Help Another Soul.org:
One dark night in Downtown LA … hope shined through …
12/29/05
Tonight I was downtown and met a couple of homeless people. The two were one right after the other. The first lady Amelia was Russian and broke my heart because she said, “I am dead already….even though my parts are still moving, I am dead on the inside.” Initially, she asked for change so she could get some alcohol. She said, “It’s my life blood, please give me money for my life blood! I didn’t help her get alcohol but we did talk for a while and grabbed a bite to eat (which she said was difficult for her because I imagine all of her money went to the alcohol). After we parted ways about an hour later my heart straight up crushed in a way it had never been crushed before. I truly believed it would only be a moment in time before she probably really was DEAD and the feeling of not being able to do anything for her even now brings tears to my eyes because I had no hope of knowing how to go about helping her… I even remembered a blanket in my truck which I offered to her and she turned down, I didn’t understand it. Immediately after turning to walk in another direction where she could no longer see my face. My heart snapped as I looked to heaven begging God for an answer as to what I could possibly do or have done???? I was lost and cried out to Jesus in my weakness, “I am so helpless! What am I really able to do?! Nothing. Absolutely Nothing!” I realized at that moment only Jesus has real power to Save, Heal, and Deliver.
As tears roll down my face, walking back to my truck, I hear a voice in the distance. I didn’t even notice him at first until he appeared out from the shadows of the dark night. He was saying, “Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me sir … could you help me out?” I looked at him and then up to the sky and asked the Lord in my head if there was something on my forehead this night? What are you telling me right now? Is there a stamp on my head that says, “sucker or something?!” My heart was broke and Richard began telling me his story. Apparently he comes from a broken home. His mom is a prostitute and his dad is dead (died when he was 8 years old ). He just recently was released/graduated from a 5-month program. He said it didn’t really help people like him transition back into everyday life with a job or roof over his head. It seemed more like a place that takes people and collects money from the government. I hope it really does more than he made it out to be. I will have to look into this further. He didn’t appear to be drinking, nor on drugs, but he did get beat up about 2 weeks ago because he just left the program and had a little money. His lip was in bad shape. He claims he wants to get a job and move forward with life. I believed him to be sincere. I ended up giving him my phone number and told him to call me each week or if he needed anything. I mentioned this site and of how it worked. If he was willing to promote this by passing out stickers then the site would provide him money as it begins to build momentum. I felt as though the Holy Spirit was telling me this guy needs a miracle and this site could just be that miracle. Needless to say, I hope he calls.
Two different stories, one of hopelessness and one of hopefulness. All I know is this world isn’t right and it’s time to do something about it. Please join us in this effort. The cold reality is we are all potentially (one unfortunate turn of events) away from being in those same shoes on the streets. Give grace and mercy away freely.
Help Another Soul – Joshua