Tonight we went to Skid Row right in the heart of Downtown LA to feed some of the people living on the streets. For a handful of the international students, it was their first time actually interacting with homeless folks. For some who had been with us before, even deeper lessons surfaced.
We were only there for less than a couple hours, but this relatively small experience definitely served to open up our perspectives to see how "NEED" is definitely a relative term!
For some, it was surprising to find how much they had in common with the folks who would most likely be sleeping right on the streets we drove through. We handed out some hot rice and pork curry, bottled water, and some clothes, also were able to talk to some of the folks as we served them.
One man I met had lived in Skid Row for 6 years. He had been on cocaine and meth because his life had hit rock bottom when his father committed suicide and he had lost the businesses he owned to the recession. He is now trying to get clean off drugs, and start his life again.
I met another man whose hands were super cold. I gave him my long-sleeved work shirt and offered to pray for him. As I was praying, I saw an image of a bridge or a freeway overpass. At first, he was at the bottom, but then the view shifted to the top and there was a magnificent view of the Downtown buildings. I didn't know if that meant anything to him, but just prayed generally that God would carry him through the low times, and be with him as he walks the streets. When I had finished praying, his face lit up with shock. He exclaimed that he used to live and sleep under a bridge just like the one I had described. After a while, he had moved further upwards from the bottom of the bridge, but is now trying to get away from there because of the danger in the area. He shared how he had gone to Bible school, and was a follower of Jesus, and almost immediately livened up to meet and introduce himself to some of the other students nearby!
Simple words cannot describe the feelings of overwhelming excitement, knowing that Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-40 are becoming very real and concrete to the students who came out tonight.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep at his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
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