

I headed on down to skid row and this time found a place to park in front of the police station. Three weeks ago I had noticed a sign on the roof of a corner building on 6th and Los Angeles St. advertising for blankets. I decided to walk down there and check it out. It was still light out, probably around 4:30 p.m. The retail stores in the area were starting to close up, but there were still a lot of people walking around. Los Angeles Street, in particular, was filled with people walking around. I looked from the sidewalk at several of the stores. Most of them in that section were selling various combinations of fabric, rugs, comforters and blankets. None looked to have the kind of blankets I was looking for. I looked across the street at the stores over there and was just about to cross the street when a man came up to me and asked for some help. He had just arrived from Tuscon, Arizona the day before (probably arrived at the El Paso/LA bus depot across from the police station). He had spent the night in the lobby of the police station after he had been beaten up and robbed of the $800.00 he had on him. The police wouldn't let him leave until morning because they feared he might be attacked again by the same people thinking he had more money on him (which he didn't). He was trying to sell me his watch for $3 because he didn't have any money left and didn't want to just ask for a hand-out. I told him I come downtown once a week to help people out just like him, but the food I had was back in my car, parked in front of the police station. So as we walked back to my car together he told me his recent difficulties. He was 63 years old and was a church-going man all his life and was hoping to become an ordained minister. He told me when he saw me he felt the Lord telling him to "Go talk to this man." I gave him some food and clothing. He had a traveling bag and a jacket, but couldn't carry very much more, otherwise I would have given him more food. I gave him the last $10 I had on me and told him to keep his watch. He may need it another day. We prayed, hugged and prayed somemore. He was so thankful that he followed God's 'instructions' (so was I) and approached me for help.

When I left the area and started to process the trip on the way home, I couldn't help but think back to the morning's message at church and how, the prophet Malachi was telling the people to keep following the Lord and His ways that it does make a difference. What would have happened to this man, his name is Everett Whaley, if I hadn't gone down there. What would have happened if Everett hadn't been obedient and approached me for help. Yes, God could have used someone else to help him. But this way, we both know he was helped. We were both blessed and encouraged by the encounter. It was a privilege to be a part of it.--Until next week--John

10/30/2011-Downtown-Don't Pass Me By

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed. Although, they cannot repay you, you will be repayed..." --Luke 14:13-14

It had been nearly eleven months since I did the last barbecue downtown. Yesterday would be the last Sunday of daylight savings time so I picked this weekend to do it again. I had told Willie and Tara Lee that this weekend we'd do it and to invite their friends to come. I even had to go downtown last Wednesday for a work issue and when I was done I drove by their alley to remind them again about the barbecue. Now just so you know, I'm a pretty normal person and I worried about the turn-out the rest of the week. It's quite a project to get all the stuff purchased and in the car and not forget something. Would anyone besides Willie and Tara be there? Would they even be there? It's possible they could be run-off by then. Would too many people show up and I wouldn't have enough food? Jesus may be able to feed the five thousand on five loaves of bread and a couple of fish, but I'm not used to hamburgers multiplying. "Oh Lord, please show up and make this go right!" Well, the day arrived and I packed up my car. I got half-way down there and realized I had everything but the charcoal briquets. Yes I had some at home, but not in the car. I had told them I'd be there between 2 and 3 p.m. Well I would have been there at 2 p.m. but now I was going to have to find a store and buy the briquets. I knew there was a Smart and Final store down there, but wouldn't you know it I couldn't find it now that I was looking for it. I decided to drive by the alley and tell my friends what was happening. As I drove down the alley, EJ was waving to me. Chris was there too and they had set up a coffee table with some newspapers on top of it for me to set up shop. I told them what was happening and they told me where there was a store nearby where I could buy the briquets. On my way out of the alley a woman was standing near a building and she asked me, "Am I too late?" I told her "No, I just need to go to the store real quick and I'll be right back." When I got back it was about 2:45 p.m., she wasn't there but about 8 or 9 men were there. A couple of them I didn't know, but most of them I did know. I had been a little concerned about how to do everything without a table, and the coffee table was a big help, but I could have used a much larger (and higher) table. Anyway, logistically it all worked out, a few other people came by and end the end there were about a dozen people served. You know I had always wanted to do this with a group of homeless folks, but figured that I would have to always set up shop at several different locations to reach people because they don't have transportation. Well, by getting the word out and letting the people that I do know spread the word to their friends it works out OK. We had potato chips, hamburgers, sausages, canned vegetables, cookies and chilled water and soda. Of course, before I left I gave out some chocolate candy for "Halloween".

OK, enough about the logistics....so what really happened? When we think about barbecues, whether they were with our families or with our friends, we usually remember them as being a good time. I so much wanted this day to be a good time and a family-type time for these people. Chris told me he was so looking forward to the barbecue all week that he had gotten there in the morning because he didn't want to miss it. I had wanted to video record some clips, but it just didn't work-out this time. I had bought a small camera on the way down there to do it, but we couldn't figure it out in time to do it. One of the guys yesterday, they call he "Dreds" because he wears his hair that way was able to figure out how to get the camera to take pictures so we could look at them. He told me I had helped him and his girlfriend in this same alley earlier this year. Some of the other guys who came by later I had helped out from time to time. They all knew me, but I didn't recognize all of them right away. When I prayed before we ate, I thanked God for always providing for us. I acknowledged that sometimes the provision comes later than we sometimes hope for and sometimes it isn't what we expected, but we're still standing (there were a lot of groans of acknowledgement at this point) and I still thanked God for that provision. When I finished Tara started singing the chorus to the song, "Don't pass me by". I wasn't real familiar with the song, but looked it up on youtube today. There are a few versions of it, including one done with a mime acting it out (yeah I know you don't like mimes). However, it was this version that finally got the message of the song through to me. It is basically the story of the blind man on the side of the road who won't keep quiet when he hears Jesus is passing by. He makes such a noise to get Jesus' attention that the people standing around tell him to shut-up, but he refuses to keep quiet. Jesus ends up healing the man as He passes by. From a homeless man's perspective it was quite a poignant moment yesterday. Everyone clapped. I told them the last song we sang at church yesterday was "everyone's" favorite song. Someone burted out, "Amazing Grace?" I said, "That's the one." I also told them about something I saw in church that morning that reminded me of them. Before the service starts there is a screen where the announcements are given about upcoming events. One of the screens was an announcemnt for a group for Moms where they get together to pray for their kids and each other. The picture on the screen was of a half a dozen small children with the line, "Mom will you pray for us?" When I saw it I thought of my friends downtown. I told them yesterday, that "I know the police can be your best friend and your worst enemy and so can other homeless people. They too can be your best friend and your worst enemy. I want you to know that I'm your friend and I always pray for you." They told me they knew it and always feel blessed when I come by. I was humbled.

It was about 5:30 p.m. when the last burger was eaten and I then started packing the car up. As is my custom, I prayed with them before leaving. I prayed about how hard the rules and scriptures in the Old Testament are to understand and follow, but how thankful we are that God sent His Son to show us, by example, how to live. It was a memorable day. Everyone ate till they were full, everyone enjoyed the time and there were no harsh words spoken by anyone. It was truly amazing. I give all the praise and glory to God, for without Him I couldn't do this. For it's times like yesterday, that I needed God's Spirit to show up and work on our hearts. I started this ministry because I just wanted to be near were God was working. My only wish is that I had started doing this years sooner. As I have grown spiritually during these last two and a half years, the goal now each week is to simply bring the Kingdom of God to these people, if only for a short time. Yesterday it really happened. --Until next time. John


P.S. I had three cooked burgers left in the end. I stopped by where John Stokes and David live under the freeway on Elwood St. They got the last of them. John has been sick lately and very weak. He didn't have enough energy to go to the Jack in the Box and hustle money for a burger. It's great when even the left-overs meet peoples needs. Below are some pictures from the barbecue.


The picture on the left is of Willie, Chis, EJ and Dred. The one on the right is Willie, Me, Chris and EJ in the front. Dred took the picture. The one below is of Prince and Chris.