Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Part 1: December 25, 2008 - Ground Zero

My family went out to the corner of 6th ave/S Henderson off the Seminary road to a TEXAS CAR WASH place in a dead end street to feed a group of homeless people. There were about 20 people, and we had the opportunity to cook macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, green bean casserole, and cookies for them. We learned many stories. Scarlett, Jesse, Johnny Anthony, Rick, and Martin were some of the men I remembered.

A fight broke out between two clans as 3 homeless guys from another area came by to try and steal the food, but their intentions were good, but everyone was selfishly trying to keep the food to themselves. Everyone had a story. Scarlett had 7 children and 2 ex husbands. She thought she was fat so she chose not to take the food until I served them. Her youngest child was 7, and they all don't go to school. They stay home with one of her lovers who's 345lbs so she says. She had so many needs, and she cried at the sight of a meal. Johnny Anthony is an alcohol/drug addict. He was the rich one in the bunch. He had an ex wife who chased him out of the house because he had a compulsive addiction. He had two kids. They were in California, one who was a starting corner back in high school, and the other a cheerleader. He was happy for them, but sad that he could not see them no more. He continued to offer us money throughout the whole time. Eventually he gave us $22 dollars which we will in turn use that to feed all of them.

Rick was a war-veteran. He had two purple hearts. He fought in Guam and showed me many knife wounds in high stomach and legs. He has since healed but limps around. He was the meanest of the bunch, but I felt I loved him the most. Jesse was the new one in the block. He seemed to know the Lord. He and his friend (forgot his name) asked me to pray for them. He was also a new bum, and does not know the territory. He smokes and has HUGE glasses from the 70s. He was a Cowboys fan as he wore a sweater and told me the Cowboys won't beat the Eagles this week. So I'm thinking that he thinks the cowboys won't make the playoffs this year. Martin was a talker. He was overly religious, and thought all religions should be combined into one.

He told me of his drinking habits, and explained he drank to not get drunk, and was fearful to drink because I was there, but I told them I'm sure there's alot of sorrow to drown out and not to feel guilty just because I'm there; I'm sure if I was given the opportunity and went through the same trials I would do the same. There were others I remember vaguely, like a guy with a black hat, and jacket that was the ring leader. People trusted him the most. He brought all the homeless people over for food. There were others like Alejandro who had a job at a factory, and he comes over frequently to have a beer with the group.

There were others who came in to eat, and then they left. There was a young couple that was married. They ate, and took off. The wife had tears on her eyes. I got to pray with many of them. It was funny that they were all analyzing us. We told them we were from Florida and were Chinese, but they didn't believe us. We had borrowed an Xterra from a friend (Keith), and drove it there and it had a Colorado license plate. We lend our car to a friend to drive to Eldaredo because their car broke down. So they had no reason to believe us. They constantly asked us why we do what we do. All we can say is that Jesus would do the same. We hope to continue this, and possibly make it a ministry so our school would serve them.

No comments:

Post a Comment