On Saturday morning, I went to Skid Row. Skid Row is approx. 10 blocks and within those 10 blocks approx. 8,000 people living on the sreets.
I started out going with the mentality of work...Don't get killed while stilll trying to get the picture. It is dangerous to take pictures because the people on the street don't like their pictures being taken. As we walked around, handing out lunches, the people just swarmed to us. I really didn't expect that and it was a shock really...I thought that we were going to have to go up to people and ask if they wanted lunch. We went there to do more than just handing out food. We went there to try and build relationships with some people. I have always wanted to be one who can talk to people. I hear stories of people (friends) who can go up to someone, and basically get that person's life story. I have always wanted that...however, I have found that this gift is something that is easy for some, but others have to work on it. At skid row, i realized that i am developing that in myself. I met a woman named Marie. She is 50 years old and living on Skid Row. She was oringinally from Seattle Washington, and then moved to Pheonix and Tuscon for about 20 years. She has been in L.A. for about a year and a half now. It was amazing to just sit and listen to her talk. She told me where her family is from and how she got on the streets. She then went on to talk about how she wanted to pray, and read her Bible, but she felt like there was a spiritual barrier that was stopping her. I asked her if she knew Jesus as her personal savior and she said no...so that led into a whole other conversation. God blessed me so much by going to skid row, and I am so glad that I was able to meet Marie. It breaks my heart to see all those people, who have stories, who have hearts and souls, out on the streets of Skid Row. Even though i feel this way, doesn't mean that I am going to go out and try to save everybody. I (and others) cannot feel guilty about the fact that we live in nice things and they don't. All we can do is help them out as much as possible and then of course remembering them when we petition the Lord. They need our prayers as much as our best friend does.
I started out going with the mentality of work...Don't get killed while stilll trying to get the picture. It is dangerous to take pictures because the people on the street don't like their pictures being taken. As we walked around, handing out lunches, the people just swarmed to us. I really didn't expect that and it was a shock really...I thought that we were going to have to go up to people and ask if they wanted lunch. We went there to do more than just handing out food. We went there to try and build relationships with some people. I have always wanted to be one who can talk to people. I hear stories of people (friends) who can go up to someone, and basically get that person's life story. I have always wanted that...however, I have found that this gift is something that is easy for some, but others have to work on it. At skid row, i realized that i am developing that in myself. I met a woman named Marie. She is 50 years old and living on Skid Row. She was oringinally from Seattle Washington, and then moved to Pheonix and Tuscon for about 20 years. She has been in L.A. for about a year and a half now. It was amazing to just sit and listen to her talk. She told me where her family is from and how she got on the streets. She then went on to talk about how she wanted to pray, and read her Bible, but she felt like there was a spiritual barrier that was stopping her. I asked her if she knew Jesus as her personal savior and she said no...so that led into a whole other conversation. God blessed me so much by going to skid row, and I am so glad that I was able to meet Marie. It breaks my heart to see all those people, who have stories, who have hearts and souls, out on the streets of Skid Row. Even though i feel this way, doesn't mean that I am going to go out and try to save everybody. I (and others) cannot feel guilty about the fact that we live in nice things and they don't. All we can do is help them out as much as possible and then of course remembering them when we petition the Lord. They need our prayers as much as our best friend does.
