A Harsh Reminder 01/19/2012
 Bill and Lasalle by William A. Myers Exactly one year ago last Sunday The Myers Family began their Skid Row journey with a gentle nudge from the Lord and a hearty "shove" from our 12 year old daughter Jessica and when Vicky and I went down there that first time with Jessica and Pia I can honestly say that I don't think we ever DREAMED we go more than 1 or 2 more times at the most. God had a different game plan. On that first day, as I was serving food, a man wearing a NY Giants #56 jersey (Lawrence Taylor for those that don't follow the NFL) came through the line and as I was serving him I made a comment about Lawrence Taylor and the trouble he was in at that time for Statutory rape of a 15 year old back in New Jersey. That man in line wearing the #56 jersey was Lasalle Turner and he promptly, but politely, scolded me for judging a man I didn't even know and reminded me that we ALL are sinners are to be judged by God and God alone!  Darin, Lasalle and John Wow was I ever humbled.....As the Lord continued working in the Myers lives down serving on Skid Row we eventually developed a fast growing friendship with Lasalle and he in return was one of our many sets of eyes on 6th and Gladys that kept a close watch on Jessica's location as we served on Sunday's and even would call himself "Uncle Lasalle" whenever he spoke to Jess. On one occasion a fight broke among two of the homeless men on Gladys and Lasalle made sure that the kids and women that were down there with CA were safe and herded them into the Hippie Kitchen to be "safer"!
At one point 6 or 7 months ago Lasalle confided in Vicky,who is blessed with the gift of "listening to people" and will invest whatever time is needed to talk with them and truly HEAR them, that he was VERY cynical towards our Group from Christian Assembly. He thought that we were just down there serving to;"......feel good about ourselves and not really caring about what goes on down on skid row", but after seeing the loving hearts and spirits of the younger children down there such as Jessica (and Alex And Meghan et al) and watching CA come back EVERY Sunday, rain or shine he was convinced that the Lord was TRULY working in our hearts and minds......"Shine on CA" Add Comment The Passing of Lesell 01/16/2012
 by Pia Hugo I have some very sad news for those of you who know Lesell, our friend who was rushed to the hospital a few weeks back when John, Steve, Neil and George called 911 and helped him get situated there. You might recall, it had been raining for days prior to that and he was soaked from head to toe. His diabetes was also acting up and he was in a lot of pain. Peggy, Corey, Sam (I think) and I had a chance to visit him at the hospital and we were able to witness Lesell, a former minister at the L.A. Mission, turn his life once more completely to the Lord. After that, the team would see Lesell down at Skid Row--sleeping on a mat right outside the Hippie Kitchen or just slowly walking around with a blanket draped over him--from time to time. This morning, his friends told us that he had quietly passed away Wed. night. The street community put up a memorial for their friend, Gene Lesell, right where he used to sleep on the sidewalk outside the Kitchen.  One is a picture of the memorial The other one is a picture of a note written to our friend by someone whose life was touched by him. It reads "God bless you Gene. I felt so along! You came along. You bought joy. You didn't stay long. Thank you." Sure there are spelling errors and other mistakes but it's a note that comes straight from the heart of one of his many homeless friends. I found it very touching that several of them wanted to let us know as soon as we got there this morning. They knew we cared about him.
Please keep his family and friends who are hurting over his loss in prayer. Again, we take comfort in knowing that just like Peter Paul, Michael, Annie, and so many others before him--he may no longer be with us physically but we can rest assured that he is in a far, far better place than Skid Row because we were intentional about making sure he was saved. May we continue to feel that sense of urgency to reach as many of our homeless friends for Christ before it is too late. On a happier note, we counted 56 people who showed up at the prayer circle this morning at church--more than 30 of them being high school students from three different high schools: Crescenta Valley (where I teach), Glendale High and La Canada High. They cheerfully served at the food table and walked around passing out food bags with the adult leaders. Later on, two kids shared with the group how it was their first time but it definitely would not be their last. "I was really touched how everyone we met had a smile on their face when we would pray for them and how it made them so happy and grateful we were there! I've never seen anything like that!" one of them said. When What God Says is a Dumb Idea 08/24/2011
by Miceala Shocklee
Walking through Skid Row today, I stopped to talk with Pastor Octavio, one of the street preachers. He has a thick accent (can't tell whether it's Mexican, Spanish (yes the two sound different), or something else), but he still makes his words clear. Expecting to chat casually for a few minutes and then pray for him, I got a surprise. A good surprise. I was reminded again of what a fount of wisdom Octavio is. He's so unassuming, lights up whenever we go over to talk to him - but there's a power behind what he has to say. Today, he told me about the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Joshua and his troops were trying to take the city - except it was surrounded by a giant imposing wall. So Joshua turns to Yahweh, the God of his fathers, the God who parted a sea and rained food from heaven and sent water from a rock. And what does this God tell Joshua to do? Go walk around the outside of the walls once for six days. And then do it again seven times on the seventh day. by Marlo Reininger
Joy was in the air... more rejoicing than requests for prayer today. It was really good to hear Praise Reports from those that live on the streets or in the area. One family in particular, Reggie, LeeAnn and their 3 children Tanya (11), Reggie Jr (2) & Christina (1)... waiting in line at the Salvation Army had so much Joy in their eyes. The woman, LeeAnn asked if she could have some our bags of food for their children - we had two left - so we gave it to them. We started talking and asked if we could pray for them - the answer was yes, they prayed along. In talking with them we learned that Reggie had had a stroke not to long ago and was paralyzed from the waste down, said he was starting to improve but requested prayer for complete recovery - his hands were in gloves, said that his circulation was poor and was often cold; his wife asked for prayer for their motor home - it was parked in the back of someones home, but they had no running water or electricity - other than what was given to them by the lady that owned the home (that they were parked behind) - they would boil water to cook and bath in, the kids seemed happy and healthy - but in worn clothes. We gave them some jeans and a jacket - what we had left in our bags. Homeless 08/20/2011
 by Miceala Shoklee
What if nobody looked at you? Last night, I drove by a woman standing at the exit of the 210, where it meets Lake. She was holding a sign with just one word: Homeless. I parked a bit down the street and brought her a granola bar. She nearly jumped when I called out to her. "Why did you come back?" she asked incredulously. "Most people don't even look at me." I was shocked. How dehumanizing would that be, day in and day out, standing on the same corner trying to just scrape by, and nobody ever looks at you. You're already on the periphery of life and nobody even acknowledges that you're there. But part of my discomfort at the woman's comment comes from knowing that I am guilty, too. I don't always have that granola bar to give. And so I try not to look. Try not to make eye contact. Try not to acknowledge that yes, I see you there, but no, I am not going to help you.  Samuel, Manfredi, and Jonathan by Samuel Lee
I fall in the list of those that continue to be involved with this ministry "from a (physical) distance", and my role now is to cover you with prayer. With good memories I say that one of the phases in my life that I learned the most on how to depend on God, and listen to Him was during the phase that we made the decision to return to Brazil. Whenever I tell people the circumstances that lead me to Brazil I always start with the ministry at Home Depot (and consequently the whole Skid Row Ministry) as a pre-amble to how God speaks to us. As I see that the Home Depot team can no longer use the center, that gave me some sadness for it was an important phase in my life, especially because as a newlywed me and Manfredi would wake up 7:00 am every Sunday in order to be at the prayer circle. However, God has a sovereign eyes, overlooking his whole plan, and we have trust that He is in control. The center might have closed, but I will not forget Jose, Bartolo, David, Don Jesus; whenever I remember them I continue to pray for them.  The Skid Row ministry is collecting handmade hats, scarves, and mitts for distribution in November. If you knit or and crochet and can contribute one or more of these items that you've made, please contact Kiyoko Tatsui at ktatsui@yahoo.com. Kiyoko enjoys knitting for charity and this year she set a goal to knit 50 hats for the Skid Row ministry. If you knit or crochet for charity, she would love to get together with you. New Skid Row Video 08/01/2011
Divine Appointment at Jack in the Box 08/01/2011
by Pia Hugo
Some of you might remember reading about Carlos a few weeks back. He's the one who is desperately looking for work and is trying so hard to stay clean and out of trouble which is not very easy to do on Skid Row. He has often told me that the negativity that comes at him from people down there is enough to get him discouraged and depressed at times but, with his new-found trust in the Lord, he is managing to stay positive and focused on what he needs to do. His ultimate goal, as you know, is to just get out of Skid Row! Last Sunday, I saw Carlos at our food line and, as usual, he was eager to receive prayer. I told him I would look for him at the Hippie Kitchen (a place where our friends can sit down, eat our meals, and have casual conversations with us--it is located directly across from our food tables). Unfortunately, another one of our friends stopped me and asked for prayer as well and that took longer than expected. (I had to take her to my car for privacy.) Carlos started asking the other volunteers on the team if they knew where I was. He wasn't leaving without getting his prayer which, he once said, was the only thing that would keep him going sometimes through the week. Thankfully, Peggy Heim and Jerri Patton, were on hand to talk to him and pray for him.  This weekend is the monthly Kingdom Weekend at CA and our Skid Row Ministry will be highlighted. It gives us a chance to tell the 2,200 people or so who gather for worship about what we do and how we do it and to ask them to join us. Two years ago the ministry was highlighted in this way and 65 people volunteered as a result. This year Austin Willard, created a 5 minute video featuring a number of our ministry team members and a couple of our Skid Row friends. We want it to premier at the services this weekend but we will put it up on YouTube for the world to see next Monday. Come back then for a link to the video. To prepare for this weekend we've updated all of our volunteer position descriptions. If you want to learn more about how you can serve visit our Volunteer Opportunities page. | Search Our Site
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This web site was created by members of the Skid Row/Day Laborers' Outreach Ministry of Christian Assembly Church, Eagle Rock, CA. ArchivesJanuary 2012 Categories
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